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NeoReader [ itunes link]Optiscan [ itunes link]StickyBits [ itunes link]Barcode [ itunes link]QuickMark [ itunes link]TagReader [ itunes link]Redlaser [ itunes link]ScanLife [ itunes link]Mirascape [ itunes link]Best Buy [ itunes link]

the best iPhone QR Code application or apps is a close race between Optiscan – QR code scanner and generator and QuickMark QR Code Reader 4. Both apps are great with QuickMark with a slight edge over Optiscan due to additional features and linking to online profiles.But if you’re looking for a location-based check-in app that works with Facebook Places, Foursquare, and Gowalla, that also includes a QR Code Reader, then give TriOut a … try!

o the Market, Google opted to add some nifty options to the app. Amon

Among the goodies are support for multiple accounts, sync preferences, search, and the ability subscribe and search from the handset.

A pair of MIT Media Lab alums have come up with a do-it-yourself kit for making smart environments. David Carr and John Kestner, partners in the industrial design firm Supermechanical, have developed a small, durable, inexpensive remote sensor node, and an easy-to-use web app that turns data from the sensor node into timely information. The system, dubbed Twine, lets you tie everyday objects into your digital life.

Twine is a palm-size block of rubber that contains a WiFi node, temperature sensor and accelerometer. It’s powered by two AAA batteries or a mini USB connection. And it has a port where external sensors can connect. The initial external sensors are a magnetic switch, moisture sensor and a breakout board for building your own sensor. Supermechanical is also considering an RFID reader, pressure sensor and current sensor.

As a general rule, your homepage will be the first encounter a visitor will have with your business. Great care, therefore, should be taken to design and structure your homepage so that readers will digest and act on your business message.

I spoke about Open Educational Practices, (including Open Educational Resources and Open Scholarship) a subject which I am learning more about all the time as the movement grows and gains traction. You see, the idea behind open practices is that anyone can gain access for free, at any time and in any place - courses, software, ideas, knowledge, people... OEP requires everything to be open - for access, scrutiny and repurposing. So whether it's licensing agreements such as Copyleft or Creative Commons, or open access journals, or even massively online open courses, the open educational practices are gaining ground and influence in the academic world.

It's not going to be easy to change a model where knowledge has become a commodity though. Too many powerful people and organisations stand to lose a lot if everything becomes 'free' and open. But things are changing slowly. The publishing houses who once had a strangle hold on academic journals are beginning to lose their grip. Some are having to change their business models. Google Reader and Google Books for example, are giving us all more than a glimpse of the pages of just about every book that has ever been published. And open access journals are opening up knowledge for all without payment. So when a student comes up against a paywall - what will they do? They will go elsewhere of course - to the free versions that are out there on the web.

As the forcefulness and personal identifiability of the phrase increased, the number of clicks likewise increased. "You" identifies the reader directly, "should" implies an obligation, and "follow me on twitter" is a direct command. Moving the link to a literal callout "here" provides a clear location for clicking.

It’s the world’s first gesture-based screen reader, and it allows you to enjoy the fun and simplicity of iPad even if you can’t see the screen.

During a recent show, legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder took a few moments to praise those who made significant efforts to make the world accessible to every single person. And he made it a point to single out former Apple CEO Steve Jobs and his company.

The technological advancements Wonder — who has been blind since childhood — refers to are the accessibility features built into iOS, Apple's mobile operating system. These features include something called VoiceOver, which — according to Apple — is the "world’s first gesture-based screen reader." It basically allows someone to enjoy an iPad's (or iPhone's) features without being able to see the screen.

On November 4, a solution was discovered—in a videogame. That’s the day Microsoft released the Kinect for Xbox 360, a $150 add-on that allows players to direct the action in a game simply by moving their bodies. Most of the world focused on the controller-free interface, but roboticists saw something else entirely: an affordable, lightweight camera that could capture 3-D images in real time.

When DIYers combine those cheap, powerful tools with the collaborative potential of the Internet, they can come up with the kinds of innovations that once sprang only from big-budget R&D labs. In 2009, a PhD student named Daniel Reetz turned two Canon PowerShot A590s into an improvised high-speed book scanner. He detailed the project on a website, DIYbookscanner.org, where readers have since posted hundreds of tweaks, suggestions, upgrades, and entirely new designs. The open source MPGuino project, which uses an Arduino microcontroller to track gas consumption as you drive, has inspired a small community of fans who help refine and customize the gizmo.

Named Apple's iPad App of the Year and one of TIME's top 50 innovations of 2010, Flipboard is a fast, beautiful way to flip through the news, photos, videos, and updates your friends are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Flickr, and Instagram. See your social media in a magazine layout that is easy to scan and fun to read.

Share articles and photos, comment on posts, and like or favorite anything. Customize your Flipboard with sections created from your favorite news, people, blogs, and topics.

Reviews:- "Flipboard is a fantastic iPad app that makes everything you read on the Web better than it is by itself. I can't recommend it highly enough." Macworld- "Flipboard offers iPad users an entirely original alternative to browsing the Web for news; its magazine-style layouts and breathtaking use of photos and white space show the way forward for digital media." PCMag.com- "Flipping for Flipboard: The brilliant iPad app that has changed the way I read the news." SLATE- "Flipboard begins to imagine an entirely new way of accessing the social Web." New York Times- "Stop. Put down this computer, go pick up your iPad and come back here. Now go get this app: Flipboard. Why? It's pretty awesome." Wired.com- "I am thoroughly impressed from our first run with Flipboard. It is simply gorgeous and a pleasure to browse." Mashable - "Flipboard turns Facebook updates, tweets into digital magazine" USA Today