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Patching Things Up

// August 27th, 2008 // View Comments // Technology

p8tch is an idea by John Young. You all know about QRCodes, right? They’re a two-dimensional barcode system that is super popular in Japan, and they look like this:

Each QRCode image can hold a small bundle of information, which can be quickly decoded and displayed, often by a camera-equipped cellphone. In Japan it’s often used for marketing, social networking, and of course, porn. A lack of support from US carriers and phone manufacturers has led to the QRCode never really taking root here in America. A number of phone applications have been released to read the QRCode, including a fairly decent one for the iPhone.

What John Young has done is begun selling patches customized each with their own unique QRCodes. The really cool thing about this is that the url that the patch’s code directs to is completely up to you. You could use it to link to your email address, flickr photostream, facebook profile, personal blog, or to a map. It’s a real-life anchor to the digital world. There are a handful of different patches to choose from, each with a unique logo such as this one:

Facebook Apps

// August 20th, 2008 // View Comments // Entertainment

As a general rule, I don’t like them.

Most, if not nearly all, serve no purpose beyond cluttering up a profile with electronic junk. Super Walls and Bouncy Balls and Hot or Nots.

And then came Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures.

It’s a promotional thing Wizards of the Coast and Facebook have teamed up on. You pick a character and class, and you go out on solo adventures, killing monsters, completing quests, and (most importantly) gathering up a sweet arsenal of weapons and armor.

What’s this doing on a ‘social’ website?

By inviting your friends, they become adventurers as well. While they can’t help you directly with your quests, what they can do is grant you enhancement bonuses to your abilities, and even heal you.

If you’re looking for a fun little timesink or an amusing and nerdy distraction while at work, you might want to check it out.

Log in to Facebook and click here.

What Can Brown Do For You?

// August 1st, 2008 // View Comments // Entertainment

Well, after working for them for two decades, they can deliver your body in its casket to the cemetary in a UPS truck. At least they didn’t lose the body in transit, that would have been a pretty awkward Loss Claim to file. Still, a very cool way to go out with style.