Bar Codes & QR's - What the Heck Are They?

	Bar Codes & QR's - What the Heck Are They?
	Jenni X -- Blog - General News and Tips

Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 May 2010 22:44
Barcodes have been around for a long time, but are just now becoming commonplace outside of retail and other stock-keeping applications where we're used to seeing them. Today it's possible to send all kinds of groovy information using QR's. Keep reading for info on how to use them for your own purposes. First, a couple of free on-the-web type QR generators to use. There are numerous others out there, as well as many which you can install on your machine for use when you're not online. The rule to remember is that barcodes may not have more than 512 characters, and tend to become almost impossble to decode past 100 characters, unless the barcode is large enough to show the detail. Kaywa.com SnapMyInfo.com Now for your basic barcode types: URL's - not much to 'splain here HTTP://anydomain.com Telephone numbers - some phones will dial these without prompting the user TEL:9876543210 Automatic Email - this usually creates an email in the phone's default application SMTP:[email address]:[subject]:[message] SMTP: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it :Hey Baby:What are you wearing? Automatic SMS - creates an SMS (a.k.a. "text message") to a phone number SMSTO:[cell number]:[message] SMSTO:9876543210:Text me for a good time! vCards - a pretty common contact list/address book format, most can import the info in these. BEGIN:VCARD FN:John D. Rockefeller TITLE:Shrimp Man TEL;TYPE=WORK,VOICE:(111) 555-1212 TEL;TYPE=HOME,VOICE:(404) 555-1212 ADR;TYPE=WORK:;;100 Waters Edge;Baytown;LA;30314;United States of America ORG:Evil Overlords, Inc. EMAIL;TYPE=INTERNET;TYPE=WORK: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it END:VCARD All of the following are also part of the vcard format. Name Description Semantic N Name - A structured representation of the name of the person, place or thing associated with the vCard object. FN Formatted Name - The formatted name string associated with the vCard object PHOTO Photograph - An image or photograph of the individual associated with the vCard BDAY Birthday - Date of birth of the individual associated with the vCard ADR Delivery Address - A structured representation of the physical delivery address for the vCard object LABEL Label Address - Addressing label for physical delivery to the person/object associated with the vCard TEL Telephone - The canonical number string for a telephone number for telephony communication with the vCard object EMAIL Email - The address for electronic mail communication with the vCard object MAILER Email Program (Optional) - Type of email program used TZ Time Zone - Information related to the standard time zone of the vCard object GEO Global Positioning - The property specifies a latitude and longitude TITLE Title - Specifies the job title, functional position or function of the individual associated with the vCard object within an organization (V. P. Research and Development) ROLE Role or occupation - The role, occupation, or business category of the vCard object within an organization (eg. Executive) LOGO Logo - An image or graphic of the logo of the organization that is associated with the individual to which the vCard belongs AGENT Agent - Information about another person who will act on behalf of the vCard object. Typically this would be an area administrator, assistant, or secretary for the individual ORG Organization Name or Organizational unit - The name and optionally the unit(s) of the organization associated with the vCard object. This property is based on the X.520 Organization Name attribute and the X.520 Organization Unit attribute NOTE Note vSpecifies supplemental information or a comment that is associated with the vCard REV Last Revision - Combination of the calendar date and time of day of the last update to the vCard object SOUND Sound - By default, if this property is not grouped with other properties it specifies the pronunciation of the Formatted Name property of the vCard object. URL URL - An URL is a representation of an Internet location that can be used to obtain real-time information about the vCard object UID Unique Identifier - Specifies a value that represents a persistent, globally unique identifier associated with the object VERSION Version - Version of the vCard Specification KEY Public Key - The public encryption key associated with the vCard object That's pretty much it. You can put these anywhere, on shirts, on business cards, on the roof of your house... the possibilities are endless. Don't use it for evil. Blogged with the Flock Browser

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