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 …
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, …
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?…
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 …
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,…
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 …
Hurrah! Spotify have released a native Linux player which works with free accounts! These notes show (which are mostly for my benefit) show you how to install it and configure your multimedia keyboard so the play/pause key controls the music on Spotify. Download Spotify for Linux. It's available in 32bit or 64bit. Double click on the .deb that has been downloaded and it should install. Nice…
After the disaster that was my experience with the Nokia Lumia and the rather underwhelming time I had with the BlackBerry Torch, I've been thinking a lot about what my perfect phone would be. I think I've found it... My Photoshop skills are legendary! Here are the things that I want - no one platform covers them all, so I've nicked the best bits from each. Blackberry Here's what…
I was tweeted an interesting link the other day - We Don't Make Demands. They have a set of posters for the "Occupy Movement" which incorporate QRpedia codes. These posters were designed by participants at the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City. They are in the public domain. You are welcome to print them out and post them in your own location. See all the posters. I love this use…
It was the best of phones - it was the worst of phones... I want to start this review by saying three things: I got this phone for free - thanks Nokia! I'm an extremely demanding mobile user. I recognise that I am an edge-case; what I find annoying, you may not. I've tried to stick to actual bugs, not just "it does things differently." Sergeant Elop's Lonely Phone Club Imagine, …
QR-jacking is the act of covering up a QR code and replacing it with an alternative - often malicious - code. Your carefully crafted code could be replaced by one which... Points to a rival's site. Calls a premium rate phone number. Redirects the user to a site which EXPOSES THE TRUTH BEHIND... Goes to a non-legitimate site which asks for credit card / personal details. …
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…
