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Barcodepedia - a Social Network Barcode DB

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the hey-nice-lines-on-that-one dept.

Thor Larholm writes "Barcodepedia is a community-based online barcode database, where everybody can contribute whichever barcodes they have lying around on their crowded desks simply by holding it in front of your webcam. The database is completely free to use, and everyone is invited to participate. The site should be available in French, Russian, German and Swedish within a week, so get all your friends and go to your local store with a laptop for massive fun. Donations of cuecats and other specialized scanners are welcomed." Anyone who's read Bruce Sterling's book Shaping Things may immediately think of Sterling's concept of "spimes" — for those who haven't, Sterling's 2006 SXSW address explains a bit, too. (It's easy to create your own barcodes, too — and then, not quite as easily, you can use them to control your house.)

7 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. AAAhhhh CueCats by Palal · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The Barcode DB is nice, but CueCats were even nicer. I made a lot by selling the modified versions on eBay in High School.... nothing like pure profit :).

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    -Palal
    1. Re:AAAhhhh CueCats by daranz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This would actually work with most of the modified cuecats... It allows typing in of barcodes, and that's essentially what a modded cuecat does. It'd probably be easier and more realiable than using a webcam, too.

      Personally, I've been using my cuecat to catalog my DVD collection. There are some commercial apps out there that will read a barcode, look it up on several websites, and scrape the info about the particular DVD into a local database. With enough contributions to this barcodepedia website, it'd be possible to create something with similar usability - you could have entries for DVDs or music CDs with relevant info, available for instant fetching. In fact, it'd be somewhat like the service that cuecat was originally supposed to offer.

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      This is a sig. It is appended to the end of comments I post.
  2. More International Feel? by neonprimetime · · Score: 4, Interesting

    After a long decision process we have decided to change our name from barcoder to barcodepedia. This should hopefully give us a more international feel

    Since when does changing an 'r' to a 'pedia' give you more international feel?

  3. A simple question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why? Why do we want or need an online barcode database? What good does this do? I can't seem to find this information anywhere on their site.

  4. this allows for interesting possibilities by stilltron · · Score: 2, Interesting

    sounds dull on the surface, but imagine another wiki database interfacing with the barcode database where you can look up company information/product information to determine things like: * what country your product was made in * whether or not they use child labor/sweatshops * what company/parent company the producer is owned by * what political parties those companies give to * what the environmental track record of the company is it could allow people to become smarter consumers.

  5. crazy by jweller · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I used to work with a guy who for fun would memorize barcodes. He even informed Crest or Colgate of an error in one of their barcodes and got a big stack of coupons.

    of course, we just called him crazy. I guess we should have called him visionary.

  6. Re:Should be part of "reorder.com". by bit01 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As a hobby, it's silly.

    About as worthwhile as collecting stamps, plane spotting or paying for the privilege of watching meatheads kick around an airfilled leather sack on TV.

    I'd suggest you broaden your mind; different people have different interests. And there's nothing to suggest this project might not branch off in different directions in future.

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    Paid marketers are the worst zealots.