What is a QR code?

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Quick response or QR codes such as the one at left are appearing everywhere - in magazines, brochures and newpapers, in stores, on billboards and other advertisements, in BlackBerry Messenger, on your grocery packaging and even on rooftops.  

With a scanner app downloaded on our smartphones, we can scan these codes and access online content such as websites, Twitter pages, videos, contests and other multi-media content about products, stores and services.  Many of the scanner apps are also able to scan EZ codes,  Data Matrix codes and Universal Product Code or UPC codes.

Wikipedia describes QR codes as:

a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols).^[1]

Created by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 to track vehicles during the manufacturing process,^{[2][unreliable source?]} the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. It was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.*

 Check out the links below to learn more about QR codes, how they are used and how you can create your own!

• Code scanner: iPhone/iPad, Android, BlackBerry
• Q&A: Make a Quick QR Code
• HOW TO: Create and Deploy Your Own QR Codes
• 7 Great Uses For QR Codes & How To Generate Your Own For Free
• 5 Ways QR Codes Could Shake Up the 2012 Election
• Noticed:  Want More Information? Just Scan Me
• Smartphones turn bar code squares into sales tools - highlights a variety of ways in which QR codes are being used
• Using a QR Code to Build Your List
• Rooftop QR Codes Aim to Infiltrate Google Maps
• Facebook Places, FourSquare and the future of QR codes
• HOW TO: Use QR Codes for Event Marketing
• 13 Creative Ways to Use QR Codes for Marketing
• HOW TO: Use QR Codes for Small Business Marketing
• Starbucks QR Codes Tell You More About Its Coffee
• eBay Opens Scannable Storefront in Manhattan QR codes take you to product pages

 

With the good news, there is always the bad:

• New Security Threat: Infected QR Codes
• 5 reasons you’re probably wasting time with QR codes

 

*Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code

Use Microsoft's templates for Thanksgiving craft projects

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Check out Microsoft's templates, here, for ideas for Thanksgiving craft projects.  For an extra special touch at your Thanksgiving dinner, try the menu templates :)  You can also find Thanksgiving themed images and clip art from Microsoft, here.

What is RFID?

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You may not know what radio-frequency identification or RFID is but you may have already seen one if you have purchased a CD and DVD with anti-theft tag on its case; if you live in the Northeastern US and use the E-ZPass system to pay tolls or if you have obtained a US passport since October of 2006.  As RFID's are adopted for more uses in our worlds, we want to share some background on this technology.  RFID is defined by Wikipedia as: 

a technology that uses radio waves to transfer data from an electronic tag, called RFID tag or label, attached to an object, through a reader for the purpose of identifying and tracking the object. Some RFID tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader. The application of bulk reading enables an almost-parallel reading of tags.

The tag's information is stored electronically. The RFID tag includes a small RF transmitter and receiver. An RFID reader transmits an encoded radio signal to interrogate the tag. The tag receives the message and responds with its identification information. Many RFID tags do not use a battery. Instead, the tag uses the radio energy transmitted by the reader as its energy source. The RFID system design includes a method of discriminating several tags that might be within the range of the RFID reader.

Read the full Wikipedia definition of RFID, here.

Check out the links below to learn more about how RFID technology is being used in a variety of industries and applications:

• SPORTS - New York Marathon Runners Getting Digital Love from RFID Chips
• FUEL - RFID Monitors Wastewater Disposal at Hydrofracking Sites
• HEALTH CARE - RFID tags linked to EHRs help keep track of ED patients
• BEVERAGE PRODUCTION + LOSS REVENTION RFID Targets Draft Beer
• PUBLISHING - Do you want a smart book?
• RETAIL + LOSS PREVENTION  - Christopher Burch Plots Slew of Ventures
• SECURITY - Security: The latest in access controls
• Xerox researchers leading way with RFID innovations

More on using your social media influence for good

Tweet We blogged previously about using your social media influence for good.  Since then, we noticed a few more articles about ways non-profits can connect with donors and volunteers in the digital space who are looking to use their social media influence to do good:

• Why Social Media Is a Game-Changer for Causes
• How can philanthropists make the most of social media?
• 11 Innovative Crowdfunding Platforms for Social Good
• Can UNAIDS Crowdsource a Strategy to Combat HIV/AIDS?
• 3 Innovative Ways Non-Profits Are Leveraging Blogs 
• Do Celebrities Really Help Online Causes?
• 1MillionShirts Leverages Social Media to Help Clothe Africa