CueCats by Christmas? Last chance!
I don't to "push" CueCats (cheap barcode scanners) too much, but when I dropped off the latest batch at the post office, I was told that Christmas delivery was getting dicey, even for Priority Mail*.
So, if you want to get your CueCats by Christmas, you'd better order them as soon as possible. Obviously, you can get a gift membership anytime.
*We don't do Fedex. CueCats are a side-line for us; we intend to spend Dec. 24 shopping!
So, if you want to get your CueCats by Christmas, you'd better order them as soon as possible. Obviously, you can get a gift membership anytime.
*We don't do Fedex. CueCats are a side-line for us; we intend to spend Dec. 24 shopping!
posted by Tim at 9:44 PM
7 Comments:
Tim, as I passed by the post office today, and saw the line of people that went out the door and extended two buildings down, I realized: I traded off CueCat shipping duties to you right in time.
I haven’t been able to make mine work. When I plug it into my MacBook Pro, a dialog box opens that asks me to identify the attached keyboard by pressing the key to the right of the Shift key.
Any suggestions?
Does any of this help?
You should contract this out. Appoint an EU, US and Australian supplier.
I didn't know when I got mine that I would have to "neuter" it. There were no instructions with the thing. I only found instructions because I know to look for them and I know how to find them on the internet. Now I'm afraid to perform the surgery (my being a librarian and not a surgeon) because I might botch it and then I would have no CueCat at all. Why don't they come neutered? And why wasn't I told before I bought one that there was this trade off?
This information may be of interest to CueCat purchasers.
Between 2000 and 2002 a company named Convergence Technology gave away thousands of CueCats, mostly though Radio Shack stores. Apparently, CT expected to recover its costs by collecting and marketing data on user browsing activity, much the same as "spyware" programs do today. To activate the device, the user registered his personal info on the CT website
which, at the same time, recorded the unique ID code from the scanner's EEPROM. One application was to access sites by swiping a barcode instead of typing in the URLs. Presumably, every such access was duly recorded in the CT database. Some users found a way to cripple the ID by cutting a wire, and you can still find that procedure on the Web. In my opinion, it is pointless to bother with that today because CT is bankrupt, and the original software wouldn't run, even if you had it, now that their web site is down. The scanner is still operable however. To test, bring up notepad and scan an ISBN barcode. What comes out looks like gibberish because it uses an Orphan Annie level of encryption (zeros come out out C3nZ; 1 is CNjY, etc.). All this, apparently, to discourage use of the scanner without the CT software, which included de-cryption capability. LibraryThing can decrypt the output however, so you don't need software if this is to be the only use you intend to make of CueCat. To enable the full features of the device however, there are at least two software drivers you can download free: one is Catnip, written by Rich Goldstein in 2000 (cedmagic.com) which can read multiple bar code types, filter the
output, call other programs, bring up the Internet on your browser, etc. Another is called Original Cat
(chucksomerville.com) which I have yet to try.
Caution: Use this information and advice at your own risk. Though it is correct to the best of my knowledge, it is subject to change, and is offered without guarantees of any kind. 12/22/06.
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