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posted by on Wednesday December 21 2016, @04:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the customers-who-aren't-idiots dept.

What one piece of technology would most improve your working life?

Chances are it wouldn't be a glove. But car workers in Germany are now using smart gloves that not only save time but prevent accidents as well.

It is an example of how tech-enhanced humans are fighting back against the seemingly unstoppable rise of the robots.

At BMW's spare parts plant in Dingolfing, for example, which employs around 17,500 people, hand-held barcode readers have been replaced by gloves that scan objects when you put your thumb and forefinger together. The data is sent wirelessly to a central computer.

The hi-tech gloves allow workers to keep hold of items with both hands while scanning more quickly. While this may only save a few seconds each time, BMW reckons it adds up to 4,000 work minutes, or 66 hours, a day.

It's not just gloves; the article gives several examples of cool technology that help workers.


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  • (Score: 1) by butthurt on Wednesday December 21 2016, @08:25PM

    by butthurt (6141) on Wednesday December 21 2016, @08:25PM (#444451) Journal

    I wonder where comment #444444 is.

  • (Score: 2) by tynin on Wednesday December 21 2016, @08:29PM

    by tynin (2013) on Wednesday December 21 2016, @08:29PM (#444455) Journal

    Interesting... it seems to have teleported someplace else. ;-)

    How in the world did you even notice?

    Assuming journal posts increment the same comment value, and that you can delete your journal entries... that could be the answer.

    • (Score: 2) by tynin on Wednesday December 21 2016, @08:33PM

      by tynin (2013) on Wednesday December 21 2016, @08:33PM (#444457) Journal

      I'm wrong, journal posts have a different counter.

      • (Score: 2) by martyb on Thursday December 22 2016, @10:21AM

        by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 22 2016, @10:21AM (#444665) Journal

        Assuming journal posts increment the same comment value, and that you can delete your journal entries... that could be the answer.

        I'm wrong, journal posts have a different counter.

        You were right the first time; there is a single cid field in the comments table; it is NOT NULL and AUTO INCREMENTs. The comments table also contains a sid field which identifies the story, poll, or journal to which it is attached. For a little more background, see my earlier comment/reply to this story [soylentnews.org].

        Hope that helps!

        --
        Wit is intellect, dancing.
    • (Score: 1) by butthurt on Wednesday December 21 2016, @08:48PM

      by butthurt (6141) on Wednesday December 21 2016, @08:48PM (#444466) Journal

      I noticed when I made comment #444449.

      /comments.pl?sid=17091&cid=444449#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]

      Comments to journal entries share the same counter as those to stories; the journal entries themselves have a separate counter. I searched a few of the recent topics but didn't find #444444.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by martyb on Thursday December 22 2016, @09:50AM

    by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 22 2016, @09:50AM (#444658) Journal

    I wonder where comment #444444 is.

    Take a look at the SoylentNews API, specifically the comment_ops [soylentnews.org]. The returned JSON structure contains, among several other items, a "sid" field (think story id -- kinda, sorta). In this case, the returned value is 17082. Plug that into the standard comment access link and you will find comment #444444 can be found at: https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=17082&cid=444444 [soylentnews.org].

    --
    Wit is intellect, dancing.