whats it for?

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Ok i keep seeing on adverts in magazines etc these square images of what can only be described as pixelated blobs and i have no idea what they are for? they are usually about 1.5cm square and don't resemble anything. can someone tell me what they are for?

 

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Couldn't tell you. I dont see the ads. You could try clicking on it?

Edit: Ah, you dont mean here on the site.... they are 2D barcodes perhaps? Link - Some images there.

If it is, then you can scan them with apps on mobile devices, and it will route you to the appropriate website for the advert - you can also scan them using webcams with the right software I think.,

 

they are like barcodes, you can scan them with the likes of an iphone or blackberry.
this is what im led to believe anyway

 

And that's meant to be quicker than typing a URL in ?

Guess it's aimed at the lazy denizens who haven't got the time to spend 20 seconds looking for something on a site, I guess I can see that it's useful to be able to provide a long url in a short space but that's about it. </grumble>

 

The speed of access of the barcodes is relative to the phones you are using
when I am out and about I will often just hold my phone up to one to get more info

in best buy know on the little price cards they have them and that will give you full specs on the product etc, rather than the cut down versions you get just on the shelf

in my scuba magazine they have a page you can tear out at the back which has a list of them so if you are on the go you can just grab that and get to each online page immediately

at the moment they are mainly used for URLs, but they are not limited to just that, they themselves can contain large amounts of data, so you could just scan to get 'the data' rather than a url to data

there is definite value to the system, and its already crazy huge in Japan, personaly when I am passing a billboard I don't always want to stop and write a URL down, i could photo it and follow it later, or i could snap the barcode and see what i need to see now

your mileage may vary based on how well/poorly they are used in your specific part of the world

 

My other half mentioned that she had an IT CV come in recently where he had planted one on the top right of his CV. Scanning it planted a contact card onto your phone, that you could then add to your address list, complete with name, number, email, etc.

Edinburgh Zoo have them on certain enclosures, snapping it will direct you to youtube where you can watch a video of the animals in question in a particular subject (such as watching the chicks hatch).

It's actually quite a cool technology, and one that should be further investigated.

 

Do you mean QR codes?

 

QR codes are one specific format of the technology (Invented by Toyota, cool huh?)
MS Tags are HCCB, and Data Matrix is another popular format
the thing I like about the MS Tag is that it hits an MS server first for the details, so I can change them on the fly and not have to update all the codes, (great for marketing, especially if theres a special offer for the first '100' people to use it, you can change the location that it points to after that!
and I can perform analytics on them

In honor of all your interest in this topic, may I introduce my new avatar