But "loss prevention" officers at the Target on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino had never seen anyone take an interest in bar codes quite like Thomas Langenbach, a top Silicon Valley executive with the global software giant SAP. Prosecutors charged Monday that Langenbach used the tools of his trade -- computer codes and the Internet -- to steal a Santa's workshop worth of Lego toys. They say Langenbach brought his own bar code stickers to the store, used them to cover up the real ones, and then purchased his plastic prey at enormous discounts.

Qoppa Software today announces the new release of PDF Automation Server 3.2 with expanded Word to PDF conversion, including support for conversion of Word files with the .docx extension to PDF. PDF Automation Server is a reliable and affordable system to automate PDF workflows. This unique product, based on Qoppa's proprietary PDF technology, automates the receiving, processing, and routing of files on Windows, Mac, Linux, Unix, and any other Java enabled platform.

a JavaScript library that can be used to generate fully customizable QR codes. The QR editing and encoding functionality is 100% done on the client. You are not dependent on internet access or any server side libraries to create and customize your very own QR code! There are two export formats supported right now: image/png and .SVG After including the script there will be an object called QR added to the global scope and by accessing it’s encode function you will be able to generate your codes. The item contains the script, an example with some usecases and a README containing the documentation for the library.

Generate QR codes with images in them!

"QR codes are 2-dimensional bar codes that encode arbitrary text strings. A common use of QR codes is to encode URLs so that people can scan a QR code (for example, on an advertising poster, building roof, volleyball bikini, belt buckle, or airplane banner) to load a web site on a cell phone instead of having to “type” in a URL.

QR codes are encoded using Reed-Solomon error-correcting codes, so that a QR scanner does not have to see every pixel correctly in order to decode the content. The error correction makes it possible to introduce a few errors (fewer than the maximum that the algorithm can fix) in order to make an image. For example, in 2008, Duncan Robertson took a QR code for “http://bbc.co.uk/programmes” (left) and introduced errors in the form of a BBC logo (right):


That's a neat trick and a pretty logo, but it's uninteresting from a technical standpoint. Although the BBC logo pixels look like QR code pixels, they are not contribuing to the QR code. The QR reader can't tell much difference between the BBC logo and the Union Jack. There's just a bunch of noise in the middle either way.


Since the BBC QR logo appeared, there have been many imitators. Most just slap an obviously out-of-place logo in the middle of the code. This Disney poster is notable for being more in the spirit of the BBC code.

There's a different way to put pictures in QR codes. Instead of scribbling on redundant pieces and relying on error correction to preserve the meaning, we can engineer the encoded values to create the picture in a code with no inherent errors."

read all about the new scripting environment

20.1 million mobile phone owners in the U.S. used their device to scan a QR code in the three-month average period ending October 2011.

Among these mobile users who used their phone to scan a QR code, 59.4% did so from home, while 44% did so from a retail store and 26.6% did so from a grocery store. 21.4% scanned a QR code while at work, while 11.2% did so outside or on public transportation with nearly 10% scanning a QR code while in a restaurant.