See what you can do is put this barcode on your website, or on a badge, or on a business card, or anywhere else, and then anyone who has an iPhone or other smart phone can scan the sucker and voila! They have your information and they didn’t have to type it in.

Don’t even tell me that isn’t the dandyest thing you’ve ever seen. Because it is. The possibilities are endless! What if I got my name and social security number tattoo’d on my forehead or right hand and then the government could identify me at any time? Wouldn’t that be awesome???

OK, maybe not. But capturing somebody’s contact information without having to type it in seems pretty cool. Check it out. Scan my lovely model and you’ll get a link to this very webpage in your mobile phone so you can read my thoughtful missives any time, wherever you may be.

Here’s some links for you to get started with QR Codes.

Read QR Codes – Neo Reader, QuickMark, Optiscan

Make QR Codes – Kaywa , ZXing, QRStuff

Now even though I really dig my iPhone, I don’t live for it. I’m not one of those guys that stands around in little packs with other iPhone users and tweets and texts and surfs while ignoring the people right in front of me. But I do think it’s incredibly handy to have on me when I need to check the weather at the place I’m driving to, or need quick directions, or need to find a good restaurant, so I was a little bummed when I dropped the darn thing Sunday night.

I was leaving church and jogging out to my car because Michelle was waiting for me to open the doors and it popped out of my jacket pocket and hit the edge of a curb. At first it didn’t look too bad, just a nice dent in it’s aluminum back and a scuff of red paint from the curb. But I quickly realized that it had internal injuries. The volume buttons no longer worked, and the touch screen would not respond to my loving caresses.

I was bummed. Not so much about the phone, but about the replacement cost. This is no economy to be spending $100 on a phone. At least not for me. So I figured, hey, I can fix this thing! So I grabbed a screwdriver and pried the sucker apart.

I soon realized there was no way I was fixing this thing. After pulling 15 of the tiniest screws I have ever seen out of the innards of my beloved iPhone, I realized I would never be able to get them back in. My fingers are too fat and my eyes are too old to have any hope of getting that thing back together, even if I could magically figure out which component was bad.

But luckily I had a back up phone to use. Unluckily it was my daughters old RAZR; in stunning pink. Yeah, that really bolsters my bad boy image. On top of that, the thing is a piece of hot pink crap. I tried to type a text message on it and suddenly realized why I got an iPhone to begin with. No, I think I’d rather not have a phone at all rather than fight with this hunk of garbage. But you can’t just go around without a cellphone in this day and age right? So I decided to go down to the Apple store and get me a new phone. And this is what I really wanted to write about because the shopping experience at the Apple store is amazing.

I went online to order one and they give you the option to pick it up at a store. I figured that would be better than waiting for them to ship it to me. So I select the store I want to get it from and they ask my name and then tell me when it will be waiting for me.

I walked into the store and told the guy I reserved a phone online. He asked my name and then looked me up on his iPhone. He then tells me to have a look around and somebody will be up with my phone. I drooled over the new 27″ iMac for a few minutes and then a guy taps me on the shoulder and asks if I’m ready to check out. He’s got my iPhone in one hand and a portable credit card reader in the other. He takes my id and punches in a few things. Then he takes my credit card and swipes it. He then asks me if he can email my receipt to me and I say yes. He then hooks the phone up to a computer, activates it and then hands it to me. Done.

Within 5 minutes I had an activated iPhone in hand. No swapping SIM cards, no calling headquarters, no paperwork to sign, and they were FAST! None of the B.S. that I’ve always gone through when buying phones at the AT&T store. And what else was cool is that this is all while standing in the middle of the showroom, they don’t have registers, or lines, at the Apple store. Brilliant.

So I’m back in business with my new iPhone. I gotta say I kinda miss my old one. I really liked the aluminum back versus the plastic back that the new phones have, but it’s way better than the pretty, pink RAZR, that’s for sure.

I have an Apple iPhone and up until now Apple has been pretty careful about what kinds of programs they allowed to be distributed for the iPhone. Recently though Apple created a new category for a new breed of high tech software. A type of software only the most hardcore programming geek could even comprehend, much less research, write, test and deploy. What is this category of digital delights I speak of?

The Fart Program.

Yes, the fart program. Programs that make your iPhone appear to fart. I say “appear” because obviously the iPhone has no buttocks and therefore cannot possibly launch an air biscuit or rip it’s knickers on it’s own. But for every problem, there’s a solution.  That’s where ingenuity and software comes to the rescue.

Apparently there’s a demand for air blasting algorithms as well because there are no less than nine fart programs for the iPhone now. Surely enough to liven up any church service, wedding, executive meeting, blind date, or dinner with the in-laws. These programs are as diverse as they are advanced with such “breaking” features as:

• Security Fart – Blasts would be iPhone thieves with loud honkers, immediately drawing attention to their dastardly deed.
• Position Detection – Allows an iPhone in your pocket to drop a floorboard lifter when you raise your leg.
• Time Delay – Allows you to set a timer, then walk away from your phone before it fires a rhino stopper.

These are just a few of the awesome features that technology is finally able to bring to us. What a marvel life in the 21st century is! And it could not be possible without the miracle of the modern computer, and of course the hard work of some very, very dedicated programmers.

Check out the AppStore on your iPhone today!

UPDATE: Ok, just for the record (because my wife scolded me for this post), I did not buy any fart programs for my iPhone and this post was entirely sarcastic. Relax people!

I think it’s funny that the industry has put so much focus on building pen and paper replacements. You pull out your stupid stylus and scrape on the screen like you’re writing on a pad. Why? Tell me why! You know why sticky notes and pocket organizers are so popular? Because they are easier and quicker to use than these ridiculous devices. And pads of paper don’t ring in the middle of meetings.

Apple took a better approach. By touching the screen you are doing what comes naturally. If you want to see something, you point to it. If you want to see the next set of items, you brush your finger on the surface like turning a page. If you need more space, you just turn the device sideways and everything flips automatically. It’s so intuitive that there is no manual other than a little fold out card. My Motorola RAZR has a manual containing over 100 pages!

The other great thing about the iPhone is that the implementation of each feature is just done so darn well. Web surfing is REALLY web surfing. No crammed in, miniature versions of web pages. Making a call could not be simpler, and checking voice mail is awesome. No nagging computer lady screaming at you to push 3 for this and 6 for that. No listening through 5 message to find the one you want. No remembering crazy menu options. You just look at a list of your messages and point to the one you want to hear. Simple.

With the iPhone, Apple has done what they do best; simplified the machine down to it’s most important features and presented them in a way that people can access naturally. Brilliant.

So first off I want to brag about my latest purchase. I don’t buy a lot of techie stuff these days. I probably have more than most folks but I don’t obsess about having the latest and greatest like I did when I first entered this industry. However, I bought a toy today and just want to gloat a little, especially for my good friend Paul. Why you ask? Well, you see, Paul was an early adopter of the famed Apple iPhone. Got one right out of the chute. And ever since then he’s been waving it in front of me like a juicy steak in front of a starving man. And I secretly hated him for it. Well, NO MORE PAUL!!! Today I announce that I too have entered the upper echelon of cellphone users and have purchased……. wait for it……. an iPhone! Yep. And the best part? It’s a refurb so it only cost me $250 vs. $400 for a new one. Sweet.

Ok, enough technigloating (I just made that word up)…. that’s the “talk” portion of this post, so let’s move on to coffee.

Back in January, 10 of us went to Ethiopia and we all came back with pounds and pounds of coffee since the Ethiopians have really great coffee. The bad part is that it just doesn’t taste the same made in our American drip coffee makers. It doesn’t come out strong enough. Well, in my search to replicate the Ethiopian coffee making process I found a little espresso pot that does the trick perfectly. [CLICK HERE] It makes 4cups of perfect Ethiopian coffee. Of course you have to have the cups to go with it so [CLICK HERE] for those. Enjoy!