More on the world around us

Victor Infante's wrote poignantly in his Friday Pop Culture Notebook about Jeff Barnard. Jeff, as many of you remember, died a year-and-a-half ago, leaving not only silence where his voice had been, but also a drought of energy from the rest of us. Jeff worked hard and, in the process, got the rest of us to work hard.

It wasn't about competition, but about conversation. You know how it is: a gathering of friends brings out the best of everyone. One good idea sparks a half-dozen more. Further, if someone provides an insight, you cannot not see it afterwards. The world has a lot of great people who can fill our lives with magic and a lot of others who seek to fill our lives with fear.

Among marketing types, there's a hot trend with QR codes. These squared ink blots provide your smartphone with detailed information about a website, contact information, or other something else of questionable utility. I have one on my business card, mostly as a conversation starter. It contains my contact information.

It was inevitable that someone would combine this marketing device with our fears. Toward that end, we now have SafetyTat. As we learn, if we turn our backs for even a moment, we can lose our kid, but a tattooed QR code can

These folks have not only registered their trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but they have a patent on it, too.