You can't get much dorkier than a) knitting or b) reminiscing about your misspent youth jerking the stick with Space Invaders. Combine the two, however, and you'll be the most fashionable kid at Legoland. Add a random sampling of mystery QR codes and Mister Green Jeans himself will be asking you for couture tips. Best get your order for the $66 Invader Scarf in soon though, Lendorff Kaywa is only knitting 500.

[Via Oh GizMo!]

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 video
Read -- About QR codes

Here in the US of A, a do-it-all bizhub that cranks out caffeinated beverages would do us a whole lot more good than one that speaks QR Code, but we can certainly see the relevance when marketed in Japan. Ricoh's uber-snazzy MP C4500it can not only fax, scan, copy, e-mail, and print with the big boys, but it can easily boost the productivity of the average office administrator by understanding a command-laden QR Code. Reportedly, users can scan the QR Code before getting down to business, and the machine will automatically interpret and adjust to match your desired settings -- you know, duplex, 400dpi, compressed PDF with a personalized header on top -- rather than forcing you to use the intern's arrangement. Additionally, you can load up data through the built-in USB port / SD card slot and see where the paper jam is on the 10.4-inch color touchscreen, but first you'll have to hand over a whopping ¥2,280,000 ($18,694).

[Via TokyoMango]

Although this certainly won't go down as the first attempt to integrate cellphones into discrete marketing, Japan's largest online shopping mall operator is apparently taking advantage of the country's oh-so-superior handsets and offering up tantalizing "promotional videos" for consumers who snap pictures of ads. Rakuten is reportedly set to hand out thousands of pilot issues of a magazine, Zero90, in hopes that mobile-wielding readers will snap photos of certain articles in exchange for a free commercial intellectually stimulating media clip. While this sounds an awful lot like QR codes, the actual technology used in the pages isn't mentioned, but we do know that Japan-based Clementec is behind it -- and you thought print media had too many plugs as is.

[Via Physorg]

You just forget everything you know about that QR coding qrap 'cause Fujitsu just went next-gen with the introduction of FPcodes. Like QR codes, Fine Picture codes allow you to photograph the code with your trusty cameraphone and then be redirected to a URL for the product. However, instead of looking like a greasy black smudge, the pale yellow FPcode is printed directly onto the image of the product, just snap the product and off you go. FPcode-printed catalogs and magazines are expected to be released as early as October and require the download of a free app to use. Now considering we don't even have QR implemented yet, we'll call you daddy on this one Japan.

[Via lariviereauxcanards]