Re: Thoughts on current discussion around QR codes

I'd like to point out that any single static barcode will have capacity limits, and we are talking about encoding something that has no inherent limits: the DID document. But this does not mean we have to abandon QR codes, nor does it mean we have to animate them. It simply means we need to sequence them. A sequence of bar codes, whether it is animated, paged on user demand as each one is read, or on the printed page "waved over" by the reading device, has effectively unlimited capacity. Animating a sequence of QR codes can be thought of as "auto-paging" through them. Animation may or not be the best way to convey a sequence of QR codes— user testing should decide that. Obviously, animation is not available on the printed page, but nor is it required either. I suggest this group not fixate on the idea of "animated QR codes" or "high density other codes" but simply on a standard way of effectively removing the capacity limit of *any* bar code by settling on a standard to sequence them. I described one way to do this in my AirgappedSigning proposal.

🐺
Wolf McNally

> On Feb 16, 2020, at 5:43 AM, Leonard Rosenthol <lrosenth@adobe.com> wrote:
> 
> Yes, GB18030 is a Chinese national standard for encoding of Chinese characters.  Conceptually like JIS in Japan or ASCII or ISO-Latin-1 for other countries.
>  
> FYI: CHF118 is the standard price for most ISO standards.  
> Remember that ISO makes its $$ selling their standards while allowing *free* membership in their standards process (vs. the W3C that *charges* for membership, but makes their standards free).   Everyone has to make a living and both approaches towards standards development are valid.
>  
> Leonard
>  
> From: Christopher Allen <ChristopherA@lifewithalacrity.com <mailto:ChristopherA@lifewithalacrity.com>>
> Date: Sunday, February 16, 2020 at 6:46 AM
> To: Credentials Community Group <public-credentials@w3.org <mailto:public-credentials@w3.org>>, W3C DID Working Group <public-did-wg@w3.org <mailto:public-did-wg@w3.org>>, Wolf McNally <wolf@wolfmcnally.com <mailto:wolf@wolfmcnally.com>>
> Subject: Re: Thoughts on current discussion around QR codes
> Resent-From: <public-credentials@w3.org <mailto:public-credentials@w3.org>>
> Resent-Date: Sunday, February 16, 2020 at 6:45 AM
>  
> Han Xin is a 2D bar code symbology intended particularly for the representation of Chinese characters. It appears to be based on the GB18030 <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffileformats.archiveteam.org%2Fwiki%2FGB18030&data=02%7C01%7Clrosenth%40adobe.com%7C4f6c4b477fb64d8e7edc08d7b2d5e5c6%7Cfa7b1b5a7b34438794aed2c178decee1%7C0%7C0%7C637174504111315287&sdata=O4DuUaHlNiUcZjHOnIY9QcE8cZ3vbJ4Lu%2BF6IAdsnvU%3D&reserved=0> character encoding system, which encompasses Chinese and a number of other characters from Unicode <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffileformats.archiveteam.org%2Fwiki%2FUnicode&data=02%7C01%7Clrosenth%40adobe.com%7C4f6c4b477fb64d8e7edc08d7b2d5e5c6%7Cfa7b1b5a7b34438794aed2c178decee1%7C0%7C0%7C637174504111315287&sdata=5yq4AnRrA57I4X0cnIIlpvoQ6g738wQfLPh6qbe5w0c%3D&reserved=0>. It is a proprietary system whose formal spec is paywalled at a $147 price.
>  
> ISO price is 
>  
> 
> BUY THIS STANDARD
> 
> FORMAT
> 
> LANGUAGE
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> PDF
> 
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> CHF118