While browsing through the Sephora print catalog, I noticed it was filled with lots of QR Barcodes directing the reader to YouTube videos of various products.   For those of you not familiar with the QR barcodes, they are the 2-dimensional barcodes that seem to be popping up in magazines and other print media.  The QR stands for quick response which is exactly why such barcodes are useful – you can store links, contacts, video and now, even other barcodes.

I helped my friends at Azalea Software put together a free online barcode generator at http://www.qr-barcodes.com/online-generator. The code works by first using jQuery’s validation plugin to make sure the text is valid and formatting the data. FInally, a jquery ajax call loads a .png QR barcode via Google’s Chart API.  Once you have your cool QR barcode, you can scan it on you Android cell phone using Azalea’s QRdvark app.