Nerdbait

[Russell]

I would love to use this Nerdbait as advertising for NottingHack

http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Ultimate-Nerdbait-How-to-Make-Scannable-QR-Co/

There must be an easy way to make the stencils

[Martin Raynsford]

I reckon a qr code next to your new H on the front door would be pretty good. Could tell people all sorts of info about the group readable by geeky people.

I reckon rubber stamp/potato print is the way forward on this one. Funky foam cut to the right shape, backed with a bit of wood.

If someone wants to do the qr code then I'll knock a stamp up, I have all the stuff to hand. perhaps it should say the group name, come join us on open hack night, details, or visit the website, the url.

Martin

[Roger Light]

On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 8:42 AM, Martin Raynsford
<msray...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> I reckon a qr code next to your new H on the front door would be pretty
> good. Could tell people all sorts of info about the group readable by geeky
> people.
>
> I reckon rubber stamp/potato print is the way forward on this one. Funky
> foam cut to the right shape, backed with a bit of wood.

I like it. I guess it'd show how robust the qr codes are if printed
with potatoes :)

Alternatively, anybody want to try some needle work?

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=376042.0

Cheers,

Roger

[Jake Howe]

Might I suggest stickers? Slightly less illegal than graffiti. (all for spray painting on our build though)

Not the most clever idea to graffiti items around town that lead clean back to us.

J

[Benjamin Gray]

Ah crap! Wish someone had said that earlier!!

[David Hayward]

The guy in the instructible uses poster paint so it washes away, but that can still lead to people being annoyed. They won't assume it's non-permanent, and when a company did this ( http://www.metro.co.uk/news/857359-reverse-graffiti-artists-cleaning-urban-environment-to-spread-message ) to advertise something on Millennium Square in Birmingham, it hung around for months when they'd assured everyone it'd be gone in weeks.

David

[Russell]

So maybe flyers with the QR code and nowt else on them?

Though I love the idea of a hackspace rubber stamp and pad to carry
around.

[Martin Raynsford]

Flyers without any other information, although enigmatic, rule out people who don't quite get it and it seems to be a bit of a waste of an opportunity.

Definitely have to be careful about where you end up advertising if you want to use some guerilla tactics, need to make sure it is appreciated.

On a side note would it be worth creating slightly different qr codes for the different forms of adverts. You could include a parameter in the url for nottinghack which would then tell us where the qr code was canned from, allowing the second wave of adverts to be targeted more effectively.

[Russell]

So are the board members getting tatoos?

[James Hayward]

We already have tattoos, but they're not in a publicly viewable place...

sent from my HTC Desire

[Jake Howe]

We were planning to put QR codes on the recent flyers we gave out. However, having a QR code on something someone takes away kinda defeats the purpose. Also, on any media, its better to have a blue F, or a little bird where the QR code would sit.

[Russell]

Oh my, and do you scan yourselves in private?
Do you you scan each other in private?
Actually please don't tell me it's already a scary image in my head

[Matt Lloyd]

Can we embed the h in the qr codes?

http://contentdeveloper.com/2010/01/how-to-customize-qr-codes-with-your-brands-identity/

'RepRap' Matt

Sent from my iPad 2

[James Hayward]

Jake, what do you mean by a blue F or little bird? Why?

sent from my HTC Desire

[Jake Howe]

I did play around with our logo inside of QR codes when looking at them for posters.

I do however much prefer that first example where the QR code is part of the design.

Jake

[David Hayward]

Nerds love QR codes. I do. I like, for instance, finding them on textures in games, then finding they contain the name of an artist who wanted more than just his name in the credits.

They are, however, absolutely *RUBBISH* for promoting stuff. Loading an app, positioning yourself in line with the code, waiting for the camera to focus, taking the photo, then taking another because the low light made the autofocus suddenly twitch, then finally decoding it, and getting a URL out of it is a frustrating and pointless waste of time. Lots of people can't be arsed with it, especially not on a busy street or a tube platform. It's an appallingly bad usability model and people just don't tend to do that much dicking around with adverts.

I'm not poo-pooing it altogether. They're a nice way to be cryptic and playful, and can work well if put in unusual places, but there are better ways of reaching large amounts of people.

David

[Jake Howe]

My point was that regardless of peoples views of the services, Facebook and Twitter are way more recognisable than a QR code, to most.. :P

[Matt Lloyd]

New rule members need tattooed QR code on wrists to gain access to the Hackspace

'RepRap' Matt
Sent from my iPad 2

[David Hayward]

My point was that regardless of peoples views of the services, Facebook and Twitter are way more recognisable than a QR code, to most.. :P

Absolutely!

[James Hayward]

Ahhh! Yes, completely agree.

Also agree with David's points

sent from my HTC Desire

[James Hayward]

It would only take three scans and   a torch to get in!

sent from my HTC Desire

[Jake Howe]

Most phones that are going to be used to read a QR code, will be ones that also then open up a link on the internet.

Most people will probably just google 'Nottinghack' to find the URL despite there being the full URL infront of them.

[netsmith]

I agree with the title of the thread - QRCodes are nerdbait pure and simple. If thats your target audience they work well. There also seems to be a correlation between geeks and stickers too - we all like them right? So a biodegrable sticker session every once in the while sounds like it could work. The key to stickers is sticking them where people generally pause - eg bus stops, smoking areas outside pubs, outside ladies changing rooms, along side the queue outside the apple store when the iphone 5 comes out.
Geeks + Time on their hands + boredom + QRCodes = result.

I've just started looking at QR codes again for a client, last time I looked about 12mths ago the software on phones was slow and painful. All the new versions I've tried recently though are virtually instant. Many recognise the code while the screen is still blurred and the image is just sweeping into view. Its come on leaps and bounds in the past year.

if you want to attract non geeky people they are pants and you need a plan b.

(Completely random thought I wonder if you could create a QR code just by turning the appropriate lights on in an office block at night? Must have been done...)

[Roger Light]

On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 12:34 PM, Matt Lloyd <dps...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Can we embed the h in the qr codes?
> http://contentdeveloper.com/2010/01/how-to-customize-qr-codes-with-your-brands-identity/

How about http://atchoo.org/temp/nhqr.png ? No idea if it scans.

Cheers,

Roger

[Martin Raynsford]

I had a similar idea about using lights to do a qr code until i looked at how big the grid was. what about starting small with a lol shield to generate the pattern. you probably need to put a sheet of paper over the shield before taking the photos but it might work. Does it have enough resolution for the job?

[Russell]

> How abouthttp://atchoo.org/temp/nhqr.png? No idea if it scans.
>

Yes it does , at least with the online thingie I used

[Jon Spriggs]

It scans in Google Googles :)
--
Jon "The Nice Guy" Spriggs

[Jon Spriggs]

Er Google Goggles

--
Jon "The Nice Guy" Spriggs

[Dylan Swift]

> On 27 May 2011 01:11, Russell <russellje...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> How abouthttp://atchoo.org/temp/nhqr.png? No idea if it scans.
>>>
>>
>> Yes it does , at least with the online thingie I used
>>
>

No luck scanning it from my browser with my phone, but it does scan with my phone if shown in an image browser.

(phone is Nokia E71)

Does the H need reversing?

Dylan

[Roger Light]

> Does the H need reversing?

Ah, oops. I got it doing a screen grab on the H at the bottom of the
NH front page then did a copy-rotate-paste to complete the circle. I
obviously forgot to rotate it back again.

Cheers

Roger

[Jake Howe]

Can you all try this one on your phones

- link to view in browser http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6071434/NHqr.jpg

Works fine on my blackberry.

Figure it might be nice to add a cryptic clue where I put the words 'Nottingham Hackspace' something like 'Come and Play' or along those lines.

Jake

[David Hayward]

Google goggles just managed that fine. Looks good too.

David

[Martin Raynsford]

Check, works with an android phone

On 27 May 2011 09:43, Jake Howe <ho...@dr.com> wrote:

[Dylan Swift]

On 27 May 2011 09:43, Jake Howe <ho...@dr.com> wrote:

Can you all try this one on your phones

- link to view in browser http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6071434/NHqr.jpg

Works fine on my blackberry.

Figure it might be nice to add a cryptic clue where I put the words 'Nottingham Hackspace' something like 'Come and Play' or along those lines.

Fails on Nokia E71 - I don't think it can identify the bottom edge properly. 

Dylan

[Roger Light]

> Google goggles just managed that fine. Looks good too.

Yep, much clearer than my quick attempt.

Cheers,

Roger

[Benjamin Gray]

Very nice, works on my iphone with "scan"

[Michael Erskine]

Works well on my HTC Wildfire! Printout!

[jfowkes]

Works on my HTC Wildfire.

[Dominic Morrow]

I can see this would be something very cool to have on our walls inside the space. 

1. It looks awesome

2. It will be great for BarCamp and 

3. A number of folk who enter the Hackspace for other events are not members of Hackspace and may know nothing about it.

I think a version without the words Hackspace could also be put up at very carefully chosen places. This on a poster in Uni's would be good... Would like to get more students over the Summer and after that we've got the freshers weeks coming up.

Dominic

--
Dominic 

Nottingham Hackspace Organiser 

For more information about the Hackspace please visit us at

www.nottinghack.org.uk 

[Jake Howe]

Yeah, I like the idea of basically the QR code being the entire poster. Opposed to something sat in a corner. Big enough for people to scan from a distance as well.

Jake

On 27 May 2011, at 10:47, Dominic Morrow wrote:

I can see this would be something very cool to have on our walls inside the space. 

1. It looks awesome

2. It will be great for BarCamp and 

3. A number of folk who enter the Hackspace for other events are not members of Hackspace and may know nothing about it.

I think a version without the words Hackspace could also be put up at very carefully chosen places. This on a poster in Uni's would be good... Would like to get more students over the Summer and after that we've got the freshers weeks coming up.

Dominic

On 27 May 2011 10:41, Benjamin Gray <benbo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Very nice, works on my iphone with "scan"

On 27 May 2011 09:50, David Hayward <nach...@gmail.com> wrote:

Google goggles just managed that fine. Looks good too.

David

On 27 May 2011 09:43, Jake Howe <ho...@dr.com> wrote:

Can you all try this one on your phones

<NHqr.jpg>

- link to view in browser http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6071434/NHqr.jpg

Works fine on my blackberry.

Figure it might be nice to add a cryptic clue where I put the words 'Nottingham Hackspace' something like 'Come and Play' or along those lines.

Jake

On 27 May 2011, at 09:37, Roger Light wrote:

Does the H need reversing?

Ah, oops. I got it doing a screen grab on the H at the bottom of the
NH front page then did a copy-rotate-paste to complete the circle. I
obviously forgot to rotate it back again.

Cheers

Roger

[Jake Howe]

Hey Dylan, try this one attached instead.

Jake

On 27 May 2011, at 10:06, Dylan Swift wrote:

On 27 May 2011 09:43, Jake Howe <ho...@dr.com> wrote:

Can you all try this one on your phones

<NHqr.jpg>

- link to view in browser http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6071434/NHqr.jpg

Works fine on my blackberry.

Figure it might be nice to add a cryptic clue where I put the words 'Nottingham Hackspace' something like 'Come and Play' or along those lines.

[Dominic Morrow]

Yes I agree. I think an ordinary poster as well but somewhere else. This stands on it's own. As the subject line says it's nerd bait. 

Can anyone get one of these up in the Uni's? Derby, Nottingham Trent, Nottingham U and the Leicester Uni's?

Dominic

[Matt Lloyd]

Work with Scan and barcode using iPad2 camera and image on iphone4 screen

'RepRap' Matt

Sent from my iPhone 4

On 27 May 2011, at 10:51, Jake Howe <ho...@dr.com> wrote:

Hey Dylan, try this one attached instead.

Jake

<NHqr.jpg>

[Jake Howe]

So, how about I grab some A4 sticker sheet, make some smaller stickers, and also some A4 stickers?

Then if we want anything bigger, I have somewhere I can get posters from at a cheap cost.

Or, I could make a stencil, and spray paint a couple on the walls of the space. (one in each area)

Jake

[Dylan Swift]

On 27 May 2011 10:51, Jake Howe <ho...@dr.com> wrote:

Hey Dylan, try this one attached instead.

Jake

Unfortunately not - it seems to try to lock in on the words at the bottom rather than the QR code. If I cut the words (using GIMP) it still fails to lock on! I even tried greyscale and it still fails. 

Nevermind, it seems like most of the other QR scanners are OK with it.

Dylan

 

 

[netsmith]

Truly instant recognition on my iphone in both Scan and Redlaser (is it sad I have two qrcode readers on my phone?)

[Dominic Morrow]

Works really well on my iPhone 3G using i-nigma

I'd say a solid yes on all your suggestions Jake. We also need to think about putting up posters on Sunday... Did you make any progress on the Lady Ada poster?

Dominic

On 27 May 2011 11:28, netsmith <netsm...@googlemail.com> wrote:

Truly instant recognition on my iphone in both Scan and Redlaser (is it sad I have two qrcode readers on my phone?)

[netsmith]

I wonder though if instead of going to the blog listing it should just go to a landing page. That way you can push more specific content at different times in an attention grabbing way by editing the page, such as the open day. you can still add links from there to the blog etc.

[Jake Howe]

I will be picking up an A1 version of Lada Ada this afternoon! I can put out some A4 QR code posters on my colour laser for sunday, I also got a pack of blue tack to put all these posters up with.

Jake

[Dominic Morrow]

Hi Jake 

That's awesome. I think Chris might be right about the landing page but I don't see how we have time to add one in right now unless I ask James to do it. Chris is right because for instance when I used it on smart phone it took me to the blog in "phone" mode and it was a bit meaningless. 

Dominic

[Jake Howe]

Mhmm I agree, if you can get James to sort out something today, for me to print things off tomorrow, otherwise I will run with just the normal web address. We would sort out a proper landing page before we started stickering the town, or before I stencil them onto the walls. The A4 print outs could just be temporary for the weekend.

Jake

[James Hayward]

Try this address:

http://nottinghack.org.uk/?page_id=735

Dominic, try this on your iPhone first to make sure it shows up ok.

It's empty(ish) at the moment, but I'll sort it out as a landing page
tonight.

J

On May 27, 11:43 am, Jake Howe <h...@dr.com> wrote:
> Mhmm I agree, if you can get James to sort out something today, for me to print things off tomorrow, otherwise I will run with just the normal web address. We would sort out a proper landing page before we started stickering the town, or before I stencil them onto the walls. The A4 print outs could just be temporary for the weekend.
>
> Jake
>
> On 27 May 2011, at 11:40, Dominic Morrow wrote:
>
>
>
> > Hi Jake
>
> > That's awesome. I think Chris might be right about the landing page but I don't see how we have time to add one in right now unless I ask James to do it. Chris is right because for instance when I used it on smart phone it took me to the blog in "phone" mode and it was a bit meaningless.
>
> > Dominic
>

> > On 27 May 2011 11:35, Jake Howe <h...@dr.com> wrote:
> > I will be picking up an A1 version of Lada Ada this afternoon! I can put out some A4 QR code posters on my colour laser for sunday, I also got a pack of blue tack to put all these posters up with.
>
> > Jake
>
> > On 27 May 2011, at 11:31, Dominic Morrow wrote:
>
> >> Works really well on my iPhone 3G using i-nigma
>
> >> I'd say a solid yes on all your suggestions Jake. We also need to think about putting up posters on Sunday... Did you make any progress on the Lady Ada poster?
>
> >> Dominic
>

> >> On 27 May 2011 11:28, netsmith <netsmit...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> >> Truly instant recognition on my iphone in both Scan and Redlaser (is it sad I have two qrcode readers on my phone?)
>
> >> --
> >> Dominic
> >> Nottingham Hackspace Organiser
> >> For more information about the Hackspace please visit us at
> >>www.nottinghack.org.uk
>
> > --
> > Dominic
> > Nottingham Hackspace Organiser
> > For more information about the Hackspace please visit us at

> >www.nottinghack.org.uk- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Dominic Morrow]

It comes up as the classic page rather than the "phone view" probably because it's a webpage and not a blog?

Dominic

[David Hayward]

I'd suggest these for posters:

http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4075

I think the prices are around a couple of quid a week, and it would put some nerdbait right by the university library.

David

[Dominic Morrow]

Yes!! Great idea

[Michael Erskine]

I printed a few colour A4 to put up around the space.

[James Hayward]

Good, that's what I wanted!

sent from my HTC Desire

On 27 May 2011 11:54, "Dominic Morrow" <notti...@googlemail.com> wrote:

[Jake Howe]

How did they come out? The jpeg was only about A6 sized.

Will do fine for this sunday mind you.

[Michael Erskine]

On 27 May 2011 12:34, Jake Howe <ho...@dr.com> wrote:
> How did they come out? The jpeg was only about A6 sized.
>
> Will do fine for this sunday mind you.

The QR is fine (square edged so pixels scale perfectly) the text is
jaggy but still looks good enough

[Dominic Morrow]

Hello Folks

Just a reminder to everyone about our policy regarding graffiti and flyposting (which includes stickering)  

Under NO circumstances whatsoever will a Nottingham Hackspace poster or sticker be put up on a wall or other similar surface without the owners express permission. 

This QR thread has been superb and I'd like to make sure we all understand that we CAN achieve a lot from this by putting up items in appropriate places. 

Look forward to seeing you all on Sunday

Dominic 

[Jake Howe]

Yeah, I had mentioned early on the laws regarding graffiti and such.

It is still possible to get them all over the place, a lot of places are happy to put up posters etc.

Jake