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Microsoft co-opts QR codes, Pet Shop Boys 'not stoked'
Microsoft has announced that they're jumping onto the mobile tagging thing, having developed a system of High Capacity Color Barcodes that encode information in tags smaller than those allowed by QRCode and Datamatrix formats. Additionally, the specification has been designed to work with out-of-focus and fixed-focus cameras, making the thing more feasible for cellphone use. Although the "humanities" angle is kind of cute -- the company is rightfully stoked over the fact that HCCBs were on exhibit at MoMA in New York -- this is clearly aimed at organizations looking to sell more people even more useless junk. Hooray for conspicuous consumption!
The Pet Shop Boys embed QR codes in latest Orwellian video
Like synth pop and personal freedom? Good, 'cause the Pet Shop Boys have a new video which combines the two with the obvious appeal of personal gadgetry. Their new video for "Integral," a critique of the Big Brother surveillance state which rides the slogan "if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear," embeds QR codes linking viewers directly to on-line content about issues of civil liberties. Perfect for the dozen or so civil libertarians with QR-enabled cellphones living outside of Japan. The PSBs have made all 2,408 stop-frame QRs available for download so that you can embed them in your own YouTube dystopian rant against the erosion of Britney's freedoms.[Thanks, ZSW]Read -- Integral videoRead -- About QR codes
