BJ Vander Linden » Technology

QR Codes in the workplace

bjvan75 — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:52:10 +0000

I read an interesting Mashable article the other day about QR codes and how they are poised to hit the mainstream. It got me thinking about some possibilities in using them inside my IT organization, so I thought I’d put some of those thoughts down.

A QR code, or quick response code, is a bar code. Better said, it is a 2D bar code. Most people have seen them in advertising or on some items you may purchase. The interesting thing about them is the ability to tie them back to a set of information. For example, I recent switched to the Droid X from my iPhone. The app purchase/download process is a bit different, with the main difference being the use of QR codes for downloading apps on android. Many websites advertise their application for download, whether by a link you can browse to on your phone, or more simply opening your bar code scanning application on your phone and scanning a QR code on the screen which prompts you to download the application.

This got me thinking, what about using QR codes to inventory technology. I’m talking more about a simple set of QR code stickers and a database of information, what about being able to inventory an office or a cubicle? In my current corporate environment we have approximately 250 workstations, 20 offices, a few conference rooms, reception areas, etc… What about utilizing a QR code that tied to all the technology equipment in the office, cubicle, or conference room. You may pull up a list of the hardware, versions, model numbers, IP addresses, phone extensions, last service, etc. What makes this powerful is that my entire IT support staff have smartphones (iphones or android). A simple bar code scanner could read the code, pull up a URL or some other link to an application that houses all that information. No longer do they need to run around with a laptop and spreadsheets to know the details, but rather they could scan and go. It would be interesting to see the cost savings in terms of productivity. Maybe we’ll try that out.

Learning Application Development

bjvan75 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:07:43 +0000

I think I’ve started and stopped this process a few times, but I’m going to start teaching myself software development again. With the explosion in web based applications and more particularly mobile web I figured I need to sit down and play around with it. I’ve decided to start on the Apple platform with Cocoa, Objective-C, and iPhone development. I don’t have a real plan in place, other than to dive in and start figuring it out. Worst case, it gives me a greater appreciation of what I ask my developers to do every day.

GSM can be cracked…

bjvan75 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:35:08 +0000

One of my favorite podcasts is Security Now with Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson. This past week’s episode (#213) Steve discussed how simple it was to crack GSM. You can scan through the show notes here. For those who don’t know, GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) is the cell phone technology for over three billion users worldwide, and has 80 percent of the cellphone market spread through 200 countries. In the US, if you are on AT&T or T-Mobile you are running on GSM. Obviously, this is a huge target.

By saying “it can be cracked”, I am actually saying that your conversations can be picked up by a radio receiver, decrypted using an open hardware solution that costs less than $1400 and managed with open source software. This is some really scary stuff. The GSM Alliance, the group responsible for the GSM standard, is burying their heads in the sand with respect to this breach. Apparently, the weaknesses of GSM have been known for years, but no one has attempted to resolve them but rather rely upon security through obscurity.

I would suggest downloading the podcast and taking notes. This could get ugly.