Beep My Stuff will be shutting down on 30th September 2010. Read more here at the BMS Blog

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

Beeping

Tagging

Exporting Your Library

Privacy

Twitter

General Questions

What stuff can I beep?

Anything that appears on Amazon and has a barcode. When Beep My Stuff scans a barcode it asks Amazon what that product is. If Amazon doesn't have the item you can still fill in all the details of the item so you can share your rare stuff with your friends.

Why would I 'Beep My Stuff'?

  • To share your stuff with your friends
  • To keep a record of all your stuff to show to your insurer
  • Because as weird as it sounds it's quite nice to see your stuff listed
  • Once you have a library you will be amazed how MUCH stuff you have!
  • Beep My Stuff gives you a new way to explore your stuff as well as your friends stuff.

How much does it cost?

Beep My Stuff is free for personal use. We may in the future add 'pro' features but the basic service of 'creating an online library' will be free forever.

What do I need to use Beep My Stuff?

Once you have created an account on Beep My Stuff all you need is Flash 9 (90%+ of people already have this installed) and a supported webcam. Nearly all USB webcams are supported.

What webcams are supported?

Nearly all USB/Firewire webcams are supported. Here are a list of requirements:

  • VGA (640x480) or better resolution
  • 15 frames per second or better
  • Variable focus (so the camera can focus on close objects)

The easiest things to do is to just go to the beep section of Beep My Stuff and try out your webcam.

Most cameras built into laptops and monitors do not have variable focus and will not capture the barcode with enough detail to work with Beep My Stuff You might want to try this hack to get a closer focus.

I have a colour webcam but Beep My Stuff is in black and white?

The Beep My Stuff flash application converts the colour image from your webcam into black and white (and grey) image. Since most barcodes are black and white this makes it easier for the flash application to beep the barcode.

I can't find the barcode on my item or the barcode doesn't scan?

Some older items don't have barcodes. Barcodes only became ubiquitous in the early 1990's.

Some items appear to have barcodes but they are not EAN or UPC barcodes. Often they are ISBN barcodes or internal barcodes used by the shop you bought the product from.

Beep My Stuff can only scan standard 12/13 digit UPC/EAN barcodes. Most products since 1990 have these style barcodes.

You can enter the details of the item by hand in the manual entry form.

My Macbook Pro (or any laptop) camera doesn't work!

Laptop cameras are not variable focus and thus can't focus on close objects. Because of this Beep My Stuff won't work with them. You can either get an external USB web cam or try this disposable camera hack to get it to work.

Beeping

What is a barcode?

A barcode is a square with vertical stripes. The stripes represent a twelve or thirteen digit number which is often written below the barcode. For a full discussion of barcodes please visit Wikipedia

Here is the bar code for the Blu-Ray of No Country for Old Men.

A Barcode

Barcodes are often found on the back of book, DVD, CD, Blu-ray Disc or video game.

My webcam doesn't work/appear in flash?

If you have plugged your webcam in AFTER starting your web browser then flash will not 'see' your webcam. Restart your web browser with the camera plugged in and it should see it.

To tell flash to use your webcam go to the Beep page and right click (Ctrl click for Mac users) in the flash area and select 'Settings...' from the menu.

Flash Settings

In the Privacy tab click 'Allow' to let Beep My Stuff use your camera (we don't use the Microphone by the way). I suggest checking the remember box. If you don't remember this setting you will need to 'Allow' Beep My Stuff to use your camera each time you go to the beep page.

Flash Privacy Settings

Next in the Camera tab select your camera from the drop down menu of cameras.

Flash Cameras

Now you should start to see your cameras output in the flash box.

How do I scan a barcode with my webcam?

Take a look at HowToBeep

Tagging

What is a tagging?

Tagging is a way for you to categorise the items in your library. Tags are small names of less then 32 characters in length. For example Pop, SciFi, Thriller, Shelf 5 are all good tags.

How do I tag something?

There are two ways to tag an item:

  • Edit an item and enter a semicolon (;) separated list of tags. When you save the item the tags will be created for you.
  • When browsing your library unfold the Add Tags widget and enter a semicolon (;) seperated list of tags to create.

Once created tags can be dragged and dropped on to items to tags them.

How do I remove a tag?

To remove a tag edit the item and delete the tag name from the tags entry field. Click save and the tag is gone. If you want to remove the tag completely you can go to you home page and delete it in the tags box.

Can I tag multiple items at the same time?

To tag multiple items shift click on the items in the library broswer. They will highlight blue. Then when you drop a tag on to a selected item all the selected items will be tagged.

Exporting Your Library

Can I export my library?

You can export your library to a CSV file.

How do I export my library?

You can export your library by going to home and clicking Export Library. Select the fields you want to export and click 'Export Library'.

Excel shows the EAN/UPC as strange numbers?

Excel tries to predict what data type the EAN/UPC column is and it things that they are VERY large numbers. To get around this you need to import the CSV file using the Excel text import wizard. the text import wizard will give you an opportunity to import the EAN/UPC column as text.

Some of the data is missing?

Beep My Stuff allows you to export as much information as possible. Some of the information displayed about an item is copyright to Amazon and it is not allowed to be exported from Beep My Stuff. Specifically picture and reviews cannot be exported.

Privacy

I want a library but I don't want to share it?

You can make your entire library private by going to the Home section of Beep My Stuff, then click Edit Account in the You section and unchecking public library. Remember to click Update Account to store your changes.

I want to keep some of my items private?

When you beep items you can elect to make the item public (everyone can see it) or shared (only friends can see it). There are checkboxes below the camera view in the beep section.

To change an item already in your library click on the item in your library, click edit item and then check the sharing options. Remember to Save your changes.

Can I delete my account?

You can delete your account by going to the Home section of Beep My Stuff, then click Delete Account in the You section. You will be asked to confirm your request.

Once your account is deleted ALL information we store about you is removed from our databases. This cannot be undone.

Twitter

How can I get Beep My Stuff to tweet for me?

You need to connect your Beep My Stuff account to your twitter account. To do this

  • Log in to beep my stuff
  • Go to your home section and select the twitter tab
  • Click on Sign in With Twitter

At this point twitter.com will validate your account and you may ask you to log in to twitter. You will then be asked if you want to allow Beep My Stuff to have access to your twitter account. Follow twitter.com's instructions.

What will be tweeted?

When you add items to your library a tweet will automatically appear in your twitter stream. Multiple additions are grouped together in to a single tweet to stop twitter spam.

Can I stop the tweets?

  • Log in to beep my stuff
  • Go to your home section and select the twitter tab
  • Uncheck Tweet Adds
  • Click Update Twitter Options

Will my private or shared items be tweeted?

Any items that are private or shared will not be tweeted. A non-public library will generate no tweet.

revision: 44 author: metaldazza date: 21-Jan-2010 09:19:31