Have you met someone you want to ‘add’ to your Facebook but don’t want to bother with all the troublesome introductions, words & eye contact? No problem! Simply use your phone to scan the barcode printed on their back!
This is the promise made by the Add to Friends Facebook app. The application creates a custom QR Code for your Facebook profile and sends you to Zazzle to print your own barcoded T-shirt. Then any passerby who waves their phone at you can find you online!
Of course it doesn’t have to be Facebook and it doesn’t have to be a T-shirt. QR Codes can be used to encode any URLs, phone numbers, free-form text or binary data. The mobile phone needs special reading software to make sense of the code. While most phones do not yet have this functionality, newer Nokia smartphones have it built-in and there are many free QR Code readers available for other phones. I tried out a couple of them and was quite impressed by the speed and accuracy of the code recognition. However the whole interaction is still pretty clunky.
Until most phones come with built-in readers that are accessible from a dedicated button (or from within the camera application) I see limited use for QR codes in the real world. However the geek in me can’t help chuckling with glee at the coolness of it!
Update: it seemed a bit silly to have a post about QR codes that didn’t include a code. So, what does that pattern of black and white squares mean?
This entry was posted by Tamlyn Rhodes on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 4:00 pm and is tagged with barcode, Facebook, innovation, marketing, mobile, phone, qr, qr code and is posted in the category Tech News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Thats amazing, but I might find a little odd if somebody was to come up to me randomnly and try and scan me in the street!
I think if you're going to go to the trouble of having a T-shirt printed with a barcode on it you might expect, or even (God have mercy on your pitiful soul) want people to start scanning you.
At last I have found a use for my N95's Barcode Reader!
Even better than that, you can turn your N95 into a light saber!
"Update: it seemed a bit silly to have a post about QR codes that didn’t include a code. So, what does that pattern of black and white squares mean?"
All your barcodes are belong to us!
Where do I claim my prize BTW? 
This is FANTASTIC ...
... and also slightly sad at the same time !!
xD
Uber sad - I spent ages playing with this 
Nice avatar
"Phil Richardson - Business Support Analyst & Geek"
I had to increase the image size somewhat before my phone would pick it up though.
"I had to increase the image size somewhat before my phone would pick it up though."
That's because the wordpress template doesn't display the avatars at full size. If you view one of phil's forum posts you get the full size avatar.
Give the NeoReader a try 
It is able to read and decipher all common non-proprietary 2D codes (Data Matrix, QR, Aztec, Maxi) as well as URL embedded 2D codes and all 1D UPC/EAN/Code 128 open source codes. The NeoReader supports direct and indirect code linking, which guarantees maximum interoperability with already existing platforms like 2D Data Matrix Semacodes, and Japanese QR links. This allows the user to click on a variety of codes with a single application installed on their mobile device.
Here at Plusnet we're always trying to use clever open source things to make our lives easier. Sometimes we write our own and make other people's lives easier too!
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