How can I scan this kind thing, I can't even look up online?

[yungman]

TL;DR Summary

Don't even know what this call

I am not good with smart phone, I know people scan this kind of thing. How can I do it. I did point the phone on it and it did nothing. I must have to load some sort of app. to do that. Can anyone kindly give me some guidance? I don't even know what this call to look online!

Thanks

 

[songoku]

Summary:: Don't even know what this call

I am not good with smart phone, I know people scan this kind of thing. How can I do it. I did point the phone on it and it did nothing. I must have to load some sort of app. to do that. Can anyone kindly give me some guidance? I don't even know what this call to look online!
View attachment 291318

Thanks

It is QR code. Try open your phone camera app and point to it. If your phone has build-in app to scan the code, it will automatically does so. If nothing happens, you need to download QR scanner

 

[DaveC426913]

My Android phone has a QR scanner as a feature of the camera, but you wouldn't know it unless you went looking for it as a camera setting in the camera menu.

By the way, is that QR code you attached the actual one you want to scan? Because all they do is point at a URL. And that one points to a Board of Supervisors list for Santa Clara County:

http://sccgov.iqm2.com/citizens/default.aspx?

 

[berkeman]

On my Android phone, I downloaded the free "QR and Barcode Scanner" app from the Play Store.

 

[yungman]

Thanks guys, I download the QR app, it's kind of funny, but it works.

I am really bad with the smart phone. I really don't believe in smart phone, linking anything important to my phone. Too bad I can't do it on my laptop.

I don't know about you guys, so far, there is NOTHING on my phone that is of any importance to be hack or anything and I want to keep it that way. there's nothing so urgent I need to do it on the phone if I am out, no banking no nothing. As the result, I am almost blind with the smart phone.

Ha ha, the only reason I got my smart phone is my grand kids do not check email, they only do texting. Or else, I much rather stay with the flip phone!

 

[robphy]

I use it on my posters and slides to point to URLs that may be hard to type in.
I always paste the URL as text, then put a QR code alongside it.

Of course, one should trust the source of a QR code.

You can make your own at
https://www.qr-code-generator.com/
(It really just encodes text. Try typing text that is not a url... it auto generates a code that you can scan.)

I also use a "bookmarklet" for creating QR codes, which is a short line of javascript to pass the URL of the page I am viewing in a browser to a QR-code generator. It makes it easier to share a URL to a mobile device, e.g. when I want my mobile phone to view the page that is on my desktop browser.

 

[DaveC426913]

Of course, one should trust the source of a QR code.

NOT.

One should not trust a QR code. Treat them with as much suspicion as any other unknown URL.

 

[berkeman]

Too bad I can't do it on my laptop.

You might be able to, if you have a camera in your laptop that can focus fairly close. Maybe try a Google search for free QR/barcode reader apps for Windows. Also, you can just buy an inexpensive QR/barcode scanner that connects via USB to your laptop.

 

[robphy]

NOT.

One should not trust a QR code. Treat them with as much suspicion as any other unknown URL.

Thanks.
I probably didn't say that the right way.
The complete line should be...
Of course, one should trust the source of a QR code before using it.

or
maybe more succinctly

Use a QR-code from a source that you trust.

 

[Tom.G]

I'm using this one on an old tower computer with Windows XP. It can both read and generate QR (Quick Response) codes to/from text. Since the website still exists, I expect they have versions for 'modern' computers.

https://www.codetwo.com/freeware/qr-code-desktop-reader/?sts=1375

Oops! I just checked their site, it is a free tool with a footnote of:
Note that we no longer develop, maintain, test or support these tools, and we cannot guarantee they will be working correctly in your environment.

Cheers,
Tom