QR Codes

QR Codes are an amazing way to spread data. Invented in Japan, they house a lot of textual information in a small space. With their primary purpose being to ease the efforts of text entry they have started to make a big splash in the smart phone market. Every major smart phone platform has apps available to read the codes and translate them into a usable function. The most common of which is encoding a URL that will take the phone's browser to the webpage. They have a lot of fault tolerance built in so even after some wear and tear to the barcode you will still be able to scan it. In my opinion this technologies is the main reason that tablet computers such as the iPad should come integrated with a camera.

QR Code Usage:

You are going to need a way to read the code. i-nigma is a popular and easy to use app for reading QR Codes on the iPhone as well as some other 2d barcode formats. Barcode Scanner is the common choice for the Android Phone OS. Load one of these apps, or find a different one that suits you, and point it at the barcode below. It will get you to what ever URL is submitted through the text box. You can also load the Add-On Mobile Barcoder into Firefox and get a roll over to expose a QR code for what ever page you are currently on.