What are the 3 rules again?
See title
yes my coat, with a copy of Caves of Steel off to my cave now...
Amazon has once again been slammed for conditions workers face in its warehouses after a robot in a US site popped a can of bear repellant, hospitalising 24 staff. The incident, which took place yesterday at the Robbinsville fulfillment centre in New Jersey, involved an automated machine that “accidentally” punctured a 9-ounce …
1. A human employee may not reduce the profits of the Amazon corporation, or through inaction allow profits to be reduced.
2. A human employee must obey the orders give to it by Amazon except where such orders would conflict with the first law.
3. A human employee must protect their own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
1. A human employee may not reduce the profits of the Amazon corporation, or through inaction allow profits to be reduced.
2. A human employee must obey the orders give to it by Amazon except where such orders would conflict with the first law.
3. A human employee must protect their own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Ooooh, that is a *classic*.
This is one of those moment I regret that I only have one upvote, so I thus nominate this one for Comment of the Week, for sarcasm in the face of adversity.
Well done.
:)
The best part is the workplace accident was the accidental release of pepper spray - which is basically what bear spray is. They are getting as good as The Simpsons in the "life imitates art" category, and with a lot faster turnaround!
In the episode, the release was caused by a robot screwing up.
This story seems to be a simple cut-n-paste job. We deserve more! I demand that El Reg sends a reporter - no, several reporters! - to work undercover at several Amazon sites to get to the bottom of what is really going on. Better yet, I think The Register should build a robot to go undercover at Amazon and find out what really happened. It worked great with the LOHAN project. I propose the backronym KARDASHIAN. It might not break the internet, but it can definitely take out a bear.
This is more likely to be a hit job by the usual shady fellows linked to Trump linked to Chabat linked to Manaford linked to Ukraine linked to Assange linked to P.U.T.I.N, always trying to destabilize democracy, the Dow Jones and the crown jewels of American Capitalism.
I mean, "bear spray". A likely story.
Exactly. I'm also suspicious that this story was filed in "Business". Isn't it about time El Reg formalised RoTM as a separate category so us wetware are better placed to keep track of this stuff rather than hiding putting it in euphemistically titled categories like "Business" and "destroy meatbags" "Software".
I like sticking it to the Amazonian 'man' as much as anyone, but this appears to be a honest to goodness accident.
These things happen.
I didn't see anything in the story that substantiated any specific wrong doing by Amazon at least in this instance. Is there more to the story than portrayed?
This has nothing to do with the robots.
If my (non-Amazon) warehouse manager had a nickle for every time some dumbass ran over a can of paint or something like that with a forklift, he'd have the money to train them and buy decent forklifts.
Hell, a guy went to the emergency room last week because he connected a forklift to the charger backwards somehow (with connectors specifically designed so this isn't possible) and 660amps of angry pixies unleashed vengeance upon his person.
Anon because I like my job... well, not really, but I do like the paycheck.
"If my (non-Amazon) warehouse manager had a nickle for every time some dumbass ran over a can of paint or something like that with a forklift, he'd have the money to train them and buy decent forklifts."
Perhaps your fellow workers just need to watch a film about forklift safety?
> ... way that utterly prevents this kind of thing.
Sorry, not possible.
You can reduce the risk to 0.01% or thereabouts, but absolute prevention is just not possible. Nature is fickle and messy.
I put this in the same category of "we are striving for 100% accident free roads." An admirable target to aim for, but anyone that thinks it is even remotely possible is deluded.
> this appears to be a honest to goodness accident.
The story says that the robot dropped the can of bear spray and that it broke open. That makes it sound as if a human could have dropped it instead. If that punctured can managed to hospitalise 24 people, I imagine the consequences would have been much worse for a human who had dropped it - since that person would have been much closer to the tin when it burst.
Also, if there had been more robots working in the warehouse, handling what turns out to be hazardous material, then there would have been fewer injured people. Either way, the "lesson" could be construed that the greater the proportion of robots at Amazon, the safer the working environment would be.
this appears to be a honest to goodness accident
Of which there seem to be quite a few...
I didn't see anything in the story that substantiated any specific wrong doing by Amazon at least in this instance. Is there more to the story than portrayed?
The Guardian have just started a new series of articles: The Amazon Diaries
Did anyone watch the Tour de France this year?
There was a farmers protest, where they'd blocked the road with hay bails. Normal procedure used to be that the peleton would slow down for protests and everyone would get on with their day with the protestors having got their free media exposure. But I don't think there's that kind of cosy relationship anymore, not even in France.
So the police are clearing the road, just in time for the tour to be able to get through - but they're pushing the farmers back from the road who're stopping them getting rid of the last bails. And oops oh dear! On live TV as well. The gendarme on the left gets what looks like an industrial sized bottle of pepper spray out, and has a go at the protestors who're already 10 yards from the road. Don't know if they said something, he saw something, or just lost his temper.
But our poor lad is no sailor. And hasn't checked the wind. So first he goes down in a coughing spluttering heap, and then the cyclists come through his cloud of pepper spray at 30 kph - and then all stop and wipe their eyes and cough and pour their water bottles over their heads and still hurt so go to the medical car who's now swamped. Half an hour later, after mechanics have been called up to put eye drops in for the cyclists, and they've all wasted tonnes of bottles of water washing themselves clear - the race continues.
'An Amazon spokeswoman told The Register that employee safety was the firm’s top priority'
No it isn't, if it was they'd be bankrupt but with lots of employees wrapped in padding in a perfectly heated well lit environment. The same as with any organisation, ensuring its own survival is number 1, even the best company in the world only has safety as its number 2 priority.
Common misconception. It's not the chilis, nor the beans, that cause problems "downstream". It's poorly prepared food, combined with entirely too much fat.
Beans & hot peppers are a normal part of the diet here at Chez jake. None of the residents report either explosive decompression or the proverbial ring of fire. (Before anyone asks, our genetic background is widely varied.)
Somewhere in generic Africa, a visitor was being reassured about the threat from lions.
The locals said most lions are shy, eat small rodents and fruits, and can be frightened away by wearing bells, and if they get too close you can drive them off using pepper spray.
Its only the rogue lions you have to be careful about.
The visitor asks how can you tell which is in the area.
The locals tell them, Examine the droppings.. normal lion poo has small bones in it and smells a bit fruity.
Rogue poo contains bells and smells of pepper
(this joke would actually work better set in America with brown/grizzly bears, but that would be stealing)