Tacos & Tech

Ok, so I’m writing this over lunch, Taco Bell, and I’m expecting to have to clean up grease stains from the keyboard later. Which, surprisingly, I don’t care all that much about. Taco Bell is teh nom. I’ve got a steak quesadilla, a crunchy taco, & a huge soda, so I’m set. Okay, let’s talk tech. Ooooh, gettin’ that fuzzy feelin’ deep inside…

So I’ve determined that I am really bad. Really, really bad. I get excited about tech way too much for my own good. Example? ScanLife. I spent about an hour last night, just pouring over all the things that you can do with those little 2D barcodes. It’s quite awesome. So much information, in those tiny little squares. They’re put up for scavenger hunts, website links, car information, download ringtones or videos, coupon codes, contact information, making phone calls, creating emails, sending text messages… The list really can, and does, go on. It has amazing potential for the spread of information. Take, for example, a promotion a certain author(s) did for their audiobook promotion a few years back. Y’know, where he had his deciples tuck information cards into book of the same or similar genre at bookstores & libraries? What if that had been a ScanLife 2D code instead? Instead of looking at the information outright, having to carry the card around, and potentially lose it, all the finder has to do is take a picture!! It’s automatically saved to their phone, and the code could send the phone to the author’s website, or automatically download & play a clip from the book, and they don’t have to carry around paper to lose – all the information’s stored in the ScanLife application’s history to go back to later. I’m keeping my eye out for codes in the wild, I’m really excited to see where they’ll be found and how they’ll be used.

The ScanLife software can be used on your mobile phone, and you can sign up on the ScanLife website to create your own codes. I made one, it’s got my contact information. It’ll create a contact entry in your phone for you. It’d be great to put on business cards, especially ones that charge per line and character. The software is compatible with  Palm phones, and Java-enabled phones, Windows Mobile, Android, Apple, BlackBerry & Symbian phones. All you have to do is take a picture.

Another great thing about the codes is that once they’re created, they can stay out there without worrying about updating the code. All you have to do is update the site, or information the codes carry, and they never have to be redistributed as “updated” codes! I can change my phone number or email address in my contact information on the ScanLife website, but never have to worry about re-creating the codes themselves. The code will automatically retrieve the correct information.

Let’s try an experiment, shall we? Get the ScanLife software, and snap this code.

I look forward to seeing the results!!

Yours In Tech,

Jett