coding

Review: QR Code Reader is less effective than its competitors

QR Code Reader is a basic application that allows the user to read QR codes and take action depending on the information stored in them. There are many good applications available that are capable of this function, but this one doesn't seem to be one of them.

Once QR Code Reader has been downloaded it opens quite sluggishly. On the Samsung Galaxy Nexus it took 15 seconds to open the application. For such a small application this delay seems unexplainable. The user interface features no controls. It simply displays a viewfinder window that must be lined up with the … Read more

Findables case turns your entire smartphone into a business card

QR codes haven't exactly set the world on fire, yet most people know what they are, and most phones can scan them, either out of the box or with a third-party app.

The Findables Case takes that idea to heart by emblazoning a unique QR code on each hard-plastic shell, the idea being to use that code to share information about yourself or help recover your lost phone.

In other words, your case can now take the place of your business card, while at the same time offering good Samaritans a means of contacting you (that doesn't involve poring through your address book).

When someone scans the code, they'll see one of three profiles (chosen by you via a companion app or the Findables Web site): Business, Social, or Lost.… Read more

Sole female, minor coder wins hackathon with anti-spoiler app

As the father of a 5-year-old girl who adores all things princess but also digs stars and comets and mastered the user interface for both Android and iOS in about half a day, I'm always on the look out for Geek Grrl role models. So the new hero in my household is Jennie Lamere.

This 17-year-old grrl loves both reality television and hackathons and tapped into those two passions to win the grand prize at the TVnext hack event in Boston last month. Her brilliantly simple hack, first detailed on evolver.fm, is designed to prevent spoilers on Twitter while watching live TV.

Surely we've all shaken our fists in the air when a fellow "Walking Dead" or "Game of Thrones" fan in a different time zone tweets about the latest character to get eliminated while you're still popping popcorn and getting the couch ready for the evening's gore-fest.

Lamere's Google Chrome app, Twivo, allows users to block any tweets related to a certain keyword or words for a specified period of time, allowing you to keep up with the rest of the Twitterverse during commercial breaks without ruining the show you're watching.

Smart pajamas read your kids a bedtime story

Technology has tiptoed into kids' pajamas with onesies covered in QR codes that link to bedtime stories.

"It's time for bed, Tommy. Brush your teeth, put on your PJs, and let's scan you."

Smart PJs, called the world's "first and only interactive pajamas," require downloading a free app for iOS or Android and scanning one of dozens of codes from the Smart PJs with a smartphone or tablet. The device then reads aloud a story, sings a lullaby, or broadcasts pictures of animals or other bedtime-appropriate cuteness. … Read more

How Code for America upgrades local government

Is there any greater test of one's patience than dealing with local government? Whether waiting in line at the DMV, applying for a building permit, or fighting a parking ticket, I'm always left wondering why there isn't an app for that. Now cities are getting a high-tech boost thanks to Code for America, a nonprofit organization founded by Jennifer Pahlka.

Since 2011, Code for America has awarded fellowships to a carefully chosen group of tech professionals and paired them with cities across the U.S. that are looking to improve the way their government is run, whether … Read more

AT&T partners with Scanbuy for mobile bar code services

AT&T is making it easier for businesses to launch new mobile marketing campaigns using QR code technology.

The telecom giant is partnering with Scanbuy to allow businesses to create campaigns that can trigger actions such as linking to a video or generating an e-mail, as well as help expand brand awareness using designer QR codes. AT&T Mobile Barcode Services also will enable businesses to give consumers access to product information, promotions, coupons, and other items after the consumers scan a bar code.

"AT&T Mobile Barcode Services can help a business to execute, monitor, … Read more

Apple: Suppliers now 99 percent compliant with work week policy

Apple's suppliers have achieved a new compliance mark for employee hours, according to the iPhone maker.

To shed light on how its suppliers are behaving, Apple launched its Supplier Responsibility page early last year. This page attempts to show how suppliers are faring with such issues as excessive overtime, underage workers, and other violations of Apple's Supplier Code of Conduct.

Compliance with the 60-hour work week limit varied throughout 2012. But in January, the rate reached a record of 99 percent, Apple revealed yesterday on the Supplier Responsibility page

The number of workers we track has increased from … Read more

Zuckerberg and Gates join the learn-to-code movement

Hey, kids: coding is cool -- so cool that everyone from Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg to NBA baller Chris Bosh wants you to do it.

The celebrities are using their star power to draw attention to Code.org, a nascent nonprofit foundation that seeks to cultivate computer programming education in schools and direct people to online coding tools.

Zuckerberg and Bosh join hip-hop artist Will.i.am, Microsoft legend Bill Gates, Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, and others in a new YouTube video designed to get students, and their teachers by association, excited about coding. The video is directed by … Read more

Photoshop 1.0 source code now a museum artifact

The Computer History Museum has made the source code for Photoshop 1.0.1 into an exhibit that lets the public, or at least programmers, appreciate the inner workings of the historic software.

The museum published the software yesterday, following up on its earlier release of the source code underlying Apple's original MacPaint.

Source code is what humans write -- in Photoshop 1.0's case the brothers Thomas and John Knoll. The initial Photoshop is written in written 128,000 lines of code, a combination of the high-level Pascal programming language and low-level assembly-language instructions. When converted to … Read more

Adobe releases source code for 1990 version of Photoshop

How would you like to download a free and legal version of Photoshop?

Yep, free and legal. Better yet, it's an original -- as in the original version (1.0.1) that was released in 1990.

Via a special arrangement with Adobe Systems, the Computer History Museum announced in a blog post today that it has made available for download the entire 128,000 lines of source code for the first version of Photoshop: … Read more