QR codes are a technology that desperately wants our attention. They appear everywhere from supermarket shelves and magazines to hiking trails and tombstones. Never heard of a QR code? You're looking at one right now. Scan the image at the top of this article, and it'll open a link to the mobile version...of this…

It's generally assumed that robots will eventually take over all jobs currently staffed by humans. But tending bar could be one of the hold outs, if this Social Drink Machine is any indication. It lets patrons place orders through a combination of social media, mobile apps, and QR codes, but in this case the whole…

For all intents and purposes QR codes are a dead technology only being kept alive by marketing machine life support. For some reason advertising types think it's easier for consumers to snap a photo of a pixelated square than remember a URL, but as Michael Ciuffo points out with his obfuscated QR code clock, it's a…

With technology like NFC on the rise, you might think the humble barcode might not be long for this world. As it turns out, that old medium has at least one more trick up its sleeve. Going tactile and operating with sound just might be what it takes to make barcodes cool (again?).

So Target has done the impossible. It's used QR codes in a way that is so useful that it actually outweighs how goofy, unwieldy, and ineffectual they are. It does this by, essentially, by simplifying something even worse: Holiday shopping at Target.

This is officially the world's largest QR code. Carved into a field of maize in Alberta, Canada, it measures 309,570 Square feet and links to the Kraay Family Farm website. It is also dumber than every other stupid QR code that exists.

Hopefully this is some kind of unfunny joke, but there is now a line of QR code clothing. Yeah, that's right. QRTribe (that's a real name) makes hoodies, purses, and t-shirts all with these ugly things that no one uses printed on them. When you scan them they'll take you to a page that has links to all of your social…

Just about everyone except for inept marketers can agree that QR codes are terrible and useless. That being said, there's not really a better alternative if you're looking to implement augmented-reality on the cheap. Until now, thanks to Layar's new page-scanning smartphone app.

Usually I hate QR codes. They're ugly technology needlessly solving non-problems in a flawed attempt to be futuristic. Even worse, people plaster them on the dumbest things: bikinis, burqas, butts, etc. And now, setting a new low, they've painted a whole town with QR codes. There are literally over a 1,000 QR codes…

QR codes don't have an especially illustrious history of implementation. Which is to say, a lot of it is very freaking dumb. But this QR code on a subway advertisement might be the dumbest.