CD's Don't Last Forever

Just a heads up concerning the CDs you burn for music, pictures, backup files and such. The CD-Rs and CD-RWs you burn are not the same as the pressed CDs you buy in the store. They do deteriorate. In two to five years say some experts. Magnetic storage tapes last a lot longer if you want to save irreplaceable pictures. Depending on the tape quality magnetic tapes can have a life span of 30 to 100 years.

Follows some quotes from an article at Computerworld.com:

"Unlike pressed original CDs, burned CDs have a relatively short life span of between two to five years, depending on the quality of the CD," Gerecke said in an interview this week. "There are a few things you can do to extend the life of a burned CD, like keeping the disc in a cool, dark space, but not a whole lot more."

The problem is material degradation. Optical discs commonly used for burning, such as CD-R and CD-RW, have a recording surface consisting of a layer of dye that can be modified by heat to store data. The degradation process can result in the data "shifting" on the surface and thus becoming unreadable to the laser beam.

"Many of the cheap burnable CDs available at discount stores have a life span of around two years," Gerecke said. "Some of the better-quality discs offer a longer life span, of a maximum of five years."

Distinguishing high-quality burnable CDs from low-quality discs is difficult, he said, because few vendors use life span as a selling point.

To overcome the preservation limitations of burnable CDs, Gerecke suggests using magnetic tapes, which, he claims, can have a life span of 30 to 100 years, depending on their quality. "Even if magnetic tapes are also subject to degradation, they're still the superior storage media," he said.

But he's quick to point out that no storage medium lasts forever and, consequently, consumers and business alike need to have a plan for migrating to new storage technologies.

prying1 sez: Want to score points with your boss? Let him know about this problem of using burnable CDs for storage of company computer backups. If he (or she) is depending on them for IRS or financial files there may be problems down the road.

For your irreplaceable pics? Perhaps hard copies would be best. Or invest in a tape drive...

Get the full story here! or click on the title above.

New E-mail Address Added to PayPal Account

Of course this email I received was a spoof and a scam. I've several a week to deal with.

I did a right click/properties on the link and then cut and pasted the URL into a new, freshly opened Firefox window. What do you know! A PayPal page opens up. At least it looked very much like a PayPal page. In the middle of the page was a link/line saying, "this page has been moved". I right clicked to check the properties and found it was for a JavaScript application. I decided I had better not click this 'just to see what happens'. I don't know that much about JavaScript but I do know that some evil nasty people like to abuse it. I have an anti virus program but...

I sent the email to spoof @ PayPal.com and wondered how many people have clicked on that JavaScript link. The only reason these crooks keep sending phishing emails is because it pays off. It pays off because there are enough people without the knowledge to see the scams for what they are.

I know because I fell for the first one I ever saw. It was with a PayPal spoof letter. Fortunately their use of my account didn't work because they demanded more money than my account would allow. When accessing my account I saw the activity. A quick call to PayPal stopped their attempted thievery.

I'd like to encourage people to spread the word about the dark side of the internet. Especially those that are new to it. On occasion bring up the subject of internet scams with your internet friends in chat rooms and such. Once in a while post a message on the bulletin boards you visit. Co-workers, even those that do use computers might be informed of some of the scams and hopefully in a way that will not scare them away from going online.

The internet is a wonderful source for all kinds of entertainment and information and profit. Sharing a bit of knowledge with those in your circle will help keep it from being profitable to the bad guys.

I would also suggest you put Ted Richardson's Fraud, Phishing and Financial Misdeeds in your favorites and check in once in a while to keep up on scams. The wallet you save may be your own!

Update: A friend at church had gotten the same email. I gave her the spoof @ paypal address to send it to and warned her about other phishing schemes. I added this little update to show that it does work. Sharing a bit of knowledge with your friends will help knock down the number of victims.

Evolution Now Proven to be True!

It will no longer be necessary for the extreme right wing Christian fanatics to try to push their Theocratic agenda in the schools with the so called 'Intelligent Design' theory. Proof of Darwin's theory is now in!

Friendship, friendship!!!

Just had to share this from Ranchoweb.com's Bulletin Board, my picture hosting site. - You might want to make up the tune as you go along. - The sheet music was not posted. - Also, I'm not going to bother with the spell checker on this one! -

Okay everybody...it's Ranchoweb Sing-Along Time!

If you're ever in a jam, here I am
If you're ever in a mess, S.O.S.
If you ever feel so happy you land in jail, I'm your bail

It's friendship, friendship
Just a perfect blendship
When other friendships have been forgot
Ours will still be hot

A-lottle-dottle-dottle-dig-dig-dig
If you're ever down a well, ring my bell
And if you're ever up a tree just phone to me
A-yes-sir-ee
If you ever lose your teeth and you're out to dine, borrow mine

It's friendship, friendship
Just a perfect blendship
When other friendships have been forgate
Gate?

Ours will still be great

A-lottle-dottle-dottle-chuck-chuck-chuck

If they ever black your eyes, put me wise
If they ever cook your goose, turn me loose
And if they ever put a bullet through your brain, I'll complain

It's friendship, friendship
Just a perfect blendship
When other friendships have been forgit
Ours will still be it

A-lottle-dottle-dottle-hep-hep-hep

If you ever lose your mind, I'll be kind
And if you ever lose your shirt, I'll be hurt
If you're ever in a mill and get sawed in half, I won't laugh

It's friendship, friendship
Just a perfect blendship
When other friendships are up the crick
Ours will still be slick

A-lottle-dottle-dottle-woof-woof-woof
hep-hep-hep
a-chuck-chuck-chuck
a-dig-dig-dig
Good evening friends!

Thanks to Papergirl8 for this wonderful ditty. You too can thank her by checking out her eBay items for sale!

An Appeal From Center Right Bloggers

This can be found at - The Truth Laid Bear -

An Appeal from Center-Right Bloggers

We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street.

We are not naive about lobbying, and we know it can and has in fact advanced crucial issues and has often served to inform rather than simply influence Members.

But we are certain that the public is disgusted with excess and with privilege. We hope the Hastert-Dreier effort leads to sweeping reforms including the end of subsidized travel and other obvious influence operations. Just as importantly, we call for major changes to increase openness, transparency and accountability in Congressional operations and in the appropriations process.

As for the Republican leadership elections, we hope to see more candidates who will support these goals, and we therefore welcome the entry of Congressman John Shadegg to the race for Majority Leader. We hope every Congressman who is committed to ethical and transparent conduct supports a reform agenda and a reform candidate. And we hope all would-be members of the leadership make themselves available to new media to answer questions now and on a regular basis in the future.

There is also a question page where you can post "questions that you think should be answered by the candidates aspiring to be House Majority Leader for the GOP."

prying1 sez:
We need to demand integrity in our elected officials. We also do not need to go on a witch hunt. I would suggest that all voters of either party ask questions about candidates integrity prior to voting. I'm not worried about if they smoked pot in the 60's/70's/80's or even the 90's. But are they honest about it? Do they have transparent humanity or do they try to act like they have no faults.

You Would Think They Would Learn!

I've been following the news concerning the recent Pakistani/Ayman al-Zawahiri missile strike through AubreyJ's site. 'Let him do the work', is my lazy bones idea of getting the news. Well, it works for me.

Anyway, the news at first was we got him (maybe). - AubreyJ is careful to not jump the gun. -

- Then the news on MSM was that we didn't get him and everyone in the village claimed no 'strangers' were around. It was only locals killed. -

- Then the U.S. media (ABC's World News Tonight) goes wild with a U.S. has screwed up, Pakistani "outrage and condemnation" and they made claims that Ayman al-Zawahiri as a target was largely symbolic. Meanwhile NBC and CBS played up Zawahiri's value -

- Then the story comes out that Ayman al-Zawahiri may still be among the dead along with other terrorists. -

- AubreyJ has kept his statements to, "Lets wait and see."

I vote for AubreyJ to take over the reins at the next World Economic Forum (WEF) and any MSM conferences. That way we'll get the tape if Eason Jordan shows up!