Bar Coding The World Away 470
778790 writes "The Bar Code, long used for inventory classification and sometimes feared as a tool of social engineering, has been regulated in the name of globalization, and the globe has defeated the United States. Bar Codes in America will now have more digits, to match the global bar code standard: the European Article Numbering Code."
Why not be smarter? (Score:4, Interesting)
This would last forever and be able to migrate through other technologies, such as RFID.
How long? (Score:3, Interesting)
old tech and fucture tech? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Get me a rewrite... (Score:5, Interesting)
To the best of my knowledge, I don't know anyone that works with strictly 12-digit codes on any mass level. Perhaps it's just the mom&pop shops with their possibly custom software that runs with 12-digits only.
Re:Damn (Score:4, Interesting)
Why ? I was bored, and had a scar that needed covered, I couldnt think of anything that wouldnt be lame skulls etc, non my taste, so I figured If I ever get amnesia it would be nice to have (in case your wondering I'v had maybe 4 concussions, been declared dead once and had a skull fracture, perhaps THAT explains why I had my SS# put on my leg) in addiditon just in case noone has a scanner handy it is also printed in digits below as well.
Re:How long? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Get me a rewrite... (Score:3, Interesting)
People using older cash register systems might be SOL though.
It's about time (Score:5, Interesting)
Next up, metres and kilogrammes (you can spell them American if you really want).
Why the hell are they doing this? (Score:3, Interesting)
Then again, certain ISO standards....*shutter*.
For the tin foil madhatters out there, the standard doesn't provide enough addressing space to address dittly squat. I suppose getting everyone on the same standard is a step in that direction, since the next step could be setting up bar-codes that do have unique addresses (people'll be reading codes off in base-64) for later, but still.
Anyway, this may work in our favor; if the codes are standardised and it looks like there's country codes on them, one can memorise the codes you can tell which products are most likely baught from 3rd world countries via slave labor, and which are local. You can tell when they bring in the big crate of oranges from the big upc sticker weither or not they're from mexico and sprayed with DDT or not.
MMMMMMmmmm...I'v stayed up too late. I need to get some popcorn and coffie, get wired, and do some studying.
Re:Why not be smarter? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:old tech and fucture tech? (Score:4, Interesting)
As for the older, fixed function models, well, barcode readers get a lot of abuse, and are usually replaced every so often anyway due to wear and tear. Even better, the older supermarket checkout units have HeNe gas-discharge lasers which have a much shorter service life than their solid-state counterparts.
Re:let me hit you with some knowledge (Score:3, Interesting)
GASP!
I once went to a Church ... (Score:2, Interesting)
What happens to old bar codes? (Score:5, Interesting)
BTW who assigns barcode numbers and do they reap huge financial rewards from performing such a task?
Peace
Re:Get me a rewrite... (Score:5, Interesting)
We've tried a few different ways over the years to insure the right number of characters, including forcing eleven by cropping, forcing eleven by not allowing entry (no good if the table is a linked one and the entry is outside of our software) or allowing 11 or 12 and checking the checksum if there are twelve. All this matters because the equipment used to print the barcode typcially generates the check digit on its own, and the different manufacturers handle excess digits in several different ways.
The new standard now says we have three choices: 11,12 or 13. What do we do now? I'm not expecting an answer, because in the end we have to balance all the considerations and make Hobson's choice.
I'm not even going to go into the major US corporation whose database consists of 10,11 or 12 digit UPC codes, because in the beginning, that first digit was always the same, so why waste space on it?
Just goes to show you that when volume and/or speed increases, everything gets complicated (except rock).
Re:OSR... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Damn (Score:5, Interesting)
But its all been worth it, I've had a blast Ive been racing since I was 9 , first Junior MX, Then by 14 Flat Track, then I got into Road Racing and I'm still doing it, although in the last 2 years I've raced Vintage, probably will till I croak, Ive actually thought SERIOUSLY about doing the Isle of Man TT, but I havent had a sponsor (other than contingency sponsors) since I was 18
Gov't anti-metric (Score:5, Interesting)
For example, there'a sign on I-87 in NY which reads:
Montreal 300 miles (482.8 km)
There is no sign 50 miles later that says:
Montreal 400 km (248.5 miles)
so, you see, Imperial is easy, Metric is hard.
Re:More digits... (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, that doesn't HAVE to be true...unless a transaction that is taking place involves SS taxable income,etc, you do NOT have to give your SS#, and I pretty much do not.
Sure it is inconvenient, but, it can be done. When I wanted a cell phone, or ordered new cable service...I refused to give my SS#. In the case of the cell phone, they were just using it to run a credit check...and I want as few of those run as possible as that it can affect your credit rating, but, I digress. I had to give them something like a $200 deposit, and got signed up. I think I got the deposit sent back to me less than a year later.
I had a hassle at a company I worked for once...I refused to let the company's insurance have my SS...I told them to generate a new ID for me...after a little bitching...they gave me one. Thankfully, it is getting alittle easier to avoid giving the SS these days...due to people understanding identity theft being a problem (I've had mine stolen 3 times).
Not to mention the fact, it is a horrible number for a unique identifier from a database viewpoint. It cannot be counted on to be unique....the numbers are recycled...you cannot count on everyone HAVING one...and you cannot count on them being exactly 9 digits...many foreign national guests of the military are given special 'SS' numbers...that have extra digits to identify them as special...etc.
So, just because someone asks for it, you don't have to give it......and you should not!
Re:Get me a rewrite... (Score:3, Interesting)
Believe me, it would never be acceptable in a production environment to say "our product will shut down your production until a) you have the database fixed or b) you have the operator better trained.
BTW, input is only one reason for the check digit. Probably more important is that it allows the scanner to know whether or not it misread the barcode.
Re:More digits... (Score:3, Interesting)
I dunno...never heard the true explanation, but, got the info from our SME (subject matter expert) on a DoD database project I worked on once...
Re:More digits... (Score:5, Interesting)
Other common misunderstandings: "Lucifer" (Lux+Ferre = Light Bringer) is not Satan; the phrase is "a ROPE through the eye of a needle" (camelis != camel!!!); there is linguistic confusion over whether Mary was a virgin (neanis vs. parthenos, alma vs. bethusaleh, etc; there's also some evidence that parthenos did not carry its modern connotation); etc