You may have noticed a new kind of square barcode popping up all over the place, which are most likely QR codes. Actually there are a few different kinds of barcodes, but they all have the same basic purpose – using your smartphone’s camera to access information encoded on anything in the physical world.

I think of this as putting hyperlinks on any surface you see – anywhere. This is huge.

It’s the best thing I’ve seen bridging the real world of signs and paper to the virtual world of Web and mobile. With the right app you can transfer information such as contact data from a name tag or view the trailer for the movie review you’re reading. The possibilities are endless and they aren’t limited to scanning the physical world since you can scan a code on an LCD monitor and take the information with you.

Earlier this week I noticed an otherwise unmarked white cargo truck with QR codes on the back and sides. I didn’t get a chance to scan the code to see if it was a subtle marketing experiment or used for logistics tracking, but I did get the picture below.

In addition to seeing these pop up in magazines recently, I saw one Tuesday night on a Dance Flight program by DanceWorks Chicago, who recently became an Astek client. The link goes to an extended program with videos and other multimedia material you can’t get on paper.

Try scanning the QR code above. I use QuickMark on my iPhone, which works quite well scanning screens and paper. You can download QuickMark here.

Social media writer and consultant Rachel Yeomans recently posted an article spotting a QR code on Facebook for Net-a-Porter’s new mobile site:

For an example of the Microsoft Tag, which I think is a bit too colorful to be practically incorporated into most branding, I scanned an ad from the current issue of Entertainment Weekly (yes, someone else in the office has a guilty pleasure). Scan the code below to view a YouTube trailer for The Green Hornet on your mobile device. You’ll need to download a tag reader free from Microsoft.

If you’re envisioning a world in which we all wander around scanning each other for information, well, you’re probably not too far off. But this is all an interim step until the technology becomes so ubiquitous that we don’t even need our phones to do the scanning. At that point privacy and social concerns will take over the conversation from technology.

You can generate your own QR code to try out the technology. Post a comment if you’ve seen some interesting QR codes out there or think of any great uses for this technology.

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Andy Swindler Categories: Fun, Gadget, Marketing, Social Media, Technology, Web

I can’t believe it…

“Currently almost any text a user can see as they interact with a SWF file on your site can be indexed by Googlebot and used to generate a snippet or match query terms in Google searches.” Google said Thursday.

Not that the other guys are good at it yet, SO don’t start developing all your sites in flash that depend on high-ranking natural search. Read the entire article, and then – search for anything on Google, (except for “flash official web site”) and let me know if any flash sites come up even in the top ten.

Have fun.

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Tom Lynch Categories: General

Another Google search gadget! Yes it is Google  Instant Previews.

“Click once on the magnifying glass in the search results to instantly see a preview of the web page.” Google says.

They even call out text on the page. This could very well be the death knell for doorway pages.   Pages just built for search engines using duplicate content or content strictly built to support a keyword strategy used to lure in unsuspecting surfers. Does anybody like these pages? Don’t you feel duped when you get there?

Finally you can see before you click through – no more,  “damn, not another page full of garbage looking for my email address, or worse is trying to load a virus on my machine”.

Yes other search engines came out with this first but Google’s is better.  I especially like the size of the preview and the text call out based on the text you entered in your search.

Website design “should” change to make your previews stand out…

BTW – getting a droid 2 tonight looking forward to loading it up with all the apps.

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Tom Lynch Categories: Gadget, google, Search Engine Optimization

Don’t be alarmed by the message above!  It’s only a screenshot!  And besides, when it came up for many IE 8 users today, it was baloney.

Reports came in today that some of our sites were being flagged as potential threats, and then just as mysteriously, the problem went away.  It turns out this was the result of IE 8′s SmartScreen technology throwing false positives.  Microsoft eventually fixed the problem.  It seems they maintain a remote database of unsafe sites, and somehow many upstanding websites, including ones such as Visa and Moneytree, were lumped in for a time today.

Microsoft hasn’t yet fully explained the incident, but I’m hoping they release some more substantive details.  I’ll post them here if they do.

Source: ZDNet.

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Andrew Crowe Categories: Technology, Web

The Working Wardrobe, an Astek blog consulting client, just made #4 in Forbes’ list of The 20 Best Fashion Blogs for Professional Women. Hats off to Rachel Yeomans and her team for achieving such an honor in little more than a year of publication.

After working with Rachel to establish the initial strategy and infrastructure of her blog, nothing gives us more joy than seeing it soar like this. Once a publication is off and running, the majority of the hard work is in the diligence and discipline of writing and editing. In addition to that, Rachel has a natural ability to cleverly leverage social media channels to reach the people for whom she and her team write.

The Working Wardrobe is a publication geared towards the working individual–be it on finding a job, maintaining that job, interviewing for that job, or changing jobs–all the while knowing what to wear for that specific occasion. Please join us in congratulating The Working Wardrobe for their ongoing success!

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Andy Swindler Categories: Entrepreneurship, Fun, Marketing, Social Media, Web