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Crowd Sourcing Broken QR Codes

humanqr.com

51–57 of 57 posts

Re: Crowd Sourcing Broken QR Codes

#51

It's pretty cool that QR codes were created by a Japanese automotive company in order to address the limitations of scanning bar codes, mainly that the scans only worked with a certain orientation. [1] That being said, I believe bar codes have the UPC number below it in case the code itself is damaged. Could QR codes have a similar textual encoding to identify them? And would that even fit legibly in the square? [1]…

QR codes also encode text, just like UPC-A. As far as I'm aware, no barcode reader can actually interpret the letters at the bottom of the code. They're just there for a human failover when the barcode gets messed up. With that in mind, there's nothing preventing you from putting the encoded text of a QR code below it. I have a QR code in my living room that guests can scan to connect to the Wi-Fi, and I put the SSID…

What makes Aztec 3D? A barcode is 1D and QR is 2D, right? Wouldn’t 3D be a Matrix Code using color?

Re: Crowd Sourcing Broken QR Codes

#52
post #47

I participated in the QR Show in NYC mentioned in the post. It sent me down a rabbit hole and gave me a whole new perspective on QR codes now. Show: https://qrshow.nyc/retrospective.html Related: https://bsky.app/profile/sri.xyz/post/3llnpa3tvqs2u

wow I fully missed your bsky post, I'm sorry

it was extremely fun organizing that QR Show. it's actually very fun organizing events/jams in general (I'm also thinking of https://wambamjam.recurse.com/ ) -- you put out an invite, get it to interesting people, and then step back. (and, like, get snacks).

that QR Show was truly a success because of people like you who brought original works -- a lot of these pieces were made in the last weeks! and days! leading to it. it was just astonishing to see.

I've shared with some friends that I'd be afraid to repeat that show because it went so well (like - should there be a yearly? qr show??). I'm still mulling this over.

thanks again!

Re: Crowd Sourcing Broken QR Codes

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This infuriates me. You are using a QR exactly to easily share a (long) link, why the hell you need to use a link shortener? Why is the market for small shops, restaurants, bars, small museums, small towns etc so riddled with technically incompetent people?

> easily share a (long) link, why the hell you need to use a link shortener? Because it makes the QR code simpler (less "pixels") and therefore more robust. Given the same physical size, scratches affect it less, and a phone can read it from further away. You want to avoid long links in QR codes whenever possible. The other thing is analytics, of course. You can generate 10 different small QR codes that lead to the s…

I'm criticizing QR providers of restaurants owners for being incompetent. I will also criticize restaurants that give you only the QR option for the menu and the menu is a PDF unreadable on a mobile screen (whoever decided that).

Re: Crowd Sourcing Broken QR Codes

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This infuriates me. You are using a QR exactly to easily share a (long) link, why the hell you need to use a link shortener? Why is the market for small shops, restaurants, bars, small museums, small towns etc so riddled with technically incompetent people?

Being able to change the destination URL is one reason to use a redirect. Many users do not control their tech infrastructure, or have the knowledge to create redirects. This allows them to update or change content without changing their QR codes.

I could buy that, but also the QR and the destination website are usually done by the same web agency. The issue is that probably the web agency is externalizing itself the QR thing, or try to centralize all their clients in the same system.

Re: Crowd Sourcing Broken QR Codes

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This infuriates me. You are using a QR exactly to easily share a (long) link, why the hell you need to use a link shortener? Why is the market for small shops, restaurants, bars, small museums, small towns etc so riddled with technically incompetent people?

> easily share a (long) link, why the hell you need to use a link shortener? Because it makes the QR code simpler (less "pixels") and therefore more robust. Given the same physical size, scratches affect it less, and a phone can read it from further away. You want to avoid long links in QR codes whenever possible. The other thing is analytics, of course. You can generate 10 different small QR codes that lead to the s…

> And maybe don't criticize restaurant owners for being technically incompetent?

Most QR code menus are entirely managed by just one company that is effectively a monopoly. It's not the restaurant staff making these terrible, it's the digital services provider.

Re: Crowd Sourcing Broken QR Codes

#56
post #47

I participated in the QR Show in NYC mentioned in the post. It sent me down a rabbit hole and gave me a whole new perspective on QR codes now. Show: https://qrshow.nyc/retrospective.html Related: https://bsky.app/profile/sri.xyz/post/3llnpa3tvqs2u

wow I fully missed your bsky post, I'm sorry it was extremely fun organizing that QR Show. it's actually very fun organizing events/jams in general (I'm also thinking of https://wambamjam.recurse.com/ ) -- you put out an invite, get it to interesting people, and then step back. (and, like, get snacks). that QR Show was truly a success because of people like you who brought original works -- a lot of these pieces were…

hey greg, no problem. Definitely looking forward for the next show. Maybe in a new city? Or a different theme altogether?

Re: Crowd Sourcing Broken QR Codes

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

QR codes also encode text, just like UPC-A. As far as I'm aware, no barcode reader can actually interpret the letters at the bottom of the code. They're just there for a human failover when the barcode gets messed up. With that in mind, there's nothing preventing you from putting the encoded text of a QR code below it. I have a QR code in my living room that guests can scan to connect to the Wi-Fi, and I put the SSID…

What makes Aztec 3D? A barcode is 1D and QR is 2D, right? Wouldn’t 3D be a Matrix Code using color?

In the industry, we called "normal" barcodes "2D," and stuff like QR and Aztec were called "3D" barcodes. Think of the "Z" axis as the coloration of a given point.

In all barcodes I'm aware of, that Z axis only has one bit of resolution (i.e. black or white, 1 or 0). If you had an encoding with more colors, you'd be increasing the resolution of that axis, but you wouldn't be adding a new axis per se.

Honestly, I also think 1D/2D would make more sense. But, 2D/3D is the nomenclature I saw being used among industry professionals on both the marketing and engineering sides.

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