Pennsylvania-based Tikaro Interactive now offers a series of 2-by-4-inch, Velcro-backed patches with a “mysterious commando” design on top and a QR code on the bottom. The code on each p8tch, as they're called, is actually a URL that can be scanned with a smartphone. Initially it directs scanners to the domain “p8t.ch,” but patch owners can set the redirect target of the URL to whatever page they wish, much like with TinyURL or other URL shortening services.

I had an idea like this not long ago, except instead of patches I was thinking of doing it with business cards. You'd buy a stack of cards with QR codes that link to some preset URL, and then you allow the user to redirect that URL to anything they want on the fly. You might have a companion application on an iPhone or Android device that lets you take a picture of the QR-code and "set it before you hand the card off to someone—like a dynamic business card. And perhaps best of all—you'd be able to Rick Roll people with tangible items.