You know what I love about the streets of London? The pavements are so clean. Many is the time I crawl around on my hands and knees - rubbing my trousers into the walkways of my beloved city. Hardly anyone kicks me up the arse, either. You feel the same way too, don't you? What? You don't? But... but.... What else could explain the advertising industry's love of putting QR codes as close to the floor as possible? Be Careful What You Wish For Of course, if going too low is bad... …
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I'm in love with my keyboard! The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 is a dream to type on. Large, well spaced keys, split keyboard, and a whole host of extra media buttons. There's only one tiny problem. Two of the buttons don't work in Linux - specifically, the keyboard scroll buttons. This is a long standing bug in Linux, but luckily it is fairly easy to fix. Using Florian Diesch's tutorial at Ask Ubuntu, I've come up with this simple guide to get your keyboard working. (more…) …
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I'm watching all of Woody Allen's films in chronological order. I'll confess, I tried watching What's Up Tiger Lilly a few years ago. I didn't get more than 40 minutes into it before switching it off in a mixture of boredom and disgust. I'm not sure who first came up with the idea of revoicing a movie - making snarky comments about the action on screen - but this is one of the most influential and successful. How it became so successful is entirely a mystery to me. For a comedy film, it is…
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As I watched Woody Allen's latest film - Midnight in Paris - I realised that there are so many films of his that I haven't seen. So, I have a brand new resolution for 2012. Watch every single film Woody Allen has made. In chronological order. Posting reviews on this blog. Woody has made over 40 films - so I'll be aiming to watch one per week over the next year. I'll be watching all the films he has directed and - where possible - those he has written. Let's go! …
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I've never been a fan of Microsoft's proprietary 2D barcode system. With the latest news that their tag reader and creator will support QR codes, it looks like the writing is on the wall for the multi-coloured blobs. Further evidence of this can be found on Microsoft's latest XBox poster which contains a rather prominent QR code. Here it is in more detail. When scanned, it goes to a Google URL shortner! If Microsoft's own marketing department doesn't have faith in the MS Tag - or their…
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(After Ben Metcalfe's post on the the vb.ly sage). As a mobile Internet consultant, companies often ask me which QR generator to use. There are many worth considering, but I always tell clients to avoid bit.ly. The security of Libya Internet organisations are probably not an immediate concern (you did know that's what .ly stands for, right?). What is worrying is how bit.ly exposes your QR campaigns to your competitors. How Does The Bit.ly QR Generator Work? You can use Bit.ly to shorten…
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In my quest to find the perfect phone, I was recommended to try the Motorola Pro Plus by Seb Schmoller. This is my attempt to review it fairly after a week of usage. Some people have accused me of being unfair in my review of the Nokia Lumia. I think I was harsh - but all of the problems I experienced were real. This review of the Pro+ is unvarnished - I paid for this out of my own pocket and am beholden to no one. tl;dr Almost the perfect form factor. Let down by buggy software and a…
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If you're attempting a QR Code campaign, WAIT! Call me and I can help you avoid making this sort of disastrous mistake. Southeastern Dotted all around Southeastern's train carriages are posters like these. A fairly small QR code, with a reasonable call to action. Not the best use of QR codes - but fairly inoffensive. But what happens when we scan it? An error page. To make matters worse, it's not even a mobile friendly error page. I don't know how long the site has been broken - but…
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Maplin, the UK technology retailer, is experimenting with QR codes in its Tottenham Court Road store. It's a very mixed bag which deserves equal measures of praise and criticism. Here's a typical product display stand with QR code placed on it. There's no "call to action". Nothing to say what the code is, how I use it, or why I should scan it. Does it lead to a video demo? To a voucher? What? But, that's not the worst of it. Notice how small it is? There's lots of space which could be…
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The universe had a moment of quantum indecision while I was sat in a doctors' waiting room. It flickered randomly between playing nicely and messing with my head. I tried to collapse the probabilities by uttering a most unusual secular prayer for a man... Don't be pretty.... don't be pretty... don't be... "Mr Eden?" Maybe that's the nurse. She's barely out of her twenties. Yes. Obviously the nurse. They don't make doctors that pretty, surely. "Come this way. I'm Dr Lena." Arse. She…
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Gobsmacked. This was the first piece of theatre in ages which left me open mouthed throughout. But let me start at the beginning.... I'd only vaguely heard of Howl's Moving Castle before I saw the Southwark Playhouse's latest show - although, to judge from the audience, it attracts fanatically devoted readers. Entering Southwark's vault is a treat in itself. Cavernous, bare bricked arches, flaming torches on the wall, and a plain white cardboard set. A white set. Very Peter Hall, I…
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I think that WP7 is one of the first phone operating systems which natively has a QR scanner built in. It's rather hidden - you have to go in to search (not camera) then click the eye icon. However, it is one of the fastest and most accurate scanners I've ever used. It knocks Android favourite ZXing into a cocked hat simply by by speed alone - it's also very fault tolerant and was able to scan in low light and at strange angles. There's only one problem I have with it - the user interface…
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