[nzlug] computer read/write access to paper?

[Stephen Judd]

On 6/22/07, Karl. <kmw1 at free.net.nz> wrote:
> Every now and then there are small files (encryption keyfiles) that I'd
> like to store in some robust offline fashion.  I have a vague
> recollection of software to print out a file as a 2D barcode, and then
> something to read it back from a scan of the page.  Anyone here got any
> pointers on how to do this?

Paper? How boring. Why not a secret decoder ring? Or a tattoo on your
bottom? (It would be unlikely to be exposed in daily life, and for
retrieval, you could sit on your scanner).

> Vague thoughts:  I could hack up my own method by choosing a subset of
> characters which are consistently well recognized by ordinary OCR
> software.  eg.  don't use Q because it looks too much like O, etc.

You know, 1 and 0 are very distinguishable. I suggest binary.