how would you use it?

I've seen them on various things like shipping labels, but have never had to create or use one.

I try not to use anything too subtle or needlessly complicated because I would have to provide secret decoder rings for people to really 'get' my designs, and I think that would cut into my profit margin.

i think in japan they have this codes on products. scan it with ur mobile phone for info, discounts etc... wonderful. there's one in the local papers too. they use it to promote stuff and all. save on ad space i guess. some of these codes can be very colorful...

once my country go fully 3G, these stuff will pop up more i guess. =)

Can I get a tattoo of that?

Why not?

She might have used the design for her tattoo

The picture you posted is a Smartcode or something if my memory serves me right. Mostly used in transport/on products(?).
The barcode that is popular in Japan is called QR (Quick Response). They print it on different stuff, and you can use your mobile phone to read the code and for example get an URL that you can use to get content related to whatever the QR is printed on.
One of the main reasons that 2d barcodes are more popular in Japan is that the phones already have readers installed when you buy them.

You can download a free QR reader to your mobile phone (if it's supported) here:
http://reader.kaywa.com/

We recently had a project together with SINTEF (a research organization) here in Norway, where they created a barcode called CybStickers. This was a little test project at a Norwegian film festival. Read more about it here

This code is not so "advanced" as the QR-code, meaning that it can only contain a certain amount of information (a couple of numbers).
Since no phones here are included with a barcode reader, we used MMS.
You would see a CybSticker on the street, pull out your mobile phone and take a picture of it, send it to a 4 digit phone number and get a MMS containing a video in return.

wow that's cool fredrich!
I'd spend all day scanning stickers over there!

nice post frederich

A co-worker showed me a bit about QR with his Sharp phone from Japan. That one had a QR reader/creator integrated.

He did one very cool thing, which was scanning several QR codes (9 I think), and when he was done, the information collected from the barcodes became a small picture.

It sounds cool, but I'd like to see some real application for the hassle. As of right now, QR just seems like another venue for advertising. Do we really need more of that?

"Collect all bar codes in your Happy Meal and get a free ring tone."

Ugh. I'd love for the US to get this technology if they found a practical application for it. I noticed that you could store phone numbers in it, which would be great on business cards.

For sure, scan a list of numbers with your phone and they are instantly on there. Good thinking.

you can store any info on it... i am actually currently using them on my business cards as it can hold my email, web addy, phone numbers and a happy greeting all in one and will scan directly onto a phone - so no messing around typing numbers and stuff in... time saver