Karen Berman
Karen Berman's Latest Posts
High-tech bar codes thwart counterfeiters
In fiction, counterfeiters are discovered when the detective cleverly spots a fatal flaw in the picture on a fiver or a tenspot. In real life, it’s not that easy to tell. Recently, a team of Pacific Rim researchers reported on their work on a new bar code format that they hope will make counterfeiting a […]
On Britain’s largest warship, QR codes map the way
Finding your way around a shopping mall or football stadium can be hard enough – imagine having to navigate the windowless labyrinth of the two mammoth warships that will soon be part of Britain’s Royal Navy. Lucky for the crews working on those ships, there’s now a QR code-powered navigation system to guide them. The […]
Libraries opting for RFID over barcode tags
Library patrons in Wallingford, Connecticut, now have the same checkout options that they do in the supermarket— person-to-person or automated self-checkout. Since the system’s inauguration at the beginning of the year, quite a few patrons are choosing RFID-powered self-checkout. In that respect, they are like library patrons across the country. RFID — Radio-Frequency Identification — […]
Study: “Mobile is the new normal”
The 2013 holiday shopping season proved again and again that consumers are making mobile commerce a part of their lives. Studies of consumer behavior during the holiday season have noted increases in consumer usage of smart phones and/or tablets for holiday shopping—and not just for actual sales transactions. Consumers are scanning bar and QR codes, […]
How Colorado will tag its marijuana
The ghosts of Woodstock must be watching in disbelief at the dawning of the age of legalized, recreational marijuana in Colorado — and they’re probably wondering about the state’s very un-peace-and-love mandate that every baggie of weed be tracked with an RFID tag. Medical marijuana was already legal in Colorado when a referendum on legalizing […]
Headstones with QR codes drag cemeteries into the digital age – including Arlington?
They might not yet rank as a full-fledged trend, but QR-coded ID tags are showing up in cemeteries, linking both the bereaved and the curious to online photos, obituaries, and video and audio memorials to the departed. Whether etched with lasers directly onto the headstone, or tattooed onto a metal or ceramic plaque that is […]
Asset tagging for trees
In Canada, organized efforts to manage municipal assets are increasingly the rule rather than the exception. The town of Whitby is a good example of the trend. The municipality recently completed a two-year program to tag every one of the 40,000 trees that line its boulevards and public spaces as a first step in the […]
QR codes are going to the dogs — and petsitters are signing up
Walking a dog or cleaning a cat’s litterbox are the lowest of low-tech pursuits, but when those chores metamorphose from personal to business, low-tech isn’t good enough. The solution: QR-coded tagging systems specially designed for petsitting entrepreneurs. Pet Check Technology is a Chicago-based company that offers pet-sitting companies a QR code-based, full-spectrum business suite that includes […]
Survey: Older adults less likely to use QR codes
Does your grandma use QR codes? If she’s over the age of 60, there’s more of a chance that she hasn’t. That’s not being snarky or ageist. To paraphrase the late great Richard Dawson, it’s what the survey says. A new study has found that older adults are only 13 percent as likely to have […]
Scan here for sustainable sushi
With mislabeled seafood a nationwide concern, the folks at Harney Sushi wanted to get the message out: not only is their fish exactly what the menu says it is, but it comes from sustainable sources. Scannable QR codes seemed like a solution, but, as manager Carmina Katigbak put it, “You see QR codes all over […]