Instant QR Code

So you've found a YouTube on your computer but you want to step away from your desk and take the video with you.... what a hassle?  Nope - here's a quick-as-a-flash solution...

Drag to your bookmarks bar: QRify!

Now, visit any page, click the bookmarklet and snap the resulting QR code with your phone!

What is this?

QR Codes are a form of two-dimensional barcode that the Deep Blue Sky team has been using to decorate our lion, Spot, with over the past couple of weeks for the Lions of Bath public art event.

Most smartphones support QR Codes either natively or through a reader app.  You'll need to browse your own App Store for a reader but there are plenty of good cheap or free ones available.

Basically a QR code can store a whole lot of information - geo-locations, web links, contact data - and when your phone's camera sees the information it interprets it and acts upon it... opening your map app at the right location, browser on the right web page or adding the contact.

How does the bookmark work?

Well, it uses Google's URL shortener to create a short link. ( The shorter the link, the less information for the barcode. The simpler the barcode, the easier for your phone to scan... ).  Google's URL shortener has a cute extra feature that means you can have the URL as a QR code instead of redirecting you to the site.. 

All you do is add .qr to the end of your short link:

• http://goo.gl/y0vX -> Deep Blue Sky
• http://goo.gl/y0vX.qr -> The QR Code pictured above.

Now the bookmarklet itself uses a server side script by a chap called Matthew Flaschen who has provided a simplified API for creating the links.  I've basically lifted his example script, added the .qr concatenation and stuck it in a link to be bookmarked.  Standing on the shoulders and all that!

It's only a small variation to Matthew's original but serves a slightly different purpose. 

There's also a very good Google Chrome extension for doing much the same.