You are traffic Yes, it's a marketing slogan, but I think it illustrates the way we think of ourselves. Each of us is the star of our own show. However empathetic we are, we only see through our eyes. As the world hits 7 billion people, it's time to realise that there is not "an over-population problem". Rather, "we are an over-population problem!" Each of us is contributing to over-population. There are many ways we can mitigate our impact - go vegetarian, recycle, practice energy…
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Stephen Fry has recently recorded a BBC podcast about the history of the mobile phone. It's a really great series, and I encourage you to listen to it. At one point in episode 4, Stephen sings the Nokia ringtone. So, here it is for your edification, and delight. 🔊 Stephen Fry sings the Nokia Ringtone🎤 edent 💾 Download this audio file. Feel free to set it as your iPhone's ringtone :-) All together now, "Derr-nerr-nerr-nerr Derr-nerr-nerr-nerr Derr-nerr-nerr-nerr Nerr!" …
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To whoever is responsible for this QR code marketing monstrosity: go home. Seriously, pack up the tools of your trade, go home, pour yourself a stiff drink, and weep at what you have done. The Poster Here's a fun game for all the family! Play "spot the QR code" on this poster... Bzzzzzt! Time's up! Did ya see it? What? No! How could that be? Let's zoom in... There! Right beside the warnings of "mild peril" lurks the QR code. Tiny, overly dense, and with no call to action. Try…
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This is a question I've posed in the Ubuntu forums, but I haven't found the answer yet. I've got a great little IP security camera - the Y-Cam. It's Internet accessible, so it can email me photos of any suspicious behaviour. It will also stream video and audio to a number of devices - including mobiles. Under Linux, it's very easy to get the video and audio via mplayer. mplayer http://username:password@example.com/stream.asf And we get this rather spiffy video playing. In fact, there are …
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This blog post is designed to foster a technical and logistical discussion. In much the same way as the earlier QRpedia language discussion did. One of the most requested features in QRpedia is to have custom URLs. For example, the British Museum may want a URL of "bm.qrwp.org". This has two main advantages. Better analytics. Although the British Museum is the only place likely to have the Rosetta Stone, many museums will have exhibits about "Ancient Egypt" or "Gold". By…
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When you create a QR code which contains a URL, it is vital that the code is not only as small as possible, but also as user friendly as possible. I'm not a massive fan of short URL services like bit.ly - but for shrinking the text you want to fit in a QR code, they are invaluable. I want to take a look at a particularly interesting example from Nat West Bank. The Poster Despite having the QR too close to the ground (more of that in a later blog post) this seems like quite a good campaign. …
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Back when I worked for them, I was (partly) responsible for some of Vodafone UK's "Content Control" systems. I didn't like the system then, and I don't like them now. I understand the need that network operators have to protect themselves from bad headlines and give people some control over what they see online. What I dislike is the way it has been implemented. On trying to access Untappd on my mobile, I got the following error: Which, when zoomed in, gives me this: Let's count the…
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Two quick patches which should be in the next version of Calibre PHP. Adding File Size This shows the sizes of the eBook files. Screenshot shows a demonstration using the free "Hacking The BBC" eBook. (more…) …
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(These are mostly notes to myself!) I love Calibre, it's the perfect eBook management tool. It comes with a built in WWW server so you can easily access your library on the go. The only problem is that this really only works if you have a single machine dedicated to Calibre. For various reasons, I don't have a single machine. I have a desktop, laptop, and server. The Calibre Library is just a database with a set of files and folders - so all three machines sync via DropBox. As long as I…
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This is a great video all about the inappropriate use of QR codes. There's one area where I think Scott Stratten is wrong - and that's on the issue of QR codes where there is no signal. It's a common trope to bemoan QR codes on the tube, or on an aeroplane - but I believe it's not a very good argument. Firstly, take a look at the posters on a typical tube train. All of them have phone numbers, SMS activities, or URLs on them - even though there's no way to use them Yet people don't laugh …
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As you may know, the Miro Exhibit is fully equipped with Catalan compatible QRpedia codes. Here's a great video showing off the exhibit: You can jump straight to the two-minute mark if you're just interested in the QR action. …
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I've been investigating some rather nasty SMS spam. I have finally heard back from Switchfire, the SMS gateway who sent the message. According to them, the originator of the message was PeekabooTV.com. Take a look round that site - it hasn't been updated since 2007, and the Contact page leads to a 404. A quick wander into the DNS registration produces this rather stale information: GPRS Solutions LTD David Berney 11 Gower Street London WC1E 6HB phone: +44.8707414151 So,…
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