Custom QR Code

Universal Scanner lets you read both traditional and new QR barcodes. It also lets you create your own QR Codes.

I’ve been playing with QR Codes lately and there are a bunch of cool apps out there that will let you read a QR Code on your phone. For those who don’t know, a QR Code is basically a 2-Dimensional barcode which is capable of storing a range of information including personal contact details, to phone numbers, emails, websites and so on.

Its a great way to pile a lot of information into a small space, but its also a new way to connect with people. If you’d like to know what I’m talking about then perhaps start by downloading a QR Code reader and creator like Universal Scanner.

With it you can generate your own codes which can contain pretty much anything you like.

What does this QR Code contain? Try out your QR Scanner and follow the link to find out!

One awesome feature about QR codes is their ability to be read even when part of the code is obscured or missing.

This gives way to a new area of graphic design and many companies have started assisting big brands put their info on QR codes in a creative and imaginative way. I’ve had a play with it, and well, its remarkable how easy it is to generate something nice with a few minutes of your time and a copy of Photoshop.

Thanks again for visiting. If you’d like to comment, why not let the world know what you think about QR Codes below?

The Apple Magic Mouse likes Energizer batteries

These two batteries are not the same, and its not just because they have a different brand.

Its been an ongoing battle lately. You see, I have a Mac Mini, Bluetooth keyboard and a magic mouse, all by Apple. All working harmoniously until something strange started happening.

In the beginning I blamed my upgrade to OSX Lion; it just happened to coincide with my recent upgrade, that my mouse started to play up.

Like many, my first instinct was to replace the batteries and this was in fact the correct instinct.

But what followed was an ongoing saga that left me demoralised and threatening to see if my magic mouse could magically fly. Mice don’t fly, and I decided against it in the end. Had I taken my mouse to a doctor, I’d have described the symptoms as follows;

“its started being really sensitive, all I have to do is tap it sometimes and it will suddenly disconnect”
“its really annoying sometimes, I pick it up and it clearly has power, but it just disconnected randomly”
“if I open it up and replace the batteries, it works for a few minutes and then it continues to play this unhappy game of mouse playing dead”

I searched the googlepedia, and came up with a whole list of reasons for what could be wrong; I tried everything. A lot of people were blaming Lion for their woes. But in the end a bit of scientific and objective rationalizing came up with the answer.

1) the batteries were fine, they worked in other devices
2) the mouse was fine, it had never been dropped, and it worked ‘most of the time’

How could this be? Well here’s the answer to your puzzle and mine. A flat positive terminal is necessary to keep power to the magic mouse, and having a small point on the positive terminal will result in sudden power failure when the mouse it bumped, tapped, or generally touched in the wrong way.

Energizer Batteries, like Duracell Batteries, have a flat positive terminal.

Eveready Batteries have a small protrusion on their positive terminal.

Save yourself some trouble, and make sure you buy the right batteries next time.

PS. The same can be said for the apple bluetooth keyboard, but it requires a more significant jolt to induce battery movement.

Contract signed – AusSign takes a step closer to life

I signed a very important contract today.

The agreement between Ology Interactive and Bilby Publishing means that AusSign is almost ready to issue to Apple for review.

Up until now, AusSign has been based on dictionary data dating back 10 years, a small fraction of which was outdated, or simply never used. Bilby Publishing have been in the game for over a decade, refining and updating their online database, and providing resources for Special Needs Education not only in Australia but in other parts of the world.

In addition to their data, high resolution images and video bank, they bring an existing customer base. Their long term presence in the field means that partnering with them, to deliver a co-branded product will give visibility to AusSign within the communities to which it is aimed.

AusSign aims become, the single largest mobile dictionary of its type and regional versions will be released for multiple languages including Sign Language in; Australia, Britain, New Zealand and the USA. Furthermore, since AusSign supports sub-regional dialect variations; differences in the signing of words between states, it is well positioned to become the App of choice by educators and students of sign language in all states.

I look forward to working with the directors of Bilby Publishing to bring this vision to life.

 

Ology’s AusSign nears Beta

http://ologyinteractive.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/aussign-nears-beta/

Ology Interactive is nearing beta testing for AusSign, a platform for a mobile dictionary of images and signs.

It might be some time before our dictionary is released to the market, but when it happens it will have a scale and quality unsurpassed by others.

We’ve been working hard on the algorithms that drive the data sorting and categorisation, in addition to efficient search routines which allow users to have that amazingly smooth experience they’ve come to expect from an iPhone. Needless to say, a lot of effort goes into making something happen flawlessly.

As the saying goes, “its like ducks on a pond; above the water, everything is smooth and graceful as they glide across the surface; under the water, legs are waving frantically about, flapping back and forth”.

Stumbling upon Mac Essentials

I was surfing the web today and came across this site: All Work and Play

Basically, Apple have a page dedicated to teaching you the day-to-day basics of using a Mac.

Generally its pretty easy to pick up a mac, turn it on and start clicking away here and there to see how things work. But that’s only going to take you so far. In fact, its a big source of frustration for PC users (myself included) that things aren’t “like a PC”, but in many ways, there are so many ways in which your perseverance will be rewarded.

In their article, Apple talks about creating user accounts, installing and upgrading software, ejecting media, saving files…the little things they call Mac essentials.

Lesson 1: Mac Essentials – Gives you a general overview of some of a Mac’s main features, the “essentials”.

Lesson 2: Automator – Learn how to automatically perform tasks, one thing thats possibly not covered here, but is definitely worth exploring is also the built in “Folder Action” functions.

Lesson 3: Dashboard – How to organise, and manage your dashboard, customise it, play with it, add widgets, and do-hickies and all sorts of things

Lesson 4: Boot Camp – No, this isn’t in any way related to that new year’s resolution you have to loosing weight, but it is a nice way to have the best of both worlds. Boot camp is going to help you run Windows, on your Mac.. Yes you heard me correctly.

Lesson 5: Address Book – Never leave home without one, and with one, it makes your iProduct that much more useful!

Lesson 6: Safari – Its the internet explorer of the Mac world, and it has some fricken cool functions which I dreamed of even before Microsoft upgraded to IE9 and left those functions out. To name one, grab a tab, drag a tab, and easily create a new window!

Lesson 7: Time Machine – Sorry its not a real time machine, but if you are like 90+% of the rest of the world, you’ll probably one day be kicking yourself if you havent thought of a nice way to back up your files. This do-hickie does it in a very flashy way, and if you are so inclined, there are tutorials on the web to show you how to hook it up to your NAS!

Lesson 8: iCal – Know where you are, and where you are meant to be at all times, and remind yourself of when you need to get there!

Lesson 9: iChat – Well, honestly iChat is a bit of an iLetdown, but hey its a chat program, and it does what other chat programs do. Feel free to stick to your guns with your usual choice of Windows Live messenger (yes available on mac), yahoo, or whatever floats your iBoat.

Lesson 10: File Sharing – What would life be without sharing? I don’t know, I’d probably wouldn’t be sharing this link. But if you want to share files, read this one. Piece of cake.

Lesson 11: VoiceOver – Nice one for those with visual or learning difficulties, or even if you want to see how Siri reacts when you feed her a synthesised voice.

Lesson 12: Preview – It opens (nearly) everything!!! And its easy to use, and it can help you convert those BMP’s to JPEG’s, etc.

Lesson 13: TextEdit – Its like microsoft’s wordpad, nuf said!

Lesson 14: QuickTime Player – Its available on a PC too, so it probably requires little to learn.

Did you find these links useful? Please feel free to leave a comment.

 

First iPhone App on the horizon.

Ology Interactive is nearly there, with our First iPhone App on the horizon..

Sometimes the answer to a problem is to bring in the big guns. So I’m quietly optimistic that our gun’s are big enough!

Mac OS X Hot-keys – For the beginner

Converting to a Mac, or even learning to use one after many years of PC indoctrination, is something akin to learning a new language.

First and foremost, everything seems different and within a few weeks, despite being able to do some basic things, you’ll find yourself thinking “it would have been easier if I’d had done this on a PC”.

Mostly because, like any mastered language, you’ve already learnt the most efficient way of expressing yourself, and this brings me to.. Shortcuts!

A Mac has it’s own special style of keyboard, with new icons that need a bit of explaining. Here they are;

 /  (Command key)

^ (Control key)

 (Option / Alt key)

 (Shift key)

 (Caps Lock)

fn (Function key)

“That’s great” I hear you say, “so what?”, I hear you follow. Well lets take a few classic shortcuts, and perform them on the Mac.

Key combination	What it does
Command-A	Select all items
Command-C	Copy selected item
Command-F	Find
Command-I	Get Info
Command-K	Connect to Server
Command-L	Make alias of the selected item
Command-M	Minimize window
Option-Command-M	Minimize all windows
Command-N	New instance of the current object
Command-O	Open selected item
Command-Q	Quit the current application
Command-V	Paste
Command-W	Close window
Option-Command-W	Close all windows
Command-X	Cut
Command-Z	Undo / Redo
Option-Command-Esc	Force Quit application
Command-Tab	Switch application–cycle forward
Shift-Command-Tab	Switch application–cycle backward
Command-Delete	Move to Trash
Shift-Command-Delete	Empty Trash
Command key while dragging	Move dragged item to other volume/location
Option key while dragging	Copy dragged item
Option-Command key combination while dragging	Make alias of dragged item

Enable iPhone’s Personal Hotspot (iOS 5)

If you’re anything like me you’ve had to reset your iPhone at least once in your life, and doing so, may have led to some unforseable outcomes. One such thing I experienced, was the sudden disappearance of the Personal Hotspot option in my Settings menu.

Here it is, just as it should be…

Now dont be alarmed if you realise your Settings Menu is also missing the Personal Hotspot. Its not actually missing, but rather hidden. Probably because Apple decided that most people wont need it, so they dont clutter up your interface with options you haven’t indicated an interest in or need for.

Enabling the Personal Hotspot turns out to be quite simple in fact. In the Settings Menu, navigate as follows:

Settings > General > Network > Personal Hotspot

Once there, change your password.. P.S. “password” is a BAD password, I’d recommend a mixture of Upper Case Letters, lower case letters, and Numbers, and if you wanna go crazy some of these &*(%#!

And for the Settings-Menu-Challenged individuals out there.. Here’s what you’ll see as you look around for the right options.

Seeking Illustrators / Artists

I’ve just finished work on the second iPhone application developed for Ology Interactive and have a working prototype ready for Beta testing.

The problem is we are looking for Graphic Artists / Illustrators who are willing to sit down with a lot of coffee, a bucket of ice-cream, or whatever it takes to fill the absolutely massive database with images.

Details of the job are on Ology’s Website here..

http://ologyinteractive.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/seeking-illustrators-artists/

我剛剛寫完第二個iPhone App。它現在已經可以開始Beta測試， 不過我的公司Ology Interactive加上我的App需要一些形象藝術家或以圖例解釋者來幫忙。如果你就是這種人，如果你有興趣幫我們發展，提供一些圖像。請你到以上貼的網址來看是否適合你的機會。

Expanding a Settings.bundle in Xcode 4.2

I just spent an hour trying to figure out how to expand the Settings.Bundle file so that I could get at the Root.plist file contained therein. Apparently Xcode 4.2 is a bit of a pain. For those of you who want to avoid the same down-time.  The answer is remarkably simple.

1. Click on the Settings.Bundle file,
2. Over to the utilities window, and look in the File Inspector.
3. Change the file type to ‘Application Bundle’
4. Enjoy…