Stray Thoughts

A voice for missing, lost, stolen and abandoned Irish pets

Our Lost & Found Pet Posters Get High-Tech with QR Codes

January 16th, 2010

Over the course of the past 6 months it has become apparent that while all the tech and social media facilities for sharing listings are all very well and good, often the most effective means of getting pets reunited with owners is via the traditional lost and found pet poster. Indeed it was the way I managed to locate the owner of the dog I found myself which inspired this website.

Since we launched we have offered a facility on the site to print out a custom lost or found pet poster you can distribute locally but now we are bringing a little tech from the website right onto the poster by including QRcodes.

The QRCode containing our URL These codes work a little like barcodes – with a suitable application on your phone, you can point your camera at one and the information contained within is transferred automatically to your phone, whether it be (as in the case of our posters) a web address to store on your phone, a phone number to dial or just a simple text message.

So today we score another first as these barcodes have gone live on all posters and you can view and test an example above which contains simply the web address for this site.

Depending on the make and model of your phone, there are a number of (usually free) scanning applications available. I have listed some below for your convenience.

I-nigma reader, by 3GVision
Install via mobile browser: http://www.i-nigma.mobi
or download to a computer and transfer it to your mobile device from
www.i-nigma.com

NeoReader, by NeoMedia Technologies / Gavitec AG – mobile digit
Install via mobile browser: http://get.neoreader.com

UpCode reader, by UPC
Install via mobile browser: http://www.upcode.fi
or download to a computer and transfer it to your mobile device from
www.upc.fi/en/upcode/instructions/download

Semacode reader, by Semacode
Install via mobile browser: http://semacode.org/ota
or download to a computer and transfer it to your mobile device from
semacode.org/software/

QuickMark reader
Download to a computer and transfer it to your mobile device from
www.quickmark.com.tw/En/basic/index.asp

Tags: barcode, barcode scanner, found cat poster, found dog poser, found pet poster, lost cat poster, lost dog poster, lost pet poser, Mobile phone, qr code, qrcode
Posted in Site Features, Website | No Comments »

Irish Lost & Found Pets Now on Google Wave

December 27th, 2009

More as an experiment at this point than anything else, given the limited user base on Google Wave at this point, I have started certainly Ireland’s and possibly the world’s first ‘Lost & Found Pets’ public Google Wave.

I’m hoping those using Google Wave will use this wave as a resource for sharing information on lost, missing, stolen and found dogs, cats and other pets in their particular area. Time will tell how useful this resource will be.

You can jump on this wave now by heading to The Lost and Found Pets Ireland Public Google Wave.

As always, let us know what you think and if you have any ideas for features you would like to see on the Wave, let us know.

Tags: ...And Found, google, Google Wave, Google Wave Ireland, Irish Public Wave, lost, Searching, Tools
Posted in Social Web | No Comments »

Download Free Screensaver for Lost & Found Pets on Your PC

October 28th, 2009

Another quick post to announce that I have released the Lost and Found Pets Ireland screensaver (for Windows). Its another attempt to bring the listings here to the widest possible audience. The screensaver displays photos of pets listed on the site with a short summary of the listing and includes the facility to click through on the photo to a particular pet’s listing.

Installation:
Installation is easy. Simply download the free screensaver (Filesize: 148KB) and save it to the folder of your choice. Right click on the downloaded file (lostandfoundpets.scr) and choose either ‘Test’ to give the screensaver a trial run or ‘Install’ to install it as your default screensaver.

System Requirements:
Basically, all you need is a PC with an up-to-date configuration. Specifically:
Operating System: Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
Web Browser: Internet Explorer 5+
You will also need the dotnet framework installed (3.0 minimum) which comes standard on all Windows machines now but is also available for download.

As always I am interested in hearing any feedback users may have.

Tags: free irish screensaver, free screensaver download, free screensaver ireland, Microsoft Windows, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
Posted in Site Features, Social Web, Website | No Comments »

Lost and Found Pets Get All Up in Your Face(book)

October 20th, 2009

Since I started the site back in June I’ve been planning to really dig into Facebook. With users claiming to be located in Ireland numbering about the million mark at this point, and with many of those engaging on a daily basis, it seemed like the perfect vehicle for getting the listings out to a wider audience.

My initial feeling about this has been more than backed up by the success of the site fan page which now has around 350 fans, with that number steadily growing. It has been really great to see people engage with the listings and other content I have posted there, both commenting and sharing, and it has also been a great source of feedback on the main site too.

Basically Facebook applications, some developed Facebook itself but most mainly by third party developers run inside Facebook and add extra functionality to the site – everything from games and quizzes to full-blown e-commerce portals. I had been using the platform these applications are built on to provide the ability to share listings from the main site and to bring them into Facebook since the start but it is only now I have begun to use its full potential.

Introducing the Lost and Found Pets Ireland App

Our application allows users to:

View the latest lost and found pets without leaving Facebook.
Display the latest pet posted on your profile page automatically.
Share any posting displayed here with your Facebook friends.

It comes with three interfaces. The first is a widget that both regular users can add to their profile pages and page administrators can add to their fan and application pages which automatically displays the latest pets posted to the site with a photo where applicable along with links to both share and view the full listing. Others viewing the widget are also offered the opportunity to add the widget to their own profile or page. The second is the tab interface which, once again, both regular users and page admins may opt to display. The tab shows a summary of the latest blog posting from the site, a selection of the latest pets posted on the main site (with links to share) and a link to give feedback as well as links to both our site and app fan pages.

Finally we have the main application interface which features all the elements of the tab interface above with the important addition of a link to invite friends to use the application.

Now anyone who has used Facebook for any length of time is bound to develop ‘app fatigue’. Many of the applications on offer range from simple to annoying amusements, built purely for revenue making purposes. I’m hoping that the practical nature of the app will encourage people to install and use and share it. I guess time will tell.