<s>
The	O
CueCat	B-Device
,	O
styled	O
:CueCat	O
with	O
a	O
leading	O
colon	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
cat-shaped	O
handheld	O
barcode	B-Device
reader	I-Device
that	O
was	O
given	O
away	O
free	O
to	O
Internet	O
users	O
starting	O
in	O
2000	O
by	O
the	O
now-defunct	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
Corporation	I-Device
(	O
which	O
often	O
styled	O
its	O
own	O
name	O
as	O
Digital:Convergence	O
Corporation	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
year-end	O
2001	O
,	O
barcodes	O
were	O
no	O
longer	O
distributed	O
for	O
the	O
device	O
,	O
and	O
scanning	B-Application
with	O
the	O
device	O
using	O
its	O
original	O
software	O
no	O
longer	O
yielded	O
results	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
third-party	O
software	O
can	O
decode	O
the	O
lightweight	O
encryption	O
in	O
the	O
device	O
,	O
allowing	O
it	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
general-purpose	O
wand-type	O
barcode	B-Device
reader	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CueCat	B-Device
can	O
read	O
several	O
common	O
barcode	O
types	O
,	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
proprietary	B-Application
CUE	O
barcodes	O
which	O
had	O
been	O
promoted	O
by	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CueCat	B-Device
was	O
named	O
CUE	O
for	O
the	O
unique	O
bar	O
code	O
which	O
the	O
device	O
scanned	O
and	O
CAT	O
as	O
a	O
wordplay	O
on	O
"	O
Keystroke	O
Automation	O
Technology	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
enabled	O
a	O
user	O
to	O
open	O
a	O
link	O
to	O
an	O
Internet	O
URL	O
by	O
scanning	B-Application
a	O
barcode	O
—	O
called	O
a	O
"	O
cue	O
"	O
by	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
—	O
appearing	O
in	O
an	O
article	O
or	O
catalog	O
or	O
on	O
some	O
other	O
printed	O
matter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CueCat	B-Device
was	O
connected	O
to	O
computers	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
way	O
as	O
a	O
keystroke	O
logger	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
keyboard	B-Device
wedge	O
"	O
,	O
interposer	O
,	O
or	O
pass-through	O
between	O
the	O
keyboard	B-Device
PS/2	B-Protocol
jack	I-Protocol
and	O
the	O
motherboard	B-Device
PS/2	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
USB-PS/2	O
compatibility	O
,	O
USB-PS/2	O
adapters	O
may	O
be	O
optionally	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
native	O
USB	B-Protocol
version	O
of	O
the	O
CueCat	B-Device
scanner	O
hardware	O
was	O
also	O
produced	O
,	O
but	O
fewer	O
of	O
them	O
were	O
made	O
before	O
all	O
manufacturing	O
of	O
the	O
hardware	O
was	O
discontinued	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CueCat	B-Device
patents	O
are	O
held	O
by	O
Jeffry	O
Jovan	O
Philyaw	O
,	O
who	O
changed	O
his	O
name	O
to	O
Jovan	O
Hutton	O
Pulitzer	O
after	O
the	O
failure	O
of	O
CueCat	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Belo	O
Corporation	O
,	O
parent	O
company	O
of	O
the	O
Dallas	O
Morning	O
News	O
and	O
owner	O
of	O
many	O
TV	O
stations	O
,	O
invested	O
US	O
$37.5	O
million	O
in	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
,	O
RadioShack	O
$30	O
million	O
,	O
Young	O
&	O
Rubicam	O
$28	O
million	O
,	O
and	O
Coca-Cola	O
$10	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
CueCat	B-Device
cost	O
RadioShack	O
about	O
$6.50	O
to	O
manufacture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
in	O
late	O
2000	O
and	O
continuing	O
for	O
about	O
a	O
year	O
,	O
advertisements	O
,	O
special	O
web	O
editions	O
,	O
and	O
editorial	O
content	O
containing	O
CueCat	B-Device
barcodes	O
appeared	O
in	O
many	O
US	O
periodicals	O
,	O
including	O
Parade	O
,	O
Forbes	O
,	O
and	O
Wired	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CueCat	B-Device
bar	O
codes	O
also	O
appeared	O
in	O
select	O
Verizon	O
Yellow	O
Pages	O
,	O
providing	O
advertisers	O
with	O
a	O
link	O
to	O
additional	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
a	O
time	O
,	O
RadioShack	O
printed	O
these	O
barcodes	O
in	O
its	O
product	O
catalogs	O
,	O
and	O
distributed	O
CueCat	B-Device
devices	O
through	O
its	O
retail	O
chain	O
to	O
customers	O
at	O
no	O
charge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Forbes	O
magazine	O
mailed	O
out	O
the	O
first	O
830,000	O
CueCats	B-Device
as	O
gifts	O
to	O
their	O
subscribers	O
,	O
since	O
the	O
magazine	O
was	O
starting	O
to	O
print	O
CRQ	O
(	O
"	O
See	O
Our	O
Cue	O
"	O
)	O
barcodes	O
in	O
their	O
magazine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
publisher	O
private-branded	O
the	O
CueCat	B-Device
hardware	O
they	O
sent	O
to	O
their	O
mailing	O
list	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Organizations	O
that	O
used	O
the	O
:CueCat	O
and	O
compatible	O
:CRQ	O
software	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Then	O
one	O
could	O
scan	O
bar	O
codes	O
on	O
groceries	O
,	O
bar	B-Library
codes	I-Library
on	I-Library
books	I-Library
,	O
and	O
custom	O
bar	O
codes	O
in	O
ads	O
in	O
magazines	O
,	O
newspapers	O
,	O
Verizon	O
Yellow	O
Pages	O
,	O
and	O
RadioShack	O
catalogs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
The	O
Wall	O
Street	O
Journal	O
,	O
Walter	O
Mossberg	O
criticized	O
CueCat	B-Device
:	O
"	O
In	O
order	O
to	O
scan	O
in	O
codes	O
from	O
magazines	O
and	O
newspapers	O
,	O
you	O
have	O
to	O
be	O
reading	O
them	O
in	O
front	O
of	O
your	O
PC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
concluded	O
that	O
the	O
CueCat	B-Device
"	O
is	O
n't	O
worth	O
installing	O
and	O
using	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
it	O
's	O
available	O
free	O
of	O
charge	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CueCat	B-Device
is	O
now	O
widely	O
described	O
as	O
a	O
commercial	O
failure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CueCat	B-Device
's	O
critics	O
said	O
the	O
device	O
was	O
ultimately	O
of	O
little	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Joe	O
Salkowski	O
of	O
the	O
Chicago	O
Tribune	O
wrote	O
,	O
"	O
You	O
have	O
to	O
wonder	O
about	O
a	O
business	O
plan	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
notion	O
that	O
people	O
want	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
a	O
soda	O
can	O
"	O
,	O
while	O
Debbie	O
Barham	O
of	O
the	O
Evening	O
Standard	O
quipped	O
that	O
the	O
CueCat	B-Device
"	O
fails	O
to	O
solve	O
a	O
problem	O
which	O
never	O
existed	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2009	O
,	O
the	O
popular	O
gadget	O
blog	O
Gizmodo	O
voted	O
the	O
CueCat	B-Device
the	O
#1	O
worst	O
invention	O
of	O
the	O
decade	O
of	O
the	O
"	O
2000s	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CueCat	B-Device
device	O
was	O
controversial	O
,	O
initially	O
because	O
of	O
privacy	O
concerns	O
about	O
its	O
collection	O
of	O
aggregate	O
user	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
CueCat	B-Device
has	O
a	O
unique	O
serial	O
number	O
,	O
and	O
users	O
suspected	O
that	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
could	O
compile	O
a	O
database	O
of	O
all	O
barcodes	O
scanned	O
by	O
a	O
given	O
user	O
and	O
connect	O
it	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
name	O
and	O
address	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
this	O
reason	O
,	O
and	O
because	O
the	O
demographic	O
market	O
targeted	O
by	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
was	O
unusually	O
tech-savvy	O
,	O
numerous	O
websites	O
arose	O
detailing	O
instructions	O
for	O
"	O
declawing	O
"	O
the	O
CueCat	B-Device
blocking	O
or	O
encrypting	O
the	O
data	O
it	O
sent	O
to	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
registered	O
the	O
domain	O
"	O
digitaldemographics.com	O
 "	O
,	O
giving	O
additional	O
credence	O
to	O
privacy	O
concerns	O
about	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Internet	O
technologist	O
and	O
Interhack	O
founder	O
Matt	O
Curtin	O
,	O
each	O
scan	O
delivered	O
the	O
product	O
code	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
ID	O
and	O
the	O
scanner	O
's	O
ID	O
back	O
to	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
data	O
format	O
was	O
proprietary	B-Application
,	O
and	O
was	O
scrambled	O
so	O
the	O
barcode	O
data	O
could	O
not	O
be	O
read	O
as	O
plain	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
barcode	O
itself	O
is	O
closely	O
related	O
to	O
Code	O
128	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
scanner	O
was	O
also	O
capable	O
of	O
reading	O
EAN/UPC	O
and	O
other	O
symbologies	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Priority	O
Mail	O
,	O
UPC-A	O
,	O
UPC-E	O
,	O
EAN-13	O
,	O
EAN-8	O
,	O
2-of-5	O
interleaved	O
,	O
CODABAR	O
,	O
CODE39	O
,	O
CODE128	O
,	O
and	O
ISBN	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
the	O
weak	O
obfuscation	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
,	O
meant	O
only	O
to	O
protect	O
the	O
company	O
under	O
DMCA	O
guidelines	O
(	O
like	O
the	O
DVD	O
protection	O
Content	B-Algorithm
Scramble	I-Algorithm
System	I-Algorithm
)	O
,	O
software	O
for	O
decoding	O
the	O
CueCat	B-Device
's	O
output	O
quickly	O
appeared	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
a	O
plethora	O
of	O
unofficial	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
:CRQ	O
"	O
(	O
"	O
see	O
our	O
cue	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
desktop	O
software	O
,	O
intercepted	O
the	O
data	O
from	O
both	O
the	O
keyboard	B-Device
and	O
the	O
CueCat	B-Device
,	O
before	O
passing	O
it	O
on	O
to	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Versions	O
for	O
both	O
Windows	O
32-bit	O
or	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
9	I-Operating_System
were	O
included	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Belo	O
officials	O
said	O
they	O
would	O
not	O
track	O
individual	O
CueCat	B-Device
users	O
but	O
would	O
gather	O
anonymous	O
information	O
grouped	O
by	O
age	O
,	O
gender	O
and	O
ZIP	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2000	O
,	O
security	O
watchdog	O
website	O
Securitywatch.com	O
notified	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
of	O
a	O
security	O
vulnerability	O
on	O
the	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
website	O
that	O
exposed	O
private	O
information	O
about	O
CueCat	B-Device
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
immediately	O
shut	O
down	O
that	O
part	O
of	O
their	O
website	O
,	O
and	O
their	O
investigation	O
concluded	O
that	O
approximately	O
140,000	O
CueCat	B-Device
users	O
who	O
had	O
registered	O
their	O
CueCat	B-Device
were	O
exposed	O
to	O
a	O
breach	O
that	O
revealed	O
their	O
name	O
,	O
email	O
address	O
,	O
age	O
range	O
,	O
gender	O
and	O
zip	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
not	O
a	O
breach	O
of	O
the	O
main	O
user	O
database	O
itself	O
,	O
but	O
a	O
flat	O
text	O
file	O
used	O
only	O
for	O
reporting	O
purposes	O
that	O
was	O
generated	O
by	O
ColdFusion	B-Language
code	O
that	O
was	O
saved	O
on	O
a	O
publicly	O
available	O
portion	O
of	O
the	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
web	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
responded	O
to	O
this	O
security	O
breach	O
by	O
sending	O
an	O
email	O
to	O
those	O
affected	O
by	O
the	O
incident	O
claiming	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
correcting	O
this	O
problem	O
and	O
would	O
be	O
offering	O
them	O
a	O
$10	O
gift	O
certificate	O
to	O
RadioShack	O
,	O
an	O
investor	O
in	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hackers	O
argued	O
that	O
the	O
changes	O
did	O
not	O
apply	O
retroactively	O
to	O
devices	O
that	O
had	O
been	O
purchased	O
under	O
older	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
license	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
the	O
thousands	O
of	O
users	O
who	O
received	O
unsolicited	O
CueCats	B-Device
in	O
the	O
mail	O
had	O
neither	O
agreed	O
to	O
nor	O
were	O
legally	O
bound	O
by	O
the	O
license	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
would	O
prevent	O
another	O
corporation	O
from	O
developing	O
integrated	O
software	O
within	O
an	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
or	O
browser	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
take	O
over	O
the	O
device	O
and	O
circumvent	O
the	O
:CRQ	O
supervisory	O
software	O
and	O
the	O
revenue	O
model	O
that	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
desired	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2001	O
,	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
fired	O
most	O
of	O
its	O
225-person	O
workforce	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2001	O
,	O
Belo	O
Corporation	O
,	O
CueCat	B-Device
investor	O
and	O
owner	O
of	O
newspapers	O
and	O
TV	O
stations	O
,	O
who	O
had	O
sent	O
at	O
least	O
200,000	O
free	O
CueCats	B-Device
to	O
its	O
readers	O
,	O
wrote	O
off	O
their	O
$37.5	O
million	O
investment	O
,	O
and	O
stopped	O
using	O
CueCat	B-Device
technology	O
with	O
newspapers	O
's	O
editions	O
,	O
notably	O
The	O
Press-Enterprise	O
,	O
The	O
Dallas	O
Morning	O
News	O
,	O
and	O
The	O
Providence	O
Journal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Investors	O
in	O
CueCat	B-Device
lost	O
their	O
$185	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Technology	O
journalist	O
Scott	O
Rosenberg	O
called	O
the	O
CueCat	B-Device
a	O
"	O
Rube	O
Goldberg	O
contraption	O
"	O
,	O
a	O
"	O
massive	O
flop	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
"	O
fiasco	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2001	O
,	O
Computerworld	O
named	O
CueCat	B-Device
as	O
a	O
Laureate	O
in	O
the	O
Media	O
Arts	O
&	O
Entertainment	O
category	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2001	O
,	O
Software	O
and	O
Information	O
Industry	O
Association	O
named	O
Digital	B-Device
Convergence	I-Device
Corp.	O
'	O
s	O
:CRQ	O
Technology	O
as	O
Best	O
Reference	O
Tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2005	O
,	O
a	O
liquidator	O
offered	O
two	O
million	O
CueCats	B-Device
for	O
sale	O
at	O
$0.30	O
each	O
(	O
in	O
quantities	O
of	O
500,000	O
or	O
more	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
unrelated	O
companies	O
sold	O
and	O
supported	O
surplus	O
new	O
CueCats	B-Device
as	O
low-cost	O
barcode	B-Device
scanners	I-Device
for	O
use	O
with	O
their	O
software	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Readerware	O
library	O
cataloging	O
utlity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
,	O
the	O
widespread	O
availability	O
of	O
barcode	B-Device
scanner	I-Device
smartphone	O
apps	O
made	O
the	O
CueCat	B-Device
's	O
capabilities	O
mostly	O
superfluous	O
.	O
</s>
