Barcodes are really cool.

November 5, 2003 1:06 AM

Barcodes are really cool.This guy's apparently historical site generates barcodes for numerical values which are mostly used in retail stores, but new "symbologies" have arisen since then. Some (Code 39 and Code 128) can translate alphanumerics, which is way fun (you have to specify the 'T' parameter as either of the aforementioned symbologies)!
I admit it: The new version of XScreensaver inspired this post.
posted by magikeye (10 comments total)

(in response to link number two)

If that web page has been running since 1994, then it is truely historical. How interesting it is that the very fact that we are looking at this webpage is representing history itself, unfolding?

I cannot properly expel my feelings right now. I am drunk and flaggelating myself for not finishing high school. Not to mention I just got done watching Good Will Hunting. Oh, depression! Once more into the breach, my old friend.
posted by Keyser Soze at 2:29 AM on November 5, 2003

For a fuller explanation of why barcodes are the work of satan - which is glossed over by this demonic barcodeophile - see The barcode undoubtedly is paving the road for 666: the Mark of the Beast.
posted by Pericles at 3:36 AM on November 5, 2003

I wonder how often a criminal has printed out a barcode for a $10 item and stuck it on a $100 item. If you think about it, how many clerks would question it if it came up on the scanner as a similar item. Having a computer desk show up as KY jelly might give them pause, however.

I wonder if rebarcoding things to be the same price but an embarassing item would be illegal? Could be a funny prank.
posted by jester69 at 6:38 AM on November 5, 2003

Someone was way ahead of you, jester. I'm pretty sure the actual site is shut down now, though.
posted by majcher at 7:18 AM on November 5, 2003

The most comprehensive bar code system is that for EAN 128. A fully-featured bar code system isn't just a font (which is the encode/decode rules) but also includes a grammar. This makes for some impressive information density.

Don't ask me how I know about this. I'm still trying to recover.
posted by yesster at 7:27 AM on November 5, 2003

Actually, all the barcodes mentioned are quite primitive, given that they're only one-dimensional. Two-dimensional barcodes have been around for some time, now, and can encode even more information.

But RFID may end up supplanting barcodes entirely.
posted by Slothrup at 8:50 AM on November 5, 2003

More fun with bar codes. Creatures from a distant planet are trapped in UPC bar codes. Begin scanning any consumer product for signs of life and start collecting. Unleash hundreds of monsters, weapons and magic.
posted by Otis at 10:47 AM on November 5, 2003

I wonder how often a criminal has printed out a barcode for a $10 item and stuck it on a $100 item. If you think about it, how many clerks would question it if it came up on the scanner as a similar item. Having a computer desk show up as KY jelly might give them pause, however.

wasn't there some site that would let you print out barcodes to do just that? i don't remember it anymore/can't find it.

anyway, in retail people do that a lot, i've never seen them print them, but they do change them sometimes. the computer says what it's scanning, so you just make sure they are the same, i think most checkout people would notice a disparity.
posted by rhyax at 11:23 AM on November 5, 2003

wasn't there some site that would let you print out barcodes to do just that? i don't remember it anymore/can't find it.

According to this Wired article, they were shut down by (cue evil overlord music) Wal-Mart.

The site still exists, as sort of a Wal-Mart parody, here.
posted by Otis at 11:49 AM on November 5, 2003

During my stint in retail, tag switching was a relatively common problem. I had a tag switcher (that I noticed) every three of four weeks. They regularly made the mistake of switching tags of items in my department, and well... after a few weeks, you know what everything in your department costs without scanning it. They should've brought me things from other departments, then it would've worked nicely.
posted by mosch at 1:49 PM on November 5, 2003