What is a QR code?

 

You may have recently heard the term QR Code, and you are probably wondering what a QR Code actually is? Well a QR Code (or Quick Response Code to give it its full title) is a kind or 2-D barcode that is easily read by smart phones and devices that have been specifically designed to read QR Codes. When your phone or device scans the code it is sent to a website or email or text and it is a great advertising tool.

Japan and the East is where QR Codes started and they are very popular in that part of the world, but they are now becoming more and more popular in the West too. Before long you will start to notice QR Codes on shop fronts, bus stops, billboards, product packaging, websites and much more besides, as QR Codes become the marketing tool for the 21st century.

With more and more people owning a smart phone, QR Codes are going to have a significant effect on modern society, especially in the marketing and advertising sectors, with a mass of information just a quick scan away. These codes differ from a normal barcode that just has straight horizontal lines because they can be scanned both horizontally or vertically.

In order to scan a QR Code with your smart phone, you will need to download a specialist QR Code scanning app. There are plenty of different QR Code scanner apps available that will enable you to read QR Codes when you come across them, and most of them are actually free of charge. Once installed all you need to do to scan the QR Code is to use your phones camera to scan the code, and the app will then load the data for you.

In layman’s terms a QR Code is an “image based hypertext link” and any URL can be converted into a QR Code so basically any website can be opened automatically from a simple scan of the barcode. If you want to encourage people to your website then just encode the URL into a QR Code. The possibilities are almost endless.

The QR code as a paperless flight boarding pass

 

Frequent flyers are discovering a brand new way to check-in to their flight by using their smart phone and a QR code. If you have not heard of a QR code it is those little black and white boxes that look like a barcode and that are popping up on most things nowadays, from newspapers to food packaging.

Tablet PC’s and smart phone users can get their device to read the information on the QR code just by pointing the camera at the QR code. This then enables the device to decode the information and use whatever program it needs to display the information, such as the devices internet browser.

A lot of new smart phones have a QR code reader already installed, but do not worry if yours is not one of them, as you will be able to download a QR code reader from your phones app store, usually for free.

The smart phone boarding pass basically works as a paperless e-ticket, and this is how it works.

The airline you are using will send your documents for boarding via email direct to your device and this will include a link to your QR code. Then whenever you need to present your boarding pass, you just bring up the QR code on your device and a scanner will read the information.

Of course with any new technology there is going to be one or two teething problems and if you are planning to go down the paperless boarding pass route then make doubly sure that your mobile devices battery has enough charge. It is going to be difficult to say the least to present your boarding pass if the device is dead.

Plus it is always prudent to have a paper copy as a back-up in case there is a fault with the airports QR code scanner, if the scanner cannot read your QR code and you do not have a paper copy, you may be asked to go and get a printed copy from your airline, causing you further delay.

The bottom line is, always have a back-up plan and you can’t go wrong.

 

The more obscure forms of body modification

Quite a few people have had a standard piercing in the earlobe and probably quite a amount of us have had a piercing in additional parts of the body, but there are a number of people who have opted for more out-and-out extreme body modifications.

One such body modification is known as human branding and is the procedure in which a symbol, usually an emblem or decorative outline, is burned onto the surface of the skin, with the purpose that the resultant wound makes it permanent. This is procedure is carried out by using a red hot iron and it consequently uses the actual process of livestock branding on a persons body.

Another body modification that involves the skin is the sub-dermal implant and refers to a type of body jewelry that is positioned beneath the skin, consequently permitting the body to mend over the implant and producing a raised outline.

The tattooing of the eyeball has been with us for a longer than you might think, and in fact it originated in the 1800’s. It was frequently used to right defects in eyes and the process can be carried out with a customary tattooist’s needle. The eye is basically held exposed while the tincture, which is the actual type used in a normal tattoo, is inserted inside the eyeball.

An additional form of body modification that involves the eye is the implanting of jewelry in to the outer stratum of the eyeball and this is one body modification that I must admit I hadn’t been aware of before. It seems that it was first completed in the Holland and it has come to the United States in recent years.

These are just some of the more obscure kinds of body modification that people have been undertaking recently and they will continue to gain in popularity.

The more obscure forms of body modification

Quite a few people have had a standard piercing in the earlobe and probably quite a amount of us have had a piercing in additional parts of the body, but there are a number of people who have opted for more out-and-out extreme body modifications.

One such body modification is known as human branding and is the procedure in which a symbol, usually an emblem or decorative outline, is burned onto the surface of the skin, with the purpose that the resultant wound makes it permanent. This is procedure is carried out by using a red hot iron and it consequently uses the actual process of livestock branding on a persons body.

Another body modification that involves the skin is the sub-dermal implant and refers to a type of body jewelry that is positioned beneath the skin, consequently permitting the body to mend over the implant and producing a raised outline.

The tattooing of the eyeball has been with us for a longer than you might think, and in fact it originated in the 1800’s. It was frequently used to right defects in eyes and the process can be carried out with a customary tattooist’s needle. The eye is basically held exposed while the tincture, which is the actual type used in a normal tattoo, is inserted inside the eyeball.

An additional form of body modification that involves the eye is the implanting of jewelry in to the outer stratum of the eyeball and this is one body modification that I must admit I hadn’t been aware of before. It seems that it was first completed in the Holland and it has come to the United States in recent years.

These are just some of the more obscure kinds of body modification that people have been undertaking recently and they will continue to gain in popularity.

The more obscure forms of body modification

Quite a few people have had a standard piercing in the earlobe and probably quite a amount of us have had a piercing in additional parts of the body, but there are a number of people who have opted for more out-and-out extreme body modifications.

One such body modification is known as human branding and is the procedure in which a symbol, usually an emblem or decorative outline, is burned onto the surface of the skin, with the purpose that the resultant wound makes it permanent. This is procedure is carried out by using a red hot iron and it consequently uses the actual process of livestock branding on a persons body.

Another body modification that involves the skin is the sub-dermal implant and refers to a type of body jewelry that is positioned beneath the skin, consequently permitting the body to mend over the implant and producing a raised outline.

The tattooing of the eyeball has been with us for a longer than you might think, and in fact it originated in the 1800’s. It was frequently used to right defects in eyes and the process can be carried out with a customary tattooist’s needle. The eye is basically held exposed while the tincture, which is the actual type used in a normal tattoo, is inserted inside the eyeball.

An additional form of body modification that involves the eye is the implanting of jewelry in to the outer stratum of the eyeball and this is one body modification that I must admit I hadn’t been aware of before. It seems that it was first completed in the Holland and it has come to the United States in recent years.

These are just some of the more obscure kinds of body modification that people have been undertaking recently and they will continue to gain in popularity.

Extreme body modifications from around the world

One exceptionally out of the ordinary aspect of modern society is the evidence that the general public is becoming fascinated in acquiring an extreme body modification such as ear stretching, in ever greater numbers. Go to most countries across the globe and you will notice that more and more of their citizens are sporting more and more outlandish and extreme kinds of body modifications. Ones that in the past were more linked to certain tribes on the continent of Africa are now finding their way into the cultures and societies of the more developed Western hemisphere.

Other intense forms of body modification include what is known as “branding”. Branding is normally associated with cattle farmers who utilize hot irons to mark their cattle in case of theft, but it is fast becoming an extreme kind of body modification that is growing in popularity. In the same way that cattle are branded the human version requires a red hot metal implement being pressed on to the skin, this causes a raised scar that will remain in place for the rest of that persons natural life. This kind of body modification does come with one or two health concerns as scalds more often than not can become infected rather easily.

Other kinds of extreme body modification that started life in other parts of the world but are becoming more and more popular include such modifications involve items being placed beneath the skin. These have originated in Japan and entail the placing of metal objects under the skin so that they leave a raised part of the skin in a specific shape. But whatever kind of body modification you choose and no matter what part of the world it originated from, you need to be aware of the health problems that are linked with the more extreme forms of body modification.

What does happen at an English bachelor party?

On a recent visit to England I was asked the question, “what is the difference between an English stag party, and an American bachelor party?”

The thing was that I did not know the answer to that question and so I decided to do some investigating whilst in England, before returning home.

It turns out that there are quite a few differences in fact and I was surprised just how much more liquor is involved in the English version compared to the American one. Now the Brits like a drink and with their more relaxed liquor laws they take full advantage of it. Now the UK stag do normally takes place about a week before the wedding ceremony although it can even take place the night before the wedding!

It usually began with the obligatory “pub crawl” this is where the groom, the best man and the rest of the group visit as many bars as possible whilst obtaining different levels of inebriation, before more often than not ending the evening a strip club. However, more and more stag dos are being taken in foreign countries and many British men head to destinations across Europe (with Eastern Europe being popular due to its very cheap beer) or they organize activity weekends. This is similar to the American tradition of organizing a road trip to another city for their bachelor party.

Alcohol is still the main ingredient of any good stag do and it is not just the fine British ale that you might associate with England, but shots and yes even cocktails are consumed in ever growing numbers and sometimes at the same time. The final part of the evening is concerned with trying to film the groom in a compromising or embarrassing situation, and this usually involves stripping him naked and tying him to a lamppost.

A strange new body modification from Asia.

When somebody asks you about body modifications the first thing that will possibly jump into your mind is something straightforward and popular such as body piercings and tattooing.

On the other hand, in recent times a different kind of extreme body modification is fast becoming a trend with people in Asia. They have taken extreme body modification to another plane with a kind of body modification that has grown to be known in the West as the “bagel-head”.

Asia being the land of incongruity and a setting where their population take pleasure in a first-class freak show, have had the courage to invent a entirely modern-day method of extreme body modification which is commonly identified as a bagel-head.

The process begins with a saline solution drip being inculcated by expert piercers into a specific spot, which instigates an extreme response by the body’s immune system, which causes inflammation and expansion. Fortunately, these saline injections do not last for too long and the bagel form itself only endures for a time period no greater than 24 hours.

The forehead is one of the most common places that are injected and another area where frequently one or two bagels are fashioned is the top of the arm, the outcome of which is giving the appearance of a “Popeye Doyle” type of huge bicep muscles.

On top of presenting the effect of looking like an utter this type of extreme body modification may possibly bring on a number of side effects similar to a headache, infection, skin stretching, a feeling of pressure, and presenting the appearance of possessing an injured eye.

It seems to be that thanks to the continent of Asia the errant example of the extreme body modification puzzle has been revealed, but it does bring up the matter of what will they think of after that?