Zebras and Dots
12th November 2020
I usually watch the news in the evenings. Unfortunately, the “all maps all the time” channels grow boring fast. So instead, I spent my evenings over the last week looking at barcodes. (I know, sounds equally boring. But I was fascinated!)
Barcodes are everywhere. EAN/UPC codes are on every product and package (and on every book at the library). QR codes are common for web-related content. Even my Halloween candy bars have a QR code that takes you to their nutritional breakdown. (See! Chocolate is nutritious!)
While UPC and QR codes are common, there are dozens of other types of barcodes. Visually, they all look different. (Wikipedia has a great list of the most common formats.)