David Harper’s Different Things

Stan & Alexis are two guys I admire and who’s efforts I support. Please consider doing so yourself. See their letter to me below.

Friends!

We have been applying for a grant through the Knight Foundation. They sponsor projects that have the potential to tie together geographic communities and provide them with location specific information access. That is where our project Semapedia comes into play.

Please take a look at the challenge briefing here.

If you think that semapedia is a worthy contender please vote for our submission (you need to register to do that):

We plan to use the money to support and educate communities in countries where we think semapedia would make a difference. We are also planning to open a real workshop space in New York to provide an Infrastructure for R&D in Physical Hyperlinking. We want to host brainstorm session and projects that explore how the technology can be applied and help local communities with and beyond Wikipedia.

Thank you for your support,

Stan & Alexis

MobileBarCodeCamp is bringing together mobile enthusiasts, explorers, authors, designers, architects, producers and professionals in North America to share the current state and their visions for the future direction of mobile bar codes and other cellphone-readable physical hyperlinks. MobileBarCodeCamp hopes to support the many voices helping to unlock the potential of a “hyperlinked first life”. Topics may include - but are not limited to - mobile code formats, mobile code readers, mobile gaming, bar code art, entrepreneurship, social mobility and presence, near field communication, physical hyperlinking, the importance of open standards, protocols, and platforms, and mobile bar code usage on other continents.

We are extremely interested in having the various Bar Code Platform & Reader companies represented at this event.

MobileBarCodeCamp grows by word of mouth (and word of blog). Tell your friends and people that you think will enjoy sharing a day with likeminded.

Go to the BarCamp page for details and sign up.

For those who asked to be involved from a volunteer and sponsorship perspective - yes - we need your help.

Cheers,
David Harper
Founder, Winksite
Co-Founder, Mobile Monday NY

Previously I’ve written about the need for connections between the physical world and the mobile Internet, “Mainstream America is Ready for Bar Codes - Converging “Realspace” and “Mobilespace“‘. I’ve also expressed my opinions on various aspects of how that should work in the comments area over at Tommi’s S60 Applications Blog. Along the way Dennis the founder of ShotCode) and I got to talking (original intro courtesy of Oliver Starr) and convinced each other that we should team up and see where it would lead. As such, I’m pleased to announce that Winksite now supports ShotCode.

ShotCode is the flagship product of OP3, a Swedish / Dutch organization in the proximity marketing space and enjoys the strongest customer portfolio in the mobile barcode scanning market outside of Japan & Korea.

Details follow:

Did you know that creating a mobile webpage can be as simple as creating a webpage for ‘the regular Internet’? Did you know that instead of typing a lengthy Internet address on your mobile phone, you can access each mobile webpage in three clicks? Did you know that mobile Internet usage is on the rise as people look to access content that is important to them while away from their desktop? These are the exact areas of operation for Winksite and ShotCode which is why these highly compatible companies have decided to join forces to provide connections between the physical world and the mobile Internet.

Winksite is the world’s largest, standard’s based mobile publishing platform and community portal. Individuals, companies, and brands use Winksite to publish mobile Internet sites bundled with mobile-tuned community features like chat, forums and surveys. By providing easy-to-use tools, Winksite has successfully created a friendly platform where anyone can claim their own piece of the mobile Internet.

ShotCodes are circular sequences of black and white blocks that represent an internet address. By installing the free ShotCode software on your mobile phone you extend your camera’s functionality into that of a ShotCode reader. The ShotCode works much in the same way as the reading of barcodes in supermarkets, you point your phone’s camera at a printed ShotCode, click, and your phone’s browser is automatically connected to the corresponding internet address.

From today every Winksite has its own ShotCode, simply click the ShotCode icon for the listed Winksite and you’ll be able to scan & connect using your ShotCode Reader. For Winksite publishers ShotCodes are available in various formats for ease of printing and distribution.

Currently ShotCode and Winksite are in talks with several large international brands to offer the combined service bundled with promotional products such as personalized t-shirts, Winksite/ShotCode business cards, personalized ShotCode stamps, stickers and more.

Dennis Hettema, founder of ShotCode, “Winksite’s community proves to the world that mobile isn’t a thing of the future, with over 25 million page views per month it’s pretty clear that people use mobile web pages today.”

David Harper, founder of Winksite, “ShotCode’s unique shape makes for an attractive and recognizable symbol that is easily branded or used in more personalized outings. With customers such as Coca Cola, Heineken and Xbox, ShotCode has proven to be the frontrunner in this exciting market. We’re enthusiastic about offering these real world hyperlinks to the Winksite mobile community for free.”