On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:17:06 -0700, "Chris Kuethe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Might wanna keep an eye on the DVD's. I hear the dyes aren't quite as >stable and long-lived as the manufacturers claim. I've heard rumors of >discs being stored undisturbed in safety-deposit boxes for 5yrs >starting to break down. Some people I know with a rather small set of >backup DVDs read the existing discs and burn a new set every 6-12mo. >This serves the purposes of verifying that you can restore from your >backup and that your media is fresh. This is one of those areas that sink my confidence in predictive modeling and accelerated aging - if it could go any lower. My collection of data CDs, mostly digitized vinyl music and cassette-based audio books plus various specialized backup, number in the thousands, many over 10 years old. I've yet to have that first one refuse to read, at least not any that didn't have physical damage. A couple of years ago I started moving to DVD data storage. No problems there either. One rather extreme experience makes me think that all this stuff about aging is bunk. During my move in up here, one of my data DVDs escaped from custody. It rolled down the edge of my yard where it lay for over 6 months including summer. It was exposed, read side up, to direct sunlight for several hours a day. When I found it, the thing had turned a gorgeous deep royal purple with a pinkish tint around the edges. It was also mud-spattered and had suffered a few scratches on the read side. I figured that it was toast but just for grins I washed off the dirt, stuck it in my cheap Chicom no-name drive and fired off file manager. The disc read perfectly. I copied its contents to my laptop and burned a copy just in case but the original read just fine. It read fast too, with none of the grinding and shaking that the drive does when it's having problems. I suspect that when failures that don't involve damage occur, the cause will turn out to be the plastic sleeves that many people use. perhaps the plasticizer in the sleeve plastic doing something nasty to the discs. I don't use sleeves. I stack 'em back on spindles just like they came from the factory. I've made a number of wooden spindles from dowel (one size fits perfectly in the disc hole) and squares of wood glued together. I don't know if that matters or not but I figure that the factory must think that stacking 'em on spindles is OK so why not? I violate another conventional wisdom. I buy cheap media, usually whatever Sam's Club has on sale. I HAVE had disc/drive compatibility problems but that was a conflict between a specific drive and a specific brand and probably lot of discs. One CD drive I had simply would not digest HP discs even though they were supposed to be high quality. >Heard about how "high security" locks may not be as secure as the >manufacturers claim? Yeah, but I don't take much of that stuff seriously. When I worked for TVA, they'd pay for any schooling that could be even remotely related to the job. I got 'em to pay for me to attend locksmithing night school. I don't have the practical experience of an active full-time locksmith but I HAVE done a lot of hacking and practicing. I can pick a conventional key lock in seconds and open a cheap school locker-style combo lock in minutes. I can open office supply store combination-type fire proof safes in a reasonable amount of time with just manipulation - much faster with an electronic stethoscope. I can't make heads nor tails of this safe's lock. The dial turns as if on ball bearings (probably is). There is no feel and no sound. Most of the dial is shielded so neither the Feynmann nor the Blaze methods can be used. Plus this lock uses 4 digits for the combination which expands the number space hugely. I DID seek the advice of a friend who is a career locksmith before selecting my particular lock setup. He knows his stuff. I suspect that drilling would be the only method in. Even then, a diamond drill would have to be used to defeat the tungsten carbide plate in front of the mechanism. Someone drilling would have to know where my boobytraps are located and only I have that info :-) I put the claim that crypto-grade locks are insecure in the same category as I do theoretical and special case crypto exploits. The span between theory and practice is large, too large for me to worry about. John -- John De Armond See my website for my current email address http://www.neon-john.com http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net! Tellico Plains, Occupied TN Okay, okay, I'll take it back ... UNfuck you! _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
