Smartphone owners who have ever walked curiously by a construction site but not really felt like actually stopping to read or retain any of the information on the permits posted outside, the latest announcement from the Mayor's office is for you. Going forward all Department of Buildings permits will now include a QR code (those boxy barcodes that resemble 8-bit Mondrian paintings) and each of those codes will link back to relavent information on the DoB's website—including the applicant's phone number and a quick link to 311 (try the code to the left to see for yourself). All of the city's 900,000+ building permits are expected to have QR codes by 2013.
While this isn't the most groundbreaking development, it shouldn't be sniffed at. Anything that makes it easier for concerned pedestrians to quickly gather information about a site without having to pull out a notepad or a flashlight (in the dark) is good by us.
To scan a QR code all you need is a QR reader, which are available for free for iOS, Android and Blackberry. Somewhere, we suspect the people behind the 90s USB dongle the CueCat—which hoped to make scanning barcodes at home cool—are sighing deeply.
