Saturday 17 March 2012

QR Codes - the future is here!






















Confused translation available on the link below

Wednesday 14 March 2012

QR codes, a digital dodo

Love or hate them, this is probably the technology most certain to be dead (in its current form) in the near future.

I don't know about you, but I find QR codes clumsy, awkward to use and rarely give me any value as a user/customer. They are about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike in everyday scenarios and in terms of marketing a brand, any time I see these now I think there has probably been a meeting were someone has said "We need QR codes, because everyone else has them"

Why you don't need what everyone else has.
Do you find it strange that only planes and birds have wings, have you ever thought why don't they put them on houses? Well here is the thing, planes have wings because they use them to fly, other things which don't fly don't need wings.

Apply that now to QR codes, do you find it strange that there isn't a QR code on every product packaging, marketing copy or any conceivable place you could stick a QR code. Well that's because sometimes it really is quicker and easier for your brain to interpret words and pictures.

Quick test
Without using any technology can you tell me what this says:


Unless you are seriously smart and can decode this in your head, I doubt you have gotten any value out of this.

Why are they used?
Well they seem to be used a lot to hold web addresses in, but to read them you need a code reader app for your smartphone then you need to point your smartphone at the code wait for it to be recognised and then ask to open the web address in a web page, which all takes time.

We can take a lot from the fact that the predecessor to QR codes aka the barcode is most commonly used in supermarkets and shops, it is for machines to read not humans, because machines are dumb and can't read so well...yet, so I think in the long run this is what the humble QR code will go into retirement doing.

Why write this rubbish
I suppose what I don't really get about the use of QR codes,  is when they are used like this:




That last one is very funny, what you can't see is the 50 people all trying to to snap the code with their smart phones.ha

It is really that last image that sums it all up for me, they don't give any more value (and if anything less value) than putting a web address on her skirt, plus if I can only get the info from that QR code then that means if I don't scan it I won't know what it even was.

The End

Monday 12 March 2012

HTML Codes - List of escape characters

Handy reference for the web developers among you

SymbolCodeEntity Name
™
€
Space  
!!
"""
##
$$
%%
&&&
''
((
))
**
++
,,
--
..
//
00
11
22
33
44
55
66
77
88
99
::
;&#59;
<&#60;&lt;
=&#61;
>&#62;&gt;
?&#63;
@&#64;
A&#65;
B&#66;
C&#67;
D&#68;
E&#69;
F&#70;
G&#71;
H&#72;
I&#73;
J&#74;
K&#75;
L&#76;
M&#77;
N&#78;
O&#79;
P&#80;
Q&#81;
R&#82;
S&#83;
T&#84;
U&#85;
V&#86;
W&#87;
X&#88;
Y&#89;
Z&#90;
[&#91;
\&#92;
]&#93;
^&#94;
_&#95;
`&#96;
a&#97;
b&#98;
c&#99;
d&#100;
e&#101;
f&#102;
g&#103;
h&#104;
i&#105;
j&#106;
k&#107;
l&#108;
m&#109;
n&#110;
o&#111;
p&#112;
q&#113;
r&#114;
s&#115;
t&#116;
u&#117;
v&#118;
w&#119;
x&#120;
y&#121;
z&#122;
{&#123;
|&#124;
}&#125;
~&#126;
Non-breaking space&#160;&nbsp;
¡&#161;&iexcl;
¢&#162;&cent;
£&#163;&pound;
¤&#164;&curren;
¥&#165;&yen;
¦&#166;&brvbar;
§&#167;&sect;
¨&#168;&uml;
©&#169;&copy;
ª&#170;&ordf;
«&#171;
¬&#172;&not;
&#173;&shy;
®&#174;&reg;
¯&#175;&macr;
°&#176;&deg;
±&#177;&plusmn;
²&#178;&sup2;
³&#179;&sup3;
´&#180;&acute;
µ&#181;&micro;
&#182;&para;
·&#183;&middot;
¸&#184;&cedil;
¹&#185;&sup1;
º&#186;&ordm;
»&#187;&raquo;
¼&#188;&frac14;
½&#189;&frac12;
¾&#190;&frac34;
¿&#191;&iquest;
À&#192;&Agrave;
Á&#193;&Aacute;
Â&#194;&Acirc;
Ã&#195;&Atilde;
Ä&#196;&Auml;
Å&#197&Aring;
Æ&#198;&AElig;
Ç&#199;&Ccedil;
È&#200;&Egrave;
É&#201;&Eacute;
Ê&#202;&Ecirc;
Ë&#203;&Euml;
Ì&#204;&Igrave;
Í&#205;&Iacute;
Î&#206;&Icirc;
Ï&#207;&Iuml;
Ð&#208;&ETH;
Ñ&#209;&Ntilde;
Ò&#210;&Ograve;
Ó&#211;&Oacute;
Ô&#212;&Ocirc;
Õ&#213;&Otilde;
Ö&#214;&Ouml;
×&#215;&times;
Ø&#216;&Oslash;
Ù&#217;&Ugrave;
Ú&#218;&Uacute;
Û&#219;&Ucirc;
Ü&#220;&Uuml;
Ý&#221;&Yacute;
Þ&#222;&THORN;
ß&#223;&szlig;
à&#224;&agrave;
á&#225;&aacute;
â&#226;&acirc;
ã&#227;&atilde;
ä&#228;&auml;
å&#229;&aring;
æ&#230;&aelig;
ç&#231;&ccedil;
è&#232;&egrave;
é&#233;&eacute;
ê&#234;&ecirc;
ë&#235;&euml;
ì&#236;&igrave;
í&#237&iacute;
î&#238;&icirc;
ï&#239;&iuml;
ð&#240;&eth;
ñ&#241;&ntilde;
ò&#242;&ograve;
ó&#243;&oacute;
ô&#244;&ocirc;
õ&#245;&otilde;
ö&#246;&ouml;
÷&#247;&divide;
ø&#248;&oslash;
ù&#249;&ugrave;
ú&#250;&uacute;
û&#251;&ucirc;
ü&#252;&uuml;
ý&#253;&yacute;
þ&#254;&thorn;
ÿ&#255;
Ā&#256;
ā&#257;
Ă&#258;
ă&#259;
Ą&#260;
ą&#261;
Ć&#262;
ć&#263;
Ĉ&#264;
ĉ&#265;
Ċ&#266;
ċ&#267;
Č&#268;
č&#269;
Ď&#270;
ď&#271;
Đ&#272;
đ&#273;
Ē&#274;
ē&#275;
Ĕ&#276;
ĕ&#277
Ė&#278;
ė&#279;
Ę&#280;
ę&#281;
Ě&#282;
ě&#283;
Ĝ&#284;
ĝ&#285;
Ğ&#286;
ğ&#287;
Ġ&#288;
ġ&#289;
Ģ&#290;
ģ&#291;
Ĥ&#292;
ĥ&#293;
Ħ&#294;
ħ&#295;
Ĩ&#296;
ĩ&#297;
Ī&#298;
ī&#299;
Ĭ&#300;
ĭ&#301;
Į&#302;
į&#303;
İ&#304;
ı&#305;
IJ&#306;
ij&#307;
Ĵ&#308;
ĵ&#309;
Ķ&#310;
ķ&#311;
ĸ&#312;
Ĺ&#313;
ĺ&#314;
Ļ&#315;
ļ&#316;
Ľ&#317
ľ&#318;
Ŀ&#319;
ŀ&#320;
Ł&#321;
ł&#322;
Ń&#323;
ń&#324;
Ņ&#325;
ņ&#326;
Ň&#327;
ň&#328;
ʼn&#329;
Ŋ&#330;
ŋ&#331;
Ō&#332;
ō&#333;
Ŏ&#334;
ŏ&#335;
Ő&#336;
ő&#337;
Œ&#338;
œ&#339;
Ŕ&#340;
ŕ&#341;
Ŗ&#342;
ŗ&#343;
Ř&#344;
ř&#345;
Ś&#346;
ś&#347;
Ŝ&#348;
ŝ&#349;
Ş&#350;
ş&#351;
Š&#352;
š&#353;
Ţ&#354;
ţ&#355;
Ť&#356;
ť&#357
Ŧ&#358;
ŧ&#359;
Ũ&#360;
ũ&#361;
Ū&#362;
ū&#363;
Ŭ&#364;
ŭ&#365;
Ů&#366;
ů&#367;
Ű&#368;
ű&#369;
Ų&#370;
ų&#371;
Ŵ&#372;
ŵ&#373;
Ŷ&#374;
ŷ&#375;
Ÿ&#376;
Ź&#377;
ź&#378;
Ż&#379;
ż&#380;
Ž&#381;
ž&#382;
ſ&#383;
Ŕ&#340;
ŕ&#341;
Ŗ&#342;
ŗ&#343;
Ř&#344;
ř&#345;
Ś&#346;
ś&#347;
Ŝ&#348;
ŝ&#349;
Ş&#350;
ş&#351;
Š&#352;
š&#353;
Ţ&#354;
ţ&#355;
Ť&#356;
ť&#577;
Ŧ&#358;
ŧ&#359;
Ũ&#360;
ũ&#361;
Ū&#362;
ū&#363;
Ŭ&#364;
ŭ&#365;
Ů&#366;
ů&#367;
Ű&#368;
ű&#369;
Ų&#370;
ų&#371;
Ŵ&#372;
ŵ&#373;
Ŷ&#374;
ŷ&#375;
Ÿ&#376;
Ź&#377
ź&#378;
Ż&#379;
ż&#380;
Ž&#381;
ž&#382;
ſ&#383;