Technological/practical "backward steps" we all just accept now

venmo is so annoying to try to get statements from.

There was a brief period here when counter services was still not allowed and a lot of pubs went to QR code menus, ordering and paying, which was fantastic you ordered and someone brought you your stuff. It also helped with the fact that a lot of hospitality businesses are understaffed right now because of the lack of overseas students and working holiday people. Unfortunately the ordering systems have gone but the staffing issues haven’t been resolved so servers ar ensuring a gut to keep up.

The main technological backward step with have with QR code’s here is that the state government venue check-in is too complex. They’ve tried to cram way too much data, it is hard for phones to pick up even in good light and is 100% fail in poor light.

i'm pretty sure my phone does not have the capability of scanning QR codes. i guess i could install an app or something?

Yea QR scan apps

I have to do that cos my phone's camera doesn't scan em

one QR menu problem I ran into recently occurred when the code to scan was in a cellular service dead zone

I used to have an iOS shortcut for QR codes but the default camera app now recognizes them and prompts you asking if you want to open the referenced site

My main use of QR codes is, oddly enough, on a hiking trail near my house. It runs alongside a river and at the popular swimming hole spots the city has put up a sign with a QR code you can scan to go to the webpage with the most recent water quality analysis, lets you know if the river is safe to swim in (which fluctuates all the time with rainfall, etc.). Pretty cool actually.

restos basically were only closed here for a tiny amount of time during the pandemic so ive been using QR codes like never before as it's very common for them to be used for menus. can't think that i had used a QR scanner before the pandemic maybe ever?

based on my experience university librarians circa 2010 fucking loved qr codes and put them on everything they possibly could

isn't there a Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle story about that?

My 9-year-old daughter was just marveling at how when she calls her grandparents on their landline, they can be in different parts of the house and pick up different handsets and both be a part of the conversation.

I was pretty shocked a few years ago when I tried to get a proper landline *in NYC* (for emergencies mainly) and there was virtually no practicable way to do it.

Oh really? Do tell. We still have one and I believe you lived pretty close by.

Everything using USB cables now means that every cord has two points that can easily become disconnected.

QR codes and apps for everything is making it increasingly impractical for me to have a flip phone instead of a smartphone, and I'm bummed about that because not having a smartphone with me everywhere I go has vastly improved my quality of life.

I have smartphone (an older android) and QR codes never seem to work. It's weird being at a restaurant with a QR code to see the menu when there's no backup option (esp during Covid when some places are opting not to use physical menus).

I haven't seen or used a QR code in a few years now. I remember the game Guacamelee included a useless one as a joke just to troll players.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5v8D-alAKE

based on my experience university librarians circa 2010 fucking loved qr codes and put them on everything they possibly could

― joygoat, Thursday, March 25, 2021 1:37 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

haha i remember those years. my librarian boss was obsessed with them. afaict no one cared at the time.

then i noticed realtors and developers getting really into them.

i haven't been budged into using them for anything yet. i like urls tyvm.

I needed to show a QR code for my vaccine appointment. Would have been a pain if I didn't happen to have a printer.

i had to make QR codes for work and all the QR code generators on the first page of Google are spam of one sort or another - you have to pay to get the code, or it has a redirect which means it expires unless you pay them, or something else equally shitty. I asked on Quora which ones were free and got the response of "duh, they are all free, morran!" then had my question deleted for being spam. at which point I just picked one and went along with the nightmare. fuck everyone involved. it's as bad as trying to deal with feedburner.

I guess if you're comfortable dealing with Python packages, there are some QR generator packages.

i for one am super comfortable dealing with python packages

There’s a free illustrator plugin if you have Adobe stuff.

I only have free usually-malware-ridden apps on my PC and I haven't a clue about java

python sorry

but you get the idea

I don't use them very often BUT

This weekend, I found a funny cat video (on my desktop) that I wanted to show my daughter. BUT she doesn't really use any email, so I wanted to text it to her. BUT the url was something like catvideo.com/post/video/1546843654646354163546254, which I knew I would misspell if I tried to enter that into my phone.

What OLD PPLAINS would've done is copy and paste the url into an email, send it to myself and then copy and paste it out of the email on my phone and then text it from there. BUT this time! I copied the url into one of those QR generators that's on the front page of Google. Then I scanned the monitor with my phone. And then I shared it via text with my daughter.

I guess I could've gone upstairs and just showed the video to her from my phone, but that would've been ridiculous.

Here's a standalone one written in javascript, you just download the folder, unzip it, and it runs in your browser:

https://davidshimjs.github.io/qrcodejs/

There's also a free QR generator in the Windows app store.

there is a windows app store?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/qr-code-generator-for-windows-10/9pc44cj7vcg4?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

I guess Windows 10 only.

i for one am super comfortable dealing with python packages

― John Cooper of Christian rock band Skillet (map), Monday, March 29, 2021 4:21 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

cant believe no one is commenting how great and horny this is

lol!

i had to.

InDesign has one built in.

That's for sure.

One of our editors wanted to make sure to include a QR on each profile of one of our digital magazines so people could find it online.

https://i.imgur.com/O9gQt6d.gif

uh

I guess the idea is that person B can scan person A’s device to get the magazine?

I... guess.

Another easy way to make QR codes is with iOS's "Shortcuts" app. Open up the "Shortcuts" app, hit + to create a new one, search for "QR" and select "generate a QR code". In the first step you can decide how you want to provide the data to the shortcut. You could use the clipboard or just choose "ask every time" and enter the text manually.

The next step be the output, which I just use an image file for. Here's what the whole thing looks like:https://i.imgur.com/eiIJfBJ.png

If you want to get fancy, in the input step next to Clipboard, add "Shortcut Input", then
go into the shortcut's options by hitting the "..." next to its name and enable "Show in share sheet". You can pick share sheet types - you might want to pick text and urls - and then the next time you want to share text or url via QR code, you can just find your shortcut in the share menu.

Holy... sorry about the formatting and huge-ass image.

USB-Cs and having to use dongles with them is fucking rubbish

https://i.imgur.com/7aIcA48.jpg

har har

* Getting an email from whatever dumb website/service/subscription informing you that you have a new secure message in your inbox, followed by ten to fifty clicks and login screens to actually get you to some bullshit that wouldn't have even merited being put into a straightforward plaintext email in the first place

YES

* businesses, institutions and offices that self-evidently must have a phone number, but do not list it on their website, forcing you to write an email or fill out a form, then wait hopefully and indefinitely, rather than getting your basic query answered in a three-minute call

I'm not sure if that's better - in the past you'd get the listed phone number, but nobody would answer it.