~The Catch-All Drawer~

Sunday, August 29, 2004

D_Skin
I'm not into DVDs much yet, but I have a ton of CDs, mainly data, but also program and music discs that are always at risk. CD-Rs are actually most vulnerable on the top surface, since it is really a foil - receptor that is micro thin, not like the commercial discs that have vinyl on both surfaces. For this reason, I always try to put a paper label on the top to label and protect.

But . ..how about the bottom surface? That is where scratches can ruin a CD or distort or put skips in a music CD, ruining it. Enter a new product, still a little pricey (a buck apiece?), called D_skins, are an innovative way to protect DVDs, CDs from wear and tear, and are easy to use. It is a plastic skin that pops on the disc, grabbing the lip and hanging on for its life. Just leave it on! It is optically invisible, so the digital data makes it through 100%. Protects from scratches, but if you get skritched, pop off the old and pop on a new skin and save the CD.

D_Skin reviewed

Note: I actually have not used these, as I'm too cheap, and am waiting till they can be bought in a cheap bulk bundle at a computer show.

Tossed in by: R.G.B.
. . . Sunday, August 29, 2004 (1) comments

Thursday, August 26, 2004

Tech timeline
The predictions mentioned in the last post about the year 2000 were particularly interesting when you consider the state of things in 1961. It was still the leave-it-to-beaver old days. The statements about computer help, facsimile, messaging, mail, were visions.
There is a timeline on the Smithsonian site that is an easy read showing when some of the technology milestones actually did appear.

Tossed in by: R.G.B.
. . . Thursday, August 26, 2004 (0) comments

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Is life worth living?
This article from a 1961 magazine predicts life in the year 2000. The most accurate guess was:

Mail and newspapers will be reproduced instantly anywhere in the world by facsimile.


I read my mail and my newspaper online this morning.


Tossed in by: PDQ
. . . Wednesday, August 25, 2004 (0) comments

Saturday, August 21, 2004

Bureaucratic Fat
I know I am overweight. I don't need national agencies and studies to call me fat. By the new definitions now seemingly being foisted upon the poulation, thousands of normal people, as well as many amazingly fit olympic atheletes, Tom Cruise, and the Governator are all officially overweight. The sky is falling! It's an 'Obesity Epidemic'! Well, due to these flawed guidelines based on typical junk science, 61% of Americans are deemed to be overweight. By definition, isn't that some kind of an oxymoronic statement, like the Lake Wobegon kids who are all above average?

Tossed in by: R.G.B.
. . . Saturday, August 21, 2004 (0) comments

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Permanent Spray on Siding?
Permanent Spray on House Siding?
This is not a commercial! Just an interesting thing, using polymer paint, about 10 times thicker that regular paint, to give the permanence of siding without the fake look that you see sometimes with siding. Supposedly it breathes to let out moisture, the failing of using boat paint or epoxy or whatever. I bet it would be good for historical houses, to preserve the details.

Tossed in by: R.G.B.
. . . Wednesday, August 18, 2004 (0) comments

Sunday, August 15, 2004

Inventor quiz
At first, nobody bought Chester Carlson's strange idea. But trillions of documents later, his invention was the biggest thing in printing since Gutenburg.
Click here to be reminded who he is and what he invented.

Tossed in by: R.G.B.
. . . Sunday, August 15, 2004 (1) comments

Sunday, August 08, 2004

Singers Italiano
I saw a bit of an old Al Martino concert on public TV and I finally found out what I suspected all along, that Al Martino, Perry Como, Tony Bennett and Andy Williams were actually the same person.

Tossed in by: R.G.B.
. . . Sunday, August 08, 2004 (0) comments

D_Skin
Tech timeline
Is life worth living?
Bureaucratic Fat
Permanent Spray on Siding?
Inventor quiz
Singers Italiano