Barcodes are amazing; we all know that. They have so many wonderful applications, including some that you’ve probably never even considered before. But now a viral post is showing just how versatile these vertical lines can be as an artist creates a wonderful musical melody using a selection of barcodes and some scanners.

You can watch the amazing techno beats here:

Printing, believe it or not, dates back in some form to as early as 3500 BC, when the Persian and Mesopotamian civilisations used cylinder seals to certify documents written in clay. Woodblock printing would follow, then moveable type until we get to the printing press in 1440. Ever since humanity created visual print, there has been ways and techniques for making copies of said print.

Mobile technology has completely revolutionised so many industries, including the supply chain. In warehouse environments, mobility is more important than ever. Customers expect more and more every year, quicker delivery and quality products at competitive prices. To stay competitive and sustain growth in the future, you should invest in mobile devices to improve your supply chain, logistics and transportation of your goods.

Assets are incredibly valuable to all businesses; assets refer to anything with monetary value within a business organisation. Asset tracking refers to the process which tracks your physical assets, which is an integral part of any business operation, especially if your business model involves renting or loaning out assets to customers.

The Amazon effect is the name given to the phenomena that the retail giant Amazon has disrupted the retail market, both online and in physical stores. The title refers to Amazon’s continued dominance of the online market; its rise in e-commerce sales that has resulted in a number of small businesses having to close up shop due to being unable to compete.

Italian biotech FEM2-Ambiente has developed a DNA barcoding tool for food companies to increase food safety by verifying ingredients and tracing contaminants in raw and processed foods. The company hopes that the system will improve food safety and uncover food fraud by reducing the need for equipped laboratories and highly qualified personnel when inspecting food products.

Asset tracking is a great way to keep stock of everything within an organisation, preventing it from going missing, keeping track of the maintenance and keeping a record of every person who has used a piece of equipment, allowing for complete transparency and accountability.

The planet is in the midst of a climate crisis. With temperatures rising and growing concerns about serious changes needing to be put in place to prevent the catastrophic consequences of climate change, people are scrutinising the current recycling systems and asking just how much of our recycling actually ends up being recycled into something else.

George Laurer, whose design of the vertically striped barcode revolutionised the supermarket checkout, parcel deliveries and assembly lines, died on the 5th December 2019 at the age of 94.