Tips for Working with Mac Display Resolutions

By now you’ve probably seen one of those odd-looking white squares with a bunch of smaller square dots that make up a random pattern inside–that’s a QR code. QR stands for “Quick Response,” and a QR code is a form of barcode, just like on the packaging of nearly everything you buy.

Usually QR codes are used to store Web links–URLs–so an ad can display just the QR code instead an unwieldy and hard-to-type web address. But QR codes aren’t just for ads. They’ve appeared on business cards, in magazines and books, on coins and bills, and even on tombstones–any place it would be nice to help someone load a Web link into a smartphone but where there isn’t enough room for a URL or in situations where viewers won’t remember the URL later. And the links? They can display anything that can appear on the Web: text, photos, videos, games, and more.

Only one built-in iPhone app can scan QR codes–the Wallet app in iOS 9–but it can scan only QR codes that are associated with Wallet passes, things like airline boarding passes, concert tickets, and iTunes gift cards. For QR codes that encode any other sort of data, Wallet shows an error. It would be nice if Apple would add general QR scanning capabilities to Wallet or the Camera app, but until that happens, you’ll need another app.
There are numerous QR code scanning apps in the App Store, but if you need a recommendation, give TapMedia’s QR Reader for iPhone a try. It’s free with ads (remove them with a $1.99 in-app purchase), scans both QR codes and traditional barcodes on most commercial products, and displays the associated information within the app. It can even help you create your own QR codes.

To use a QR code scanner, launch the app, allow it to access the camera when it asks, and then point it at the QR code. Good apps will scan nearly instantly, but if not, move the camera so the QR code is centered between the guides. If even that doesn’t work, move forward or back so the camera can focus on the centered code.

Once the code has been scanned, the app will usually bring up an in-app Web browser to display whatever was encoded. For certain kinds of data, like books or grocery items, the app may go right to Amazon or a price comparison site. Good apps will also keep a record of sites you’ve scanned, so you can go back to them later, even if you can no longer scan the QR code.

So download a QR code scanning app and keep an eye out for QR codes. Once you start looking, you’ll find them everywhere–it’s a modern-day treasure hunt!

_Dear Friends,_

Baseball season is almost upon us as spring training wraps up and the real games begin next week. The hopes for the Chicago Cubs have never been higher with a great line-up and pitching. Could this be our year? To help matters along, Apple and MLB announced this week that they have struck a multi-year deal to supply 12.9 inch iPad Pros with special STM team-logoed cases and a custom app called MLB Dugout. This app will help managers see performance statistics, check videos from games and analyze how pitchers and hitters are likely to perform against each other.

Baseball has become a game of statistics and until this deal laptops, iPads and iPhones were banned from dugouts. That ban is gone as iPad Pros will replace the notebooks and photographs in big binders. Each team’s data will be downloaded to the iPads before the games. I can see this really speeding up the research about how to play a certain batter or what kind of stuff a pitcher has. Cubs manager, Joe Maddon, is not so sure “This might sound nuts to you, bit it might slow down the process. If there’s that moment that permits time to look up something, it might be OK, but I think thats where the piece of paper has it all over the computer–in that moment.” Well, Joe you are a hell of a manager but I’ll put the iPad Pro up against your binder any day! Fortunately, MLB didn’t ban paper so Joe is all set.

I have talked many times about being a socially responsible business but this week we saw the power for good that businesses can use. While not yet successful in overturning the North Carolina law that legalizes discrimination against LGBT people, business pressure stopped a similar law in Georgia and the list of businesses lining up for repeal in NC is impressive. It was business that turned the tide when civil unions were first introduced in Vermont and it can be business again that dope-slaps some sense into these backwards legislatures, too.

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