So, it seems more than a few people were confused by the odd image seen above, or maybe just didn't care. More than 35 unique visitors to my site saw the image -- called a QR code -- over the last few days but only one, Justinian Hatfield, took the next step: Take a snapshot of the image with his smartphone and fire up a "QR reader" app, which then translated the image to the url of a secret page I had set up. Justinian earns some local brew for his efforts.

This little treasure hunt is an example of how QR codes can be used to offer new dimensions to marketing, advertising and communication. Because they're so simple to create and unique to any web page you want to promote, QR codes offer lots of potential. In mobile-mad Japan and Europe, QR codes are big and getting bigger, with QR codes embedded on packaging, and printed advertisements and news pages.

At The Californian, we'll begin experimenting with QR codes in some of our print advertisements in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for them. And if you're an advertiser and want to experiment with this tool, let us know.