- The correct title of this article is :CueCat. It appears incorrectly here due to technical restrictions.
The :CueCat is a cat-shaped handheld barcode reader developed in the late 1990s by the now-defunct DigitalConvergence Corporation, which connected to computers using the PS/2 keyboard port and later USB. The :CueCat enabled users to link to an Internet URL by scanning a barcode appearing in an article, catalog or on some other printed matter. In this way a user could be directed to a web page containing related information. The system which supported this functionality is no longer in operation. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2560x1624, 2673 KB) Summary The CueCat barcode scanner. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2560x1624, 2673 KB) Summary The CueCat barcode scanner. ...
Trinomial name Felis silvestris catus (Linnaeus, 1758) This article is about the domestic cat. ...
A typical barcode scanner (photo by Argox) A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is a computer peripheral for reading barcodes printed on various surfaces. ...
The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, the last decade of the 20th Century. ...
PS/2 can refer to: IBM Personal System/2, a series of post-PC computers sold by IBM starting in 1987. ...
Note: USB may also mean upper sideband in radio. ...
A Uniform Resource Locator, URL (typically pronounced as a spelled-out initialism, but syllabized by some as earl), or (less formally) Web address, is a sequence of characters, conforming to a standardized format, that is used for referring to resources, such as documents and images on the Internet, by their...
The terms scan and scanning have several meanings: The term scan has the following meanings: To examine sequentially, part by part. ...
Wikipedia encoded in Code 128-B Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia encoded in the DataMatrix 2D barcode Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia in multiple languages encoded in the DataGlyph 2D barcode A barcode (also bar code) is a machine-readable representation of information in a visual format on a surface. ...
A Web page or webpage is a resource on the World Wide Web, usually in HTML/XHTML format (the file extensions are typically htm or html) and with hypertext links to enable navigation from one page or section to another. ...
Introduction In late 2000, advertisements containing :CueCat barcodes briefly appeared in some high-circulation U.S. mass-market periodicals, notably PARADE magazine. For a time, RadioShack published catalogs containing these barcodes, and even distributed :CueCat devices at no charge. :CueCats were also bulk mailed (unsolicited) to certain mailing lists, such as subscribers of technology magazines, notably Wired magazine. For roughly a year, starting in October, 2000, The Dallas Morning News and other Belo-owned newspapers added the barcodes next to major articles (Belo had invested in DigitalConvergence). Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (3024x2004, 4088 KB) Summary Underside of the CueCat scanner. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (3024x2004, 4088 KB) Summary Underside of the CueCat scanner. ...
This article is about the year 2000. ...
United States Marines on parade. ...
Typical RadioShack mall store RadioShack Corporation (formerly Tandy Corporation) (NYSE: RSH) runs a chain of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of Europe and South America. ...
Direct marketing is a form of marketing that attempts to send its messages directly to consumers, using addressable media, such as mail. ...
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. ...
Wired is a full-color monthly magazine and on-line periodical published in San Francisco, California since March 1993. ...
Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ...
This article is about the year 2000. ...
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area. ...
Belo (pronounced BEE-low) NYSE: BLC is a Dallas, Texas-based media company that owns 20 television stations, four daily newspapers and two regional cable television news channels. ...
Joel Spolsky speculated about the apparently large sums invested in the unsuccessful launch of the device, noting that according to the DigitalConvergence website, the company claimed to have 200 employees as of 2000. Spolsky estimated that the "postage costs alone" of mailing :CueCats to every subscriber of Wired, as was apparently done, must have been $1 million [1]. Joel Spolsky Joel Spolsky (born 1965) is a software engineer and writer. ...
The data format was proprietary, being scrambled so as not to be usable as plain text. However, the barcode itself is closely related to Code 128, and the scanner was also capable of reading EAN/UPC and other symbols. Due to the weak obfuscation of the data, the software for decoding the CueCat's output quickly appeared on the Internet, followed by a plethora of unofficial applications. It has been suggested that closed source be merged into this article or section. ...
Computer files can be divided into two broad categories: binary and text. ...
A very high-density barcode symbology, Code 128 is used extensively world wide in shipping and packaging industries. ...
The European Access Network encourages access to universities to otherwise disadvantages students, such as those suffering from gender discrimination, as well as those faced with problems due to their ethnic or financial background. ...
UPC or (Universal Product Code) is one of a wide variety of bar code languages called symbologies. ...
Obfuscation refers to the concept of concealing the meaning of communication by making it more confusing and harder to interpret. ...
Commercial failure The :CueCat device was controversial, initially due to privacy concerns. Each :CueCat has a unique serial number, and users suspected that Digital:Convergence could compile a database of all barcodes scanned by a given user and connect it to the user's name and address. For this reason, and because the demographic market targeted by Digital:Convergence was unusually tech-savvy, numerous web sites arose detailing instructions for "declawing" the :CueCat — blocking or encrypting the data it sent to Digital:Convergence. A Serial Number is unique number that that is one of a series assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discreet integer value. ...
A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment. ...
The company's response to these hacks was to assert that users did not own the devices and had no right to modify or reverse engineer them. Threats of legal action against the hackers swiftly brought on more controversy and criticism. The company's licensing agreement was changed several times, adding explicit restrictions, apparently in response to hacker activity. Hackers argued that the changes did not apply retroactively to devices that had been purchased under older versions of the license, and that the thousands of users who received unsolicited :CueCats in the mail had not agreed to nor were legally bound by the license. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of taking something (a device, an electrical component, a software program, etc. ...
The :CueCat's failure to catch on in the early adopter market to which it was marketed prevented any chance of wider acceptance. Diffusion is the process by which a new idea or new product is accepted by the market. ...
Although Digital Convergence and the :CueCat system are generally assumed to be defunct, the Digital Convergence website remained as a "ghost site" through 2004. Formerly, the website contained the following statement: 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
- The dream was to connect items in the physical world to the Internet, automatically. In January that dream hit a bump in the road and the servers were taken offline. They will scan again... If you have a Cue Cat, save it. The patents and technology created by DigitalConvergence will again be available for business and consumer use.
In June 2005, a liquidator offered two million :CueCats for sale at $0.30 each (in quantities of 500,000 or more) [2][3].
Security Breach In September 2000, security watchdog website Securitywatch.com notified Digital Convergence of a security vulnerability on the Digital Convergence website that exposed private information about :CueCat users. Digital Convergence immediately shut down that part of their website, and their investigation concluded that approximately 140,000 :CueCat users who had registered their :CueCat were exposed to a breach that revealed their name, email address, age range, gender and zip code.
Digital Convergence responded to this security breach by sending an informative email to those affected by the incident assuring them that it was correcting this problem and would be offering them a $10 gift certificate to Radio Shack.
Images Scanner, top side Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 33 KB) Summary Description: CueCat barcode scanner Author, date of creation: selfmade by Shaddack, 5 December 2005 Source: self-made Copyright: Public Domain (PD) Comments: Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: CueCat ...
| Scanner, bottom side Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 59 KB) Summary Description: CueCat barcode scanner, bottom side Author, date of creation: selfmade by Shaddack, 5 December 2005 Source: self-made Copyright: Public Domain (PD) Comments: Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: CueCat ...
| Inside of the scanner Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 71 KB) Summary Description: CueCat barcode scanner, cover removed Author, date of creation: selfmade by Shaddack, 5 December 2005 Source: self-made Copyright: Public Domain (PD) Comments: Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: CueCat ...
| Detail of the optics Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 60 KB) Summary Description: CueCat barcode scanner, optics detail Author, date of creation: selfmade by Shaddack, 5 December 2005 Source: self-made Copyright: Public Domain (PD) Comments: Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: CueCat ...
| Circuitboard, top side Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 86 KB) Summary Description: CueCat barcode scanner, circuitboard Author, date of creation: selfmade by Shaddack, 5 December 2005 Source: self-made Copyright: Public Domain (PD) Comments: Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: CueCat ...
| Circuitboard, bottom side Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 70 KB) Summary Description: CueCat barcode scanner, circuitboard bottom Author, date of creation: selfmade by Shaddack, 5 December 2005 Source: self-made Copyright: Public Domain (PD) Comments: Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: CueCat ...
|
See also A commercial failure is a product that does not reach expectations of success, failing to come even close. ...
External links |
Feeds |
Contact