2QR or How to save a link to your phone

    Introduction


    Although the era of netbooks and flash drives is on the street, some of us sometimes have to work for a stranger or, worse, a “public” computer, for an hour or two, whether we’re visiting, at a university, or in an Internet cafe. However, when it comes to preserving the results, healthy paranoia suggests that it is better to refrain from using your flash drive with valuable data, and even more so - sending files to your own mail: who knows what kind of cyber parasites live on this computer ...

    Fortunately, in There are many services on the network that allow you to anonymously upload your files. You do not need an account - that means there is no risk of “highlighting” your passwords to the Trojan. However, the question arises: how to convey the address of the file uploaded to your computer?


    Existing options


    You can, of course, just write it on paper. True, you will first have to find her, and then try not to lose her. Unreliable, and not solid at all somehow, not in an IT style ... It would be better to save the link in a mobile phone, which is always with you, and to lose it is more difficult. Just drive a long address from the telephone keypad - it’s not crushing pimples on sachets, but a long and tiring one, even with a qwerty keyboard.

    QR codeQR codes , already mentioned on the hub, allow you to quickly and effect (s) but send a link to the phone directly from the monitor screen. I already describedextension for Firefox, which creates a QR code for the current page. Of course, not every computer has FF, and installing an extension for the sake of one time, firstly, is not always possible everywhere, and secondly, it’s all too much. In such cases, you can use online QR code generators (for example, kaywa or i-nigma ). In this case, you have to remember / look for the address of the generator, insert a link into it ... Too many unnecessary movements.

    Proposed solution


    To simplify the process, I made a small service for creating QR codes . The method of use is very simple: in the address bar of the browser, add 2qr.ru/ in front of the address of the current page and press Enter - and you will get a QR code corresponding to this page. It remains to point the phone’s camera with the reader program on it, and voila - you have the link with you, you can save it in bookmarks, send it via sms / email, or simply open it in a mobile browser.

    The interface is minimal - all work with the service is carried out through the address bar of the browser. 2qr.ru without parameters displays a little help on using the service. The QR code image itself is generated using Google Charts.(that is, in theory, most of the habraeffect should lie on powerful Google servers).

    Unlike the mentioned online QR code generators from kaywa and i-nigma, 2QR.ru has a short intuitive address and a minimalistic command-line address-bar interface, works when Javascripts are disabled, and supports Cyrillic in links .

    QR code reading


    QR code recognition programs exist for a wide variety of platforms, including Windows Mobile, iPhone, Symbian and just J2ME phones. You can download some of these programs at these addresses:
    QuickMark (login / pass: habr)
    i-nigma (to download, go from the phone to i-nigma.mobi )
    Kaywa (to download, go from the phone to reader.kaywa.com/ mobile )
    You can read about other programs, for example, in this or this review (in English). You can also see the Excel file with a list of various phone models and addresses for downloading compatible programs.

    Conclusion


    The topic was presented 2QR.ru - a service for quickly converting URLs into QR codes. Unlike competitors, 2QR.ru has an easy-to-remember address, a direct interface through the address bar, works with Javascript disabled and supports Cyrillic in links.
    In the future, if anyone needs it, it is planned to add other input formats: conversion of phone numbers, business cards, SMS messages and just short texts into a QR code.

    Acknowledgments


    cb93ka - for the news of the sale of three-character domains.
    Google stands for the Charts API and its support for QR codes.
    To the alphabet - for the kindly provided letters :)

    Upd: I undeservedly forgot the Android platform, there are also QR code recognition programs for it: Barcode Scanner, ixMAT Code Scanner, BeeTagg , Zxing (thanks razr , ravve ).

    Other ways to save the link:
    • If the camera’s capabilities allow, you can just take a picture of a piece of the screen with a link (thanks null , Vodkin ).
    • If the camera does not know how to take macro images, shorten the link with a service like tinyurl, then display it in large print on the screen and take a picture too (thanks piroJOKE ). Suitable for those who do not like QR codes or do not have at hand programs for reading QR codes.
    • You can send yourself a link via SMS from the site of the opsos , if such a service is available (thanks Ackrite ). Passwords are safe, but give out your phone number.
    • Create a one-time mailbox, and forward all the links from it to your personal one (thanks UpRight ).
    • Send yourself to IM using a temporary account and an online service like meebo.com (thanks estum ).
    • Use one of the social bookmarking services and a separate account (thanks knja ).

    Upd2: Thanks to shtirlic , who wrote a bookmarklet showing a QR code right on top of the original page.

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