Mark o'th' beast

May 18, 2005 7:50 AM

ALL THE BARCODES. Awesome, pointless geekery.
posted by Pretty_Generic (23 comments total)

Awesome! It works too!
posted by jsavimbi at 7:54 AM on May 18, 2005

Wow! Now I don't have to rotate the bottle in my hand to read the manufacturer's name and address on the other side of the label!
posted by twsf at 8:16 AM on May 18, 2005

Hmmm...it works great for the 12 digit barcodes, but I can't seem to get it to work for 8 digit ones. Has anyone had any luck?
posted by Alison at 8:19 AM on May 18, 2005

Sweet, but where could I find something like this for ISBN numbers, that's free (or cheap) and could be used for a for-profit used book store?
posted by orthogonality at 8:22 AM on May 18, 2005

The 8 digit search is broken. It doesn't do books at all, weirdly. The ISBN authority in Germany doesn't do free searches - I reckon your best bet is the British Library.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 8:27 AM on May 18, 2005

Orthogonality - try isbn.nu or even Amazon, where I believe entering an ISBN number in the main book page search box will work.
posted by twsf at 8:28 AM on May 18, 2005

orthogonality:

International Standard Book Number numbers?

;-)

/apologies
posted by secret about box at 8:32 AM on May 18, 2005

Yeah, but if I was doing this in bulk for a used book store, would it be ethical to use amazon.com?

I don't just want to do one lookup, I want software that would scan a used book store's entire inventory.
posted by orthogonality at 8:58 AM on May 18, 2005

I'll write it for you if you slip me some big-headed-deutschmarks.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 9:14 AM on May 18, 2005

ISBN number? Sounds like a case of RAS syndrome.

:)
posted by danb at 9:18 AM on May 18, 2005

Reading orthogonality's profile: "I'm looking for a new job, something involving C++ or Java coding and databases".

Lazy fucker!
posted by Pretty_Generic at 9:19 AM on May 18, 2005

Sweet, but where could I find something like this for ISBN numbers, that's free (or cheap) and could be used for a for-profit used book store? posted by orthogonality

sorry to take the big-headed deutschmarks out of PG's mouth (don't they use euros now?) but...Readerware
posted by beelzbubba at 9:42 AM on May 18, 2005

Hmmm, Readerware looks like a less pretty delicious library.
posted by cali at 10:26 AM on May 18, 2005

I forgot about delicious library. But readerware works (though plain as hell) on both Mac & PC. I've had readerware for several years, back when :cuecats were still available for free at RadioShak. I got several of them & thus no $$ for iSight (needed for scanning on delicious library, if I read it right).
posted by beelzbubba at 11:13 AM on May 18, 2005

I [heart] awesome pointless geeekery. ;)
posted by dabitch at 11:28 AM on May 18, 2005

So bar codes are supposed to be standardized internationally, like ISO stuff ? Has anybody told our Dear Christian Leader?

(Of course I for one welcome our new Satanic overlord!)

And that (previously linked to) Wikipedia entry on bar codes links to a bar code generator (that's OpenSource yet, but alas NOT under the GPL ) "that facilitates the printing of many barcode symbologies entirely within level 2 PostScript."

And by the way, the Wikipedia entry on "symbology" redirects back to the one on Bar codes (see?), though that's not how the word "symbology" is properly defined. What more proof of the plot do you need?

On preview, hello dabitch! But this comment here is NOT meant to be directed at you, which is why it's "pointless"; no need to get paranoid. And remember, "awesomeness" is in the eye of the beholder. (Such as, oh, Quonsar!)
posted by davy at 11:45 AM on May 18, 2005

An homage to consumer-driven pricing from the friendly folks at Re-Code
(via The Wayback Machine)
posted by beelzbubba at 12:16 PM on May 18, 2005

I knew a guy who had the barcode for Froot Loops tattooed on the back of his neck. It scanned and everything.
posted by Specklet at 12:22 PM on May 18, 2005

ISBN lookup doesn't work, but looking up the barcode itself works (make up a 12th digit if it doesn't have one, it's just checksum anyways and the site doesn't seem to check it). It even works on this book from 1985 that I have here (closest thing handy).

EAN doesn't seem to work at all.
posted by neckro23 at 2:59 PM on May 18, 2005

It's not entirely pointless, considering the criminal potential. One could print a sticker with a barcode of, say, a $10 pair of Sony headphones, and innocently paste it over a $40 dollar pair of Sony headphones. It'll likely slip past the cashier. I remember there was a site on the Internets that advocated doing this at grocery stores.
posted by ori at 3:10 PM on May 18, 2005

I don't know what this is supposed to do, but I typed in the barcode from my bottle of Evian water and the result was the Horny Toad Restaurant in Cave Creek, AZ. I've been to that restaurant!
posted by mullacc at 3:23 PM on May 18, 2005

haha, criminal potential.

There's a million ways to make barcodes, and all you need is the human readable info at the bottom of one to create it.

Seriously, are we that hard up for objections?
posted by perianwyr at 3:30 PM on May 18, 2005

Seriously, are we that hard up for objections?

Who said I was objecting? ;-) You misunderstood me.
posted by ori at 5:21 PM on May 18, 2005