Barcode Scanner: The app that should be on every android phone

This app review should almost be an Android101 article.

Barcode Scanner is the de facto app for scanning QR codes (aka the square barcodes) that are frequently used in the android community to share links to apps. In fact, almost every android site out there that publishes app reviews will have a QR code somewhere on the web page that you can scan with your phone to download the app from the android market.

In fact, this review features one.

When I first got my phone, I kept seeing QR codes on android web sites and I had no idea what I needed to do to scan them... the answer is, you get this app and almost everyone knows that (but it doesn't seam to be written down anywhere).

If you have an android phone and you don't have this app, you're doing yourself a disservice.

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UofL (and UK) making contributions to hydrogen production

Many people think Hydrogen power is an important "next step" to move to cleaner fuels... however producing Hydrogen in significant quantiies has been a big problem. Looks like UofL and UK are making contributions to solving that problem.

Pretty exciting to see my alma mattar mentioned in an article like this. This article actually made slashdot.

I graduated just before Dr. Sunkara came to Speed School, but several of my friends did have him for some classes and, I believe, liked him. Looks like he's was a solid contributer to the school.

More after the break...

Long Live Kevin Butler

I didn't realize he was "gone" (particularly since I follow @TheKevinButler on Twitter), but it has been too long since Sony featured him in a new ad. Now they are kicking off a new slogan:

Cardinal Football kickoff in about 50 hours

If you haven't heard UofL Defensive Coordinator Lance Bedford's "train" comments, this video is a great way to experience it for the first time:



It looks like the game will be broadcast on ESPNUHD and I'm surprised to see I actually get that channel (for any of us in the Houston area, that's Comcast channel 725). The game kicks off at 5:00PM Houston Time so everyone West of Louisville should plan their work schedules accordingly.

More after the break...

An Idiot and His Patent Are Soon Parted...

So there was an interesting Federal Circuit Court ruling that, arguably just invalidated all software patents... and it turns out the inventor of the patent in question pretty much feels the same as I do on the whole US software patent situation.

Personally, I like his proposed remedies... sometimes I get so disgusted with the system that I want all software patents abolished, but I will concede from time to time that it is a more complicated issue than that and that there might be legitimate software patent out there.

My biggest issue has always been with the lifespan of software patents... the standard 25-year lifespan for a patent is perfectly legitimate for most industries, but the software world moves way too fast for that. Technologies are outdated in as a little as three years.... 25-years is an eternity in the software world.

Case in point... a software patent that expires in 2011 would have been granted in 1986. What was the state of computing in 1986? Here's an article that tells you just that.

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Hey Tablet Manufacturers, PAY ATTENTION!

Glad to see a journalist point out something I was noticing. Tablets are too expensive. The iPad set the price point for tablets and given its success every-other "me too" tablet on the market has tried to copy Apple's functionality AND Apple's price point.

However, tablets are functionally similar to netbooks yet cost twice as much.

I have a hacked nook color that I'm using for a tablet because I was able to get that for $200. Until full-featured tablets hit the $250-$300 price point I'm going to stay with my nook color.

Apparently, I'm not the only price-conscious shopper in the market for a tablet. At $600 HP couldn't sell hardly any of their Touchpads. It was so bad that the discontinued the tablet and it had only been on the market for several weeks.

Yet, at $100-$150 they all but disappeared from every store, everywhere in a couple of days. Remember, this is for a discontinued product. That will turn a lot of shoppers away and they still flew of the shelves.

The market is dying for a viable, affordable tablet at a lower price-point.

I actually had a 32GB in my "shopping cart" all set to check out with free shipping the Friday night the clearance started, but I honestly didn't even have that money. I'm still kicking myself. Particularly now that there's an attempted Android port underway.

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Do cockpits have circuit lighters for car chargers?

... I would hate for them not to be able to access their manuals if the pilots forgot to charge the battery before a flight.

Joking aside, I'm all for replacing hard-copy reference material with electronic versions... and the fuel savings alone sounds like this is a worthwhile initiative.

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