Corn Mazes

October 14, 2012 8:31 AM

In a triumph of both technology and agriculture, the Guinness World Record for largest Quick Response code has been claimed by a corn maze.*

The largest corn maze of all is in Dixon, California - but it's not much to look at.

A comparably big but much more elegantly designed effort is in Spring Grove, Illinois, commemorating the Girl Scouts' 100th anniversary.

Find a corn maze near you. Or learn how to plant your own.

posted by Egg Shen (26 comments total)

That's a big damn maze. I thought the one we went in last weekend, which took us an hour to solve the baby version of, was the biggest. Nope.
posted by DU at 8:34 AM on October 14, 2012

The funny thing about this, of course, is that the portion of the American population with some form of pilot's license is probably larger than the portion that knows what a QR code is and how to read one.
posted by fifthrider at 8:35 AM on October 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

That is truly amazing!
posted by growabrain at 8:39 AM on October 14, 2012

Huh, and I always assumed they just harvested the maze path portions but of course that wouldn't work as it would leave stubs. You have to plant the maze.
posted by DU at 8:40 AM on October 14, 2012

I see in the link for the Dixon, CA maze there is someone holding a copy of the map. When I see that, I immediately think, "I check for traps."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:51 AM on October 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Surely you mean a maize maze?
posted by Jehan at 8:51 AM on October 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

Amaizing! (somebody had to)
posted by iamkimiam at 8:54 AM on October 14, 2012

That ABC News page also links to a story about the hot new trend of QR codes on gravestones for an "interactive cemetery experience," by which I hope they mean Carrie White's hand shooting out of the ground.
posted by roger ackroyd at 8:56 AM on October 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Everyone knows how to read a QR code. You just point your iPhone at the thingy. Duh.
posted by maryr at 9:00 AM on October 14, 2012

...and nobody scanned it, ever.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:10 AM on October 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

So here's a QR code that will rot away and eventually become unusable without regular maintenance. The question is whether the website will still be around when that happens.
posted by ceribus peribus at 9:26 AM on October 14, 2012

corn maze
posted by cupcake1337 at 9:50 AM on October 14, 2012

(starts taking a closer look at the Nazca lines)
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:25 AM on October 14, 2012

If you are anywhere within range pay it a visit because the opportunity to get lost in a world record QR Code does not come along very often!

I suppose that's true. Still not the kind of thing I'd put in my memoirs, or on my resume, or even do.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:00 AM on October 14, 2012

I knew what a QR code was, but I didn't know it stood for "Quick Response" (and still don't see how that describes how they function). So I thought "quick response" had something to do with firefighters getting to a fire, or EMT making it to a heart attack victim. I really wanted to find out a corn maze was involved and am a little disappointed that my imagined sentient corn maze scenario was way off.
posted by benito.strauss at 11:52 AM on October 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

what a QR code is and how to read one.

QR codes are easy! You look at the code momentarily, then you scan around the rest of the ad/bus-stop/urinal poster to look for the site address written in roman characters. You read that, with your brain, and then go about your life.
posted by pompomtom at 4:59 PM on October 14, 2012 [3 favorites]

Everyone knows how to read a QR code. You just point your iPhone at the thingy. Duh.

Like, how? Do I have to use an app? Is there a simpler way I just don't know of? Cuz simply taking a picture doesn't really do anything. I got a QR code app once, and it had a really hard time reading the code. Seems like a ridiculously counterintuitive way to try to convey information... Just tell me the name of your site. Done.
posted by malapropist at 5:54 PM on October 14, 2012

Maybe you aren't aware malapropist but you can embed all sorts of information in a QR code not just web addresses. For example you could put a complete vcard in a QR code. You can get more than 4000 alphanumeric characters into a QR Code.

One application I'd like to see is qr codes to supplement ingredient lists and nutrition information on food. It would be a lot easier to track that kind of thing.
posted by Mitheral at 6:49 PM on October 14, 2012

Also even if it is just a URL they can embed unique identifiers so they can track how effective any particular advertising vector is.
posted by Mitheral at 6:51 PM on October 14, 2012

Also even if it is just a URL they can embed unique identifiers so they can track how effective any particular advertising vector is.

...which explains why one might want to print a QR code, but not why one might want to scan it.
posted by pompomtom at 9:52 PM on October 14, 2012

Yeah, I get that you can embed any kind of information, but I mean, I'm not missing something, am I? Scanning a QR code seems much more involved than simply pointing my phone at it.
posted by malapropist at 11:01 PM on October 14, 2012

Hands up anyone who actually tried to scan this QR code. Hmm, not that many hands. Ah well.
posted by Yowser at 2:27 AM on October 15, 2012

pompomtom the serialization could include a discount code making it a win for both parties. Or it could take you to a page that is geographically relevant.
posted by Mitheral at 4:41 AM on October 15, 2012

Love it when stoned ideas become reality.
posted by LordSludge at 6:15 AM on October 15, 2012

Dear QR Code Corn Maze,
You are stupid.
posted by mrnutty at 10:19 AM on October 15, 2012

This is actually pretty cool; I was at the Dixon corn maze just this Saturday.

I went with a group of friends at around 7:30 at night (they stop selling tickets at eight, and god help you if you're still in there when they close the gates at ten). $10 gets you a ticket and a map - everything else, you have to carry in yourself.

Armed with flashlights and glowsticks from the dollar store, we drew our routes and set off into the dark.

Did I mention it was dark? There's no light in the maze besides what you bring with you and the generator-powered ones on poles that light the side with the entrance and exit. The footing isn't the best - the unplanted paths are hardpack earth, baked into dry and dusty furrows that are just a skosh wider than the average gait. If you're not careful, a misstep in the dark will leave your ankles aching.

Mind you, that's the unplanted paths. One of the things that will happen as you let people into an untracked wilderness is that there will always arise the urge to Lewis and Clarke and forge your own path throuh the unknown. If you're journeying at night, the only way you can tell that you're on a trailblazed path is if you look down and realize the uneven footing is due to the pulpy mash of cornstalks underfoot, mixed with the sweetish smell of bruised ears that have been fermenting in the sun all day. Wait until the last day before the place closes and all the corners have eroded due to people taking shortcuts.

That's actually how we escaped - stumbling along a trailblazed path, half-blinded by the generator lights as we groused about being lost again and who we'd kill and eat on day twenty-three when rations and morale ran low, we finally broke out into a ditch on one side of the field and decided that Enough Was Enough and it was time to go home.

All in all, a fun little adventure. I'd reccomend it as a meetup site on the sole basis of theorizing which of your companions you'd want to eat first.
posted by mikurski at 10:52 PM on October 15, 2012