www.roanoke.com

A new yard sale map is now featured on roanoke.com. The map will be updated regularly with new yard sale listings from The Roanoke Times classifieds.

As you might expect, the map has more listings near the end of the week since most yard sales are scheduled for Friday or Saturday. The map is accessible from any desktop or mobile device at http://yardsales.roanoke.com. To assist with the browsing, a list of mapped sales can be expanded from the right side of the map.

How do you like the map?

Do you have any thoughts about how to make it better?

What other types of maps would be helpful to you?

This post is from Phil Woods, Digital Product Manager.

Quick Response (QR) codes are the square matrix barcodes that are popping up everywhere from product packaging, to retail displays, to print advertising, to billboards. While QR codes simply store text, the most common use of QR codes is to provide a link to digital content from mobile devices.

To access QR code content, you’ll need a QR reader app on your smartphone or tablet. The app will use your device’s camera to scan and decode the QR code. As an example, scan the barcode below to download my contact information to your contact list.

There are countless potential uses of QR codes for a newspaper. For example, a QR code can link to an online video or a photo gallery for news stories. Similarly, QR codes could link to the latest online updates for a developing story. For a few other examples of QR use, check out 39 ways newspapers can use QR codes.

What are your impressions of QR codes?

If we started using QR codes more regularly, would you scan them?

Have you seen any creative uses of QR codes?

Charles Apple

This morning, media blogger Charles Apple shared this funny 30-second Newsday ad for its new iPad app.

It’s nice to see a paper have a sense of humor, isn’t it?

Apple has a blog on the American Copy Editors Society’s website called “The Visual Side of Journalism.” You can follow him on Twitter at @charlesapple.