Ben Barrett wrote,
>On an unrelated note, which may be covered in list archives (sorry if so)...
>is any of our readership using a cuecat scanner to inventory thir media,
>and/or scan UPC codes of other products they bring home? Some years ago, I
>read a fellow's site who was tracking his consumption by placing a scanner
>at his kitchen trash, and scanning everything that had a code :) I'd also
>like to use it to manage my personal lending library (mostly books) when
>friends with hungry brains drop by ;)
I'm not actually using it for anything useful, but I have a CueCat that my
boss let me take home because he didn't want it (he got it when a magazine
sent it to him as part of a subscription renewal gimmick).
It works. I found, however, that getting the swiping motion right required
a bit of practice...if you hold the reader at the wrong distance from the
bar code, or at the wrong angle, you don't get a reading.
You'll need software that can decode the data stream. Fortunately,
despite the manufacturer's attempt to intimidate open-source drivers out
of existence, software that can read the data is readily available from
the Internet. I found one that's just a few Perl statements.
The CueCat plugs into the PS/2 keyboard plug. If you don't have a PS/2
keyboard connector, you'll need to connect the CueCat to an adapter.
(It has a pass-through plug so you don't have to sacrifice your PS/2
keyboard.)
- Neil Parker
_______________________________________________
EUGLUG mailing list
[email protected]
http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug
