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Synthetic Stone DVD Claimed To Last 1,000 Years

Lucas123 writes "A start-up launched a new DVD archive product this week: a disc that it says will hold its data for 1,000 years. The company, Cranberry, says its DiamonDisc product, which can be used in any standard DVD player, is not subject to deterioration from heat, UV rays or material rot due to humidity or other elements because it has no dyes, adhesives or reflective materials like standard DVD discs, and its discs are made from a vastly more durable synthetic stone. Data is laid down on the platter much in the same way as a standard DVD disc, but with DiamonDisc the burner etches much deeper pits. Cranberry said it is also working on producing a Blu-ray version of its 1,000-year disc."

416 comments

  1. What the bets the first release will be... by s0litaire · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..."The 10 commandments" Remastered Special Edition.
    It's the 2 (Synthetic) Stone DVD Version...

    --
    Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
    1. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Hopefully in 1000 years it will be appropriately categorized as "fiction."

    2. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Al+Dunsmuir · · Score: 2, Funny

      Nope.... Flintstones!

    3. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It better include the Adam Smithee version and the 2 deleted Commandments that the producer made God cut out as 10 tested better with audiences.

    4. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by goombah99 · · Score: 0

      Yes but don't buy it in the boxed Boxed set. or you'll end up like Nazi's in an an Indiana Jones film.

      --
      Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    5. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Cryacin · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hopefully in 1000 years it will be appropriately categorized as "fiction."

      It's not as if that's written in stone!

      --
      Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    6. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by SEWilco · · Score: 2, Funny

      The director's commentary is to die for.

    7. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amen

    8. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by countertrolling · · Score: 1

      It was originally a three DVD set

      --
      For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    9. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would be 10 THOUSAND commandments.

      Commandment 345: Nor shalt thow covet thy neighbor's DRM encoded patent pending trademark...

      Commandment 955: Free parrots are right out...

    10. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by maxume · · Score: 1

      By who?

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    11. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hopefully in 1000 years it will be appropriately categorized as "fiction."

      It will be classified as irrelevant.

    12. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by LordKronos · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Lol, yeah well most likely in a 1,000 years you'll be saying, "Crap! It was real - all of it was in that Book! Now what do I do?"

      If I'm alive in 1000 years, I'll be happy to have lived so long (assuming it wasn't 900 years bedridden), and if I find I'm wrong (I'm currently an atheist), I'll gladly change my ways (God says you only need to repent before death to be accepted in to the kingdom of Heaven).

      On the other hand, if I'm dead before I realize I was wrong, then either:
      1) I'm in heaven. I'd like to think this it what would happen. I live a good life (I'm kind, honest, generous, fair, etc), and I'd like to think God is more interested in rewarding good people that in stroking his ego over not being worshipped (however, the bible gives evidence to suggest that may not be the case).
      2) I'm in hell (or someplace else that's not heaven). If I end up there, despite the type of life I lived, then I'd have to think that heaven was run by a spiteful and vengeful God on a power trip. He'd be a brutal dictator, punishing anyone who doesn't do exactly as he says. He's more concerned about being treated with reverence than he is that his people are treated well. In that case, despite the popular depiction, I'd have to believe the place I ended up was the better option.

    13. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 1

      What if you're not good enough for heaven and not bad enough for hell?

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    14. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Narcocide · · Score: 5, Funny

      Then you have to spend eternity in North Dakota.

    15. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by NatasRevol · · Score: 2, Funny

      I thought there were 15 commandments?

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    16. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by AlamedaStone · · Score: 1

      The director's commentary is to die for.

      Yeah, I think I read a review in Slate. It's supposed to be very gritty.

      --
      "All these years believing you're the signified monkey, only to find out you're just a big hunk of nobody cares."
    17. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by icannotthinkofaname · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Commandment 700: Only the LORD thy God shall have read, write, and execute privileges on the Universe.

      Please, mods, think very hard about this joke if you don't immediately get it.

      --
      Let q be a radix > 1. I am in ur base-q, killing 10 d00ds.
    18. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then he has a good chance to get what he always believed in.

      More so, some Christian groups that try to have an actual doctrine, like some of less annoying Jehowa's Witnesses, claim that if you aren't fit for Heaven, you get destroyed - as the eternal life is only promised to believers - and the Hell is for burning sad remains of bodies, if any.

      I am inclined to think that they need a small correction - the Hell will be entire Earth, and the count of saved will be zero.

    19. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Cryacin · · Score: 1

      I thought there were 15 commandments?

      No...

      11. Thou shalt not copy music
      12. Thou shalt not download music
      13. Thou shalt not copy movies
      14. Thou shalt not download movies
      15. Thou shalt hear the RIAA/MPAA as the word of god

      Were added later by a bribe, uh, I mean an error in the lower courts...

      --
      Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    20. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where does it say you have to repent before death? I can't remember reading anywhere in there that you had to do anything at all to be included in Jesus' salvation.

    21. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      -1 Telegraphed joke.

    22. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by quickOnTheUptake · · Score: 1

      no, too barren: l'enfer, c'est les autres

      --
      Mod points: Guaranteed to remove your sense of humor.
      Side effects may include gullibility and temporary retardation
    23. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by tsm_sf · · Score: 1

      2) I'm in hell (or someplace else that's not heaven). If I end up there, despite the type of life I lived, then I'd have to think that heaven was run by a spiteful and vengeful God on a power trip.

      The "eternal punishment" of hell was supposed to be the absence of the creator's presence. The whole fire and brimstone concept is a relatively recent addition.

      --
      Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
    24. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Derosian · · Score: 1

      As long as you were a good person you end up in a good place in the end... Don't worry Bible has you covered.

    25. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Imrik · · Score: 1

      Alongside such works as Principia Mathematica?

    26. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by MartinSchou · · Score: 1

      Oh, come on!

      It's only the Bible, it's not ... what's the word ... gospel.

    27. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're saying "that book," there is no reason to start that off with a capital letter.

    28. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by megrims · · Score: 2, Informative

      The concept that you're referring to is a recent addition too, for that matter.

    29. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by megrims · · Score: 1

      The current trend in theology is that the resurrection is all about the restoration of the universe itself (i.e. Earth, or wherever we end up), rather than an ethereal non-physical existence somewhere else--making this place irrelevant. Instead, the tendency is towards believing that part of the point of Christianity is to make this place better, whatever that might mean.

      Of course, in order to accept that, you have to get past the mindless shouting of those who are threatened by differing opinions about irresolvable issues.

    30. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For a self proclaimed atheist you certainly cast a lot of doubt over your own belief. You ought to reconsider your stance before labeling yourself as a temporary atheist.

    31. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by mcvos · · Score: 1

      Where does it say you have to repent before death? I can't remember reading anywhere in there that you had to do anything at all to be included in Jesus' salvation.

      The bible isn't entirely clear on that. Will good deeds help? Are they required? Is worshipping enough? Does it help at all?

      According to Jesus, devout worshippers who ignore the needs of the sick and the poor, don't really know him and don't have much chance to get into "the kingdom of heaven" (whatever that may be -- again, the bible isn't terribly clear on the specifics). Similarly, rich people don't have much chance either, unless they give all their stuff away. A murderer who repents just before he dies is fine, though.

      My guess is that it's not so much the good deeds or the worshipping, but the intention. Don't live just for yourself. Don't worship or do good deeds just for the PR or in order to get something out of it. And be aware of what you did wrong, and honestly try to do better next time (even if there isn't any next time).

    32. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by somersault · · Score: 1

      There are plenty of other "gods" for you to be wrong about than just the Christian one. I think you might need to expand the list ever so slightly (into infinity).

      --
      which is totally what she said
    33. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by dmbasso · · Score: 1

      Perhaps the word more suited for his beliefs would be agnostic, but I consider myself an atheist too, and practically share all his beliefs. Btw, I studied about several religions, just out of curiosity.

      The thing is most people wonder the beauty of nature, and proclaim that only god could have created it. I wonder the beauty of nature and the complex mathematical dynamics that evolved it. But I would certainly never call math a god.

      --
      `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
    34. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Terrasque · · Score: 1
      --
      It's The Golden Rule: "He who has the gold makes the rules."
    35. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by the_womble · · Score: 1

      A reasonable point of view, except that I would say you should think in terms of who you are and what you would be willing to do when faced with God rather than rewards and punishments (CS Lewis's "The Great Divorce" is a nice parable of this idea). Hell is not a punishment but the state that people who refuse the ultimate good.

      God cannot possibly want people to be dishonest by believing when they have not been presented with a good reason to: better an honest atheist than a pretend, or brainwashed, Christian.

    36. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In that case commandment 6777 could pose a problem.

    37. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem is, could you enjoy heaven knowing that people you know, like or even love are in hell?

      I think, that the heaven as postulated by christians is logically impossible. Because to get there, you have to have compassion, even for sinners. So either you go to hell, because of your lack of compassion, or you go to heaven, which must be like hell if you are that compassionate.

      Thank god I'm an atheist ;) so I don't have to break my brain to believe this stuff.

    38. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by CaptainNerdCave · · Score: 1
      wow, so this is what the afterlife is like...

      (nb, my zip code is 58103)

    39. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually The Decalogue is an excellent serie by Krzysztof Kielowski, loosely based on ten commandments and it would be worrt to archive.

    40. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      No, I'm very certain in my stance (and no, agnostic doesn't apply). However, I'm fully capable of playing hypothetical games.

    41. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      (God says you only need to repent before death to be accepted in to the kingdom of Heaven).

      Zeus says nothing like that....

    42. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Muad'Dave · · Score: 3, Funny

      And commandment 666 says that Satan can read and write everything, but isn't allowed execute privileges.

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
    43. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      murder and repent - got it! See you there.

    44. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by xmousex · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Hell is not a punishment but the state that people who refuse the ultimate good.

      And the great majority of people who are atheist do not declare themselves in any way opposed to or refusing of the ultimate good.

      They are looking at the bible and those who believe it and resolving that this religion and the book its founded on does not represent in any way, an ultimate good.

    45. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by natehoy · · Score: 1

      Then your Slashdot rights will be revoked to Anonymous Coward and you'll be forced to post at -2 for the rest of eternity, where even the mods can't select low enough to find you and mod you up. Screaming at the top of your lungs, never to be heard. But with good coffee aplenty. And muffins. Hey, it's Purgatory, not hell.

      Hell would be Starbucks.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    46. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by MBGMorden · · Score: 2, Interesting

      According to the Christian beliefs I was taught growing up, there is not in between - it's truly a black and white issue. That said, it's also not really linked to "good" or "bad" when it comes to going to either - it's based in salvation. In the eyes of my congregation (a Southern Baptist church - views can differ between groups though) a serial killer that repents of his sins and "accepts Jesus as his savior" right before he is executed will go to heaven, whilst an atheist who devotes their life to charity and good-works who dies would go to hell.

      It all hinged on that salvation issue, or as I heard it put several times: "Man cannot be saved through works - there are many 'good men' burning in Hell.".

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    47. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Pikoro · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Oh, but don't eat meat on Friday or you're screwed either way...

      --
      "Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
    48. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or perhaps He expects that you "do exactly as he says" because He has every right to demand just that. After all, if He's 'God,' (and all that that implies) then He has every right to expect you to obey.

    49. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by I'm+not+really+here · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Normally I'd ignore such short, comments which have not really been thought out, but due to the fact that it directly relates to my sig.... Please don't comment on the Bible until you've read it first (and if you've read it, you've missed big chunks of it if you believe that just being good gets you into heaven... see Ephesians 2:8-9, for example).

      Being good has nothing to do with being allowed into heaven—the best person in the world has broken at least one of God's laws in their lifetime - ever disrespected your parents? You've broken the commandment to honor your father and mother! Breaking one law of God is the same as breaking them all, as God requires us to be perfect to enter heaven. Being good is a response to the loving gift of eternal life from God based solely on your belief that his son, Jesus, paid the required price for your sinful nature. It is the belief itself in Jesus, and the willingness to let him pay the fine (eternal death) for your sins, thereby making you perfect by proxy (think accounting: you owed a debt because of your actions which broke God's laws, Jesus pays the debt, your balance sheet is then balanced, making you perfect through no action of your own beyond letting Jesus bring the books into balance, or think courtroom justice: you were caught breaking a law, God is the judge... who is your advocate? If you accept Jesus as your advocate, he stands before the judge and says "he's guilty, but I volunteer to pay the penalty in his stead." The judge then metes out justice, but Jesus stands in your place, taking the punishment of death, while you remain free.).

      Being good is not enough, you must be perfect (who but Jesus has ever been perfect, without sin?), and if you cannot be perfect, God allows for one (and only one) other alternative—you must allow Jesus to stand in your place since he is the only one who was perfect, and he paid the price to get you into heaven. Jesus freely offers to take your punishment. If you wish to waive his counsel, you are free to self represent, but then you have no defense, and will be found guilty, and receive appropriate punishment for your crimes against God. So, no, the bible does not "have you covered" if you think being good is all that is required. In contrast, the bible condemns anyone who thinks this way, calls them prideful, and clearly details that access to heaven is a gift from God to those who will receive it, and not based on good works, so that no man can boast that his works are better than another and therefore will get him better "positioning" in heaven.


      tl;dr: Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly disagrees with the notion that being good gets you into heaven, so the bible does not "have you covered" if you believe goodness is what grants you entrance into heaven.

      --
      Before commenting on the Bible, please read it first
    50. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by megrims · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The concept of hell is fascinating because its origins are not really biblical at all. There are literally only a handful of passages in the entire Bible on which we pin this whole concept of eternal damnation, and their interpretation is questionable at best.

      Hell comes from the blending of Roman and Greek understandings of the afterlife into Christianity theology/mythology i.e. post-Constantine. It makes sense: culture shouldn't change just because the state suddenly changes religion. The problem is that after several generations of indoctrination, many treat these little historical quirks as if they were important (nigh unquestionable) points of doctrine, rather than curiosities.

    51. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by mpeskett · · Score: 1

      Please don't take it as a slight against yourself, but as beliefs go that's a particularly unpleasant one. I'm sort of hoping that "According to the Christian beliefs I was taught growing up" implies that you've since changed what you believe, but I don't want to assume that.

      From a pragmatic point of view, I suppose teaching that it's impossible to get yourself into heaven via your own good works, and only possible through believing what the church is teaching, is a good way to encourage strong belief. Not exactly a good way to encourage good behaviour though, when the 11th-hour repentance option is open.

    52. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe the Muslim heaven only requires good behaviour, so he is still covered. :P

    53. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by ArsonSmith · · Score: 1

      Anything in there about not pushing your religion on other people?

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    54. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 1010 Commandments.

    55. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by JeanPaulBob · · Score: 1

      Or, put another way (which I think it somewhat more understandable): Everyone deserves the sentence. Some accept the pardon.

      That's why the category "good enough for heaven" has just about nothing to do with Christianity.

    56. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by mpeskett · · Score: 2, Insightful

      or think courtroom justice: you were caught breaking a law, God is the judge... who is your advocate? If you accept Jesus as your advocate, he stands before the judge and says "he's guilty, but I volunteer to pay the penalty in his stead." The judge then metes out justice, but Jesus stands in your place, taking the punishment of death, while you remain free

      This is scapegoating, not justice. If a human judge allowed the punishment of an innocent "in the stead" of a guilty party, we would not call him fair, just or wise. But your cosmic super-judge (who by any logic should be held to higher standards of ethical practice) can do exactly that?

      The underlying message here is that your god is unable to forgive even the slightest transgression, has to demand mortal punishment, and yet isn't too picky about who exactly gets punished. Thinking a little further, surely an omniscient/potent creator knows exactly the consequences of his creation, and could hypothetically create a slightly different world, where the way things work out means that people sinned a little less. Then he wouldn't need to punish so much.

      I want to lay this out in logical steps, to be sure I'm understood...

      1. An omnipotent creator can create any one of the infinity of possible worlds.
      2. In each possible creation, people would freely choose different actions (some moral, some immoral) over the course of time.
      3. As there are infinitely many possibilities, every possible set of events and actions occurs in (at least) one possible world.
      4. An omniscient creator knows exactly what choices will be made in each possible creation.
      5. Following from 2 and 3, there is a possible world where everyone freely makes a good moral choice on each occasion.
      6. Following from 4, an omniscient creator knows this hypothetical world exists, and (following from 1.) can create exactly that world - one where everyone would, of their own free will, act perfectly morally.

      7. People do not act perfectly morally, of their own free will or otherwise.
      Therefore 8. Our world was either not created by an omnipotent/scient creator, or possibly was created by such a being who does not want us to act morally.

      Leibniz followed essentially this logic, and concluded that we must be in the best of all possible worlds (i.e. 3 is false, not all possibilities are actually possible, but we are in the best one that is possible). I see the same reasoning and take it as a reason to not believe in god. To relate it all back to the topic of cosmic justice, it either implies that there is no grand judge at the end of it all, or if there is... is it really fair to demand that we "get saved", when it was known to the judge in advance what our actions would be, and he selected those actions out of the myriad other possibilities?

    57. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol there was... Mel Brooks er.. i mean....Moses dropped the 3rd tablet lololololol

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L940yIeVZzE

    58. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by evilwraith · · Score: 1

      So you're saying you'd have a religious crisis on infinite earths?

    59. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I'm alive in 1000 years, I'll be happy to have lived so long (assuming it wasn't 900 years bedridden), and if I find I'm wrong (I'm currently an atheist), I'll gladly change my ways (God says you only need to repent before death to be accepted in to the kingdom of Heaven).

      On the other hand, if I'm dead before I realize I was wrong, then either:
      1) I'm in heaven. I'd like to think this it what would happen. I live a good life (I'm kind, honest, generous, fair, etc), and I'd like to think God is more interested in rewarding good people that in stroking his ego over not being worshipped (however, the bible gives evidence to suggest that may not be the case).
      2) I'm in hell (or someplace else that's not heaven). If I end up there, despite the type of life I lived, then I'd have to think that heaven was run by a spiteful and vengeful God on a power trip. He'd be a brutal dictator, punishing anyone who doesn't do exactly as he says. He's more concerned about being treated with reverence than he is that his people are treated well. In that case, despite the popular depiction, I'd have to believe the place I ended up was the better option.

      Quoting the prophet Alma in the Book of Mormon:

          32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
          33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
          34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.
          35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.
          37 And now, my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should work out your salvation with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ;
          38 That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

      In other words, you can't say that you'll change after you die and find out it was all true. This life is the time to work that out for yourself and prove yourself to God. You call yourself an atheist, but is that because you haven't made any real effort to find Him? Or is it just too difficult?

      Read the Book of Mormon in tandem with the Bible and things are much more clear. It is a true book.

    60. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Hotawa+Hawk-eye · · Score: 1

      That's what Purgatory is for.

    61. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by ubercam · · Score: 1

      Sure! You've got Walhalla (Viking heaven) right there on State Hwy 32 just a stone's throw away from Canada!

      All jokes aside, Frostfire is actually decent for downhill skiing hehe. Not much else going on in Walhalla though.

    62. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Yewbert · · Score: 1

      Bingo! On reading the phrase "synthetic stone DVD" I immediately pictured a Flintstone-esque bird with a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very sharp beak, carefully etching tiny pits into a disc on a Flintstone-esque lathe or machine assembly.

    63. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by kalirion · · Score: 1

      live a good life (I'm kind, honest, generous, fair, etc)

      Don't leave out "humble"!

    64. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by kalirion · · Score: 2, Funny

      Eternity in Heaven:

      "I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's this big mountain, see, a mile high, at the end of the universe, and once every thousand years there's this little bird-"
      "What little bird?" said Aziraphale suspiciously.
      "This little bird I'm talking about. And every thousand years-"
      "The same bird every thousand years?"
      Crowley hesitated. "Yeah," he said.
      "Bloody ancient bird, then."
      "Okay. And every thousand years this bird flies-"
      "-limps-"
      "flies all the way to this mountain and sharpens its beak-"
      "Hold on. You can't do that. Between here and the end of the universe there's loads of-" The angel waved a hand expansively, if a little unsteadily. "Loads of buggerall, dear boy."
      "But it gets there anyway," Crowley persevered.
      "How?"
      "It doesn't matter!"
      "It could use a space ship," said the angel.
      Crowley subsided a bit. "Yeah," he said. "If you like. Anyway, this bird-"
      "Only it is the end of the universe we're talking about," said Aziraphale. "So it'd have to be one of those space ships where your descendants are the ones who get out at the other end. You have to tell your descendants, you say, When you get to the Mountain, you've got to-" He hesitated. "What have they got to do?"
      "Sharpen its beak on the mountain," said Crowley. "And then it flies back-"
      "-in the space ship-"
      "And after a thousand years it goes and does it all again," said Crowley quickly.
      There was a moment of drunken silence,
      "Seems a lot of effort just to sharpen a beak," mused Aziraphale.
      "Listen," said Crowley urgently, "the point is that when the bird has worn the mountain down to nothing, right, then-"
      Aziraphale opened his mouth. Crowley just knew he was going to make some point about the relative hardness of birds' beaks and granite mountains, and plunged on quickly.
      "-then you still won't have finished watching The Sound of Music."
      Aziraphale froze.
      "And you'll enjoy it," Crowley said relentlessly. "You really will."
      "My dear boy-"
      "You won't have a choice."
      "Listen"
      "Heaven has no taste."
      "Now-"
      "And not one single sushi restaurant."
      A look of pain crossed the angel's suddenly very serious face."

      - Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman

    65. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We’re on slashdot not a crown known to RTFA or RTFB.

    66. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you see that Borders/B&N have book sections called "religious fiction"? That cracks me up every time I see it.

    67. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by I'm+not+really+here · · Score: 1

      This is scapegoating, not justice.

      If I get caught for speeding and my dad chooses to pay the fine, is this scapegoating, or is this love? The judge only requires that the fine be paid. My dad chooses to pay for me so that I remain free because I cannot afford the fine. This is love, not scapegoating.

      --
      Before commenting on the Bible, please read it first
    68. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by infinite9 · · Score: 1

      If I'm alive in 1000 years, I'll be happy to have lived so long (assuming it wasn't 900 years bedridden), and if I find I'm wrong (I'm currently an atheist), I'll gladly change my ways (God says you only need to repent before death to be accepted in to the kingdom of Heaven).

      While this is technically true, there's problems with this. The bumper sticker message that applies here is "Those who plan to seek God in the 11th hour often die at 10:30." There's a famous story about Jesus telling one of the thieves being crucified next to him that he would be in heaven with him that day. So it's technically possible to be saved on your death bed. But it's still very possible to be killed instantly and not have the chance. There's also a suggestion in the bible that not everyone will be equal in heaven, with the differences depending on what happened here.

      On the other hand, if I'm dead before I realize I was wrong, then either:
      1) I'm in heaven. I'd like to think this it what would happen. I live a good life (I'm kind, honest, generous, fair, etc), and I'd like to think God is more interested in rewarding good people that in stroking his ego over not being worshipped (however, the bible gives evidence to suggest that may not be the case).

      Evidence? :-) It's stated everywhere in the bible and it's really clear. It doesn't matter how good you were here. If you're not saved before death, you're hosed. It seems like it sucks to us because lots of jerks and otherwise nasty people will end up in heaven simply because they were saved just in time. I'm sure we'll see death row inmates there. But I'd be careful not to apply the world's standards of right and wrong or maybe what our selection criteria for entry into heaven might be. I guess part of faith is trusting that God must know what he's doing and have a good reason for this particular set of rules. I think it's obvious that not everything in the bible makes sense or seems intuitive to us, and probably never will be.

      2) I'm in hell (or someplace else that's not heaven). If I end up there, despite the type of life I lived, then I'd have to think that heaven was run by a spiteful and vengeful God on a power trip. He'd be a brutal dictator, punishing anyone who doesn't do exactly as he says. He's more concerned about being treated with reverence than he is that his people are treated well. In that case, despite the popular depiction, I'd have to believe the place I ended up was the better option.

      Trust me, based on the descriptions in the bible, it's not a better option. The phrase that's used is "gnashing teeth", that is, that's how bad the pain will be. That doesn't leave a lot of room for rational thought. In spite of that, the bible says that they worst part will be the separation from God.

      It sounds to me like you're more undecided than atheist. I'd suggest that you stop into a church, wait for everyone to leave and ask the pastor some questions. I think you'll find that you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain from christianity.

      --
      Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
    69. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      The bible isn't entirely clear on that. Will good deeds help? Are they required? Is worshipping enough? Does it help at all?

      The bible also says not to judge people; I judge people on a personal level, but the job of determining who goes to Hell and who doesn't is clearly up to your Deity or his chosen gatekeeper.

      That being said, I tend to pick out people as "good" or "bad" based on ... something I can't explain. Some people are just... horrible people. They're not dangerous, not threatening; but they're evil. They either do whatever they can to position themselves above you, to manipulate you, to take advantage of those less fortunate than them, or hurt good people for their own amusement. They have no need; they simply do it. I can't snap my fingers and send them to Hell; but I'm sure as hell staying away from them.

      On the other hand, I know a lot of people that get into fights, that say bad things, that sometimes treat people bad, or do stupid shit. Some are cheaters, some lie too much, some are incredibly lecherous, or greedy. But for their flaws, looking at them, talking to them for just a few seconds, there's something about them... they turn out to be good people. I don't know why, they're just different. They're rough to deal with, maybe they collapse under pressure and do bad things because they feel they have to; but it's blindingly obvious to me they're not really bad.

      I like to think I'm a good person trying to be a horrible person. I'm bad at it, I have a distaste for bad people, and I prefer to be completely honest about my intentions. I have no interest in spending my life helping people though; I want to lay the girls, have my fun, spend money on shit I want, and be left alone by beggars. But I also don't want to impose my problems on others. What a mess, huh?

      For the most part I don't worry about it. I think I'm exceptional at judging someone as a person; and looking around, everyone else is really bad at it. I don't want to be the executioner because the judge can't pick out the people that deserve to die; I don't want to be the judge because I can't pick them out either. I just stay out of it, and don't worry about it. If believing in a God or playing a part you're not really into for your own gain is what it takes, it's not worth it.

    70. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Jesus freely offers to take your punishment.

      Nope. Nobody but me deals with my mistakes. They're mine to make and mine to fix. Next question.

    71. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      I think you just whooshed everyone.

    72. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by I'm+not+really+here · · Score: 1

      Good luck with that. To fix it requires that you be God. This is because only God can forgive the infraction against him (just as the plaintiff is the only one who can forgive and release the defendant from punishment if the defendant is found guilty). You have no authority to forgive yourself for doing something that hurts God (or breaks his laws), only he has that authority (and Jesus, whom he authorized to forgive on his behalf). So, try to fix it all you want, but without that free gift from God, you are not forgiven by God. You can't fix this by yourself because the thing that needs fixing is that you have offended God by rebelling against him, and the only thing that will fix that is him forgiving you, and he will only do that if you accept his forgiveness. Nothing else will allow you into heaven.

      If you are found guilty (we all are), and the plaintiff offers to not press charges, but requires that you say you're sorry, and you accept their forgiveness, but you refuse, are you guilty or free? Without accepting the forgiveness, you have rejected the plaintiffs offer of freedom and have opted to willfully take the charge of "guilty" and all the punishment that goes with it. Who in their right mind would not accept the mercy and instead willfully take the guilty charge even knowing the consequences? To reject the mercy is now doubly insulting to the plaintiff, as you not only harmed them initially, but you then allow your own pride to take over and you swat away the mercy because you're "better than that."

      --
      Before commenting on the Bible, please read it first
    73. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      There's not a single thing in or outside this universe that can contain me. Even God has deliberately waived that power.

    74. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by I'm+not+really+here · · Score: 1

      Your comment makes it clear that you completely missed my point. He doesn't "contain" you... any more than if you cut me with a knife that I "contain" you in having the right to demand justice. If, however, after the court proceedings find you guilty of harming me, I choose to offer you forgiveness if you only would accept it, and you reject it, the courts are certainly going to "contain" you... by putting you in a cell to pay for your crime. God is no different. Your pride will be what puts you in the prison, even though God is standing there offering you the option of walking free.

      --
      Before commenting on the Bible, please read it first
    75. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by tabrnaker · · Score: 1
      Don't they read the bible in your congregation? I'm constantly suprised by the different nonsense that different congregations teach that have no basis in the bible itself.

      Then again, science isn't much better, e.g., brain cells never grow, female born with set amount of eggs her whole life, etc...

    76. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by tabrnaker · · Score: 1
      It's funny how you say not to respond without reading the bible, and then you spout nonsense that isn't in the bible but is simply your churches doctrine.

      You are not infallible and your churches interpretation of the bible is not the be all and end all.

    77. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by tabrnaker · · Score: 1

      Who says that he can't be god? Jesus certainly didn't. Please be aware that the trinity is a church construct and not something actually taught by jesus. Jesus actually taught that we can all be gods, in fact, it is what is required for heaven on earth.

    78. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by tabrnaker · · Score: 1

      but mainly they're just looking at the religious kooks doing evil and not actually looking at the book itself. I guess they can't be blamed because a lot of the religious kooks don't read the bible either! It's kind of funny to see both sides arguing about things that aren't even mentionned in the bible but are just made up make believe by the different churches.

    79. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      I'm sort of hoping that "According to the Christian beliefs I was taught growing up" implies that you've since changed what you believe, but I don't want to assume that.

      Kinda sorta. I'd best describe myself at the moment as agnostic. I don't go to Church - I regularly argue with those who do on little points. My mother and I hopelessly argue for example every time evolution comes up because I support it and she does not. If she's watching TV and sees a new evolution show come on she says with disbelief "I thought they already proved this stuff wasn't true?". A lot of times she started watching the show thinking it was going to be about debunking the theory. The simple fact is that she WANTS it to not be true so it's like despite me telling her that no, evolution has not been proven false nor is it likely to ever be, she naturally assumes that that "crazy man came from monkey idea" has been scientifically dismissed. That it might be actually correct is beyond her capacity.

      That said, I've not completely gone atheist, but between the two I trust a scientific explanation for anything over a religious one. And despite all the posturing and being particularly defensive about their faith, I have noticed a trend that sometimes a belief in such things can have a positive impact on people, even if it is derived from something imaginary.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    80. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      They did, but as I'm sure you know biblical interpretation can vary greatly. Most of the above viewpoint hinged on the pretty well known set of verses that start with John 3:16. Some text bolded for emphasis. Again as I pointed out in a reply to another poster these days I'm largely agnostic, but with a very religious mother I spent a LOT of time in Church as a kid (probably the reason why after I turned 18 I've only been back inside of one for a few weddings and one Mother's Day service I got guilt tripped into attending).

      16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

      17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

      18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    81. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      *shrug* it doesn't matter. There's nothing for me in all eternity from beginning to end. I'll probably just do whatever the hell I feel like from day to day until the end of time, and then for a few days after that.

    82. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by tabrnaker · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I can't be quite sure but i think that part of the bible might have been backported like several other parts of john's gospel according to new discoveries of early revisions. Too tell the truth, i don't care anymore about bible verse authenticity. I tend to think that the creator can be divined from all the works of mankind as a whole, and not taking one part separate from the father. For example, many other spiritual leaders claimed to be one with god, it doesn't mean one is all of god, but that they were in alignment with the creator, something that several religions/spiritual teachings encourage. Jesus wasn't the first to say "i am the path" after all, it's the whole basis of the Tao(path).

      Anyways, not trying to start a conflict or anything, i believe all paths lead to god eventually, even the self-serving path. The bible talks to much of the right hand path and downplays the left for my liking. I think understanding will only fully happen when we accept all that humanity is capable of.

    83. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does your dad pay the fine and let you off for free, or do you end up doing chores for a month with restricted driving privileges?

      Think about your shitty analogy a bit longer.

    84. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by LordKronos · · Score: 1
    85. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      Lol. Look...I'm an atheist. I'm sure about that. I have no questions. I don't need your church pastor to answer any questions. I have none. It was a hypothetical question, and I was just answeing it hypothetically. If somebody were to say "what if you suddenly discovered that the world was in fact square and not round" and then you answered the question just for fun and amusement, does that mean you suddenly are uncertain about your belief in a round Earth?

      Everything to gain from Christianity? Sorry, but I had that crap pushed on me the first 18 years of my life, and it took me the next 10 years to finally come to the realization of what my beliefs really were. I've heard all of the stories, read the book front to back, and heard more interpretations than I care to remember. The stories were fascinating when I was 10, but as I got older and thought about it more, and really started to critically analyze it, the less sense any of it made, and the more I realized it was all just a work of fiction.

    86. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by verdante · · Score: 1

      This is scapegoating, not justice.

      If I get caught for speeding and my dad chooses to pay the fine, is this scapegoating, or is this love? The judge only requires that the fine be paid. My dad chooses to pay for me so that I remain free because I cannot afford the fine. This is love, not scapegoating.

      Except in this case its like your dad is the son of the Judge and the "fine" is Death with a capital "D" (and quality time with some demons, like a normal jail, right?). Wait, except the Judge *is* the son too, and so is your dad. Uh oh.

    87. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by altern1ty · · Score: 1

      Actually, hell as the bible mostly presents it is simply an absence of God, and therefore absence of all the peace and love that comes from being in his presence. I think the entire "lake of fire" concept is taken from Revelations, and is used mostly as a metaphor for the anguish and torment the human soul would go through in an eternity absent from the feelings and virtues it was designed to crave. Now, when you think of it that way, it's not the merciless act of a cruel and uncaring God, but the choice of the individual who chooses not to associate with his maker.

    88. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by megrims · · Score: 1

      The concept you're referring to is an interesting possibility, but isn't biblical either.

      Hell as separation from God is a modern attempt to re-explain hell-theology in a way that is more acceptable to the more rational kind of society we live in now. It's a possibility if ethereal hell is in fact a "real" place, but it doesn't look like hell itself is anywhere near a scriptural certainty.

      If you're interested in exploring biblical theology in greater depth, this book is a decent place to start.

    89. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by psnyder · · Score: 1

      It could be said that to not believe in a creator is just as silly as believing in creator. There's no evidence from a time before our universe began. We have an educated guess of a centralized bang at the onset because our galaxies are moving away from a central location, but that's as far back as we can go.

      A creator or creators of the matter and force environment that we inhabit does not need to be like the religious zealots define him/them.

      You've formed a "belief" about how it all began (ie: with no creator). There's no tangible evidence for it. Just as there's no tangible evidence for a creator. There's nothing to observe from a time before matter and force existed. Any idea we formulate about it is not based on logic or observation.

      One of the great things about science is the humility of "I don't know". It applies here.

    90. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Watch Florida Atlantic vs Hampton live NCAA Football TV streaming on 14th Nov, 2009
      http://googlelivesports.com/2009/11/watch-florida-atlantic-vs-hampton-live-ncaa-football-tv-streaming-on-14th-nov-2009/

    91. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Derosian · · Score: 1

      Normally I wouldn't respond to a post that merely argues semantics in the bible, as well, there is little point, but then I thought of the verse that I was thinking of and went to look it up. Unfortunately for me I couldn't find it. Perhaps you are right. I mean you are correct about the whole method by which you live as a godman, I have no argument with that. I am actually just looking for a verse that references the New Jerusalem and speaking about the different tiers or levels but I can't seem to find it, supposing it has been too long since I last read the bible. The closest I came was Revelations 22:12, the mention of Israel in this verse indicates that the law of the old testament is represented here at the gates of the New Jerusalem. The mention here also indicates that all the redeemed saints of the Old Testament will be present. Thus this is also for anyone who lived a good life but did not believe until the end that Christ is lord. Another example is the parable in Matthew 22, whereby the man without clothes is cast out, because while he has received the lord he is not clothed in righteousness. Thus he misses out on the 1000 year wedding feast, instead spending his time in the 1000 years of darkness.

      I never said they would end up in heaven as I recall. I said they would end up in a good in the end, of course they have to accept the lord in the end though, which really does not back my point as much as I would like...

    92. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by mpeskett · · Score: 1

      In the absence of evidence, not believing in things is always less silly than believing in them. We can't conclusively prove either side in many cases (pick your favourite example from unicorns, leprechauns, the yeti, Russel's teapot, the FSM etc etc) but we don't consider belief and non-belief equally sensible.

      I haven't actually stated my beliefs in this discussion (you're right, I don't believe in a creator or a god of any kind, but that wasn't relevant or necessary to my point), my argument was solely against the idea of a god punishing everyone for their sins - for the god described by most religions, this doesn't make sense because omnipotence/omniscience implies the ability to choose from any set of events, which in turn (if there were such a creator) would mean that the events that end up happening are exactly what that creator wanted. So an omnimax creator punishing sins would essentially be punishing us for doing what he knew we would do, and decided to create the world such that we would do.

      If your conception of god is different, then please feel free to disregard this argument, it has no bearing on your beliefs because you don't accept the premises that lead to a contradiction. Just don't expect me to play whack-a-mole with all possible ideas of god, I'll be here all year trying to prove a negative and we'll both go away unsatisfied with the result. I could attack things that seem fundamental to any possible idea of god, and show them to be in deep logical contradiction, but even then, you could believe that god can contain logical contradictions without problem, because he's just that wonderful.

      The real problem underlying all the creator-related beliefs and other religious ideas is in the point I started this post with - we may not have evidence to prove that god doesn't exist, but that doesn't make it sensible to believe that he does. Everything else we observe in the world happens without any sign of divine intervention and can be explained by natural means, and we have no particular reason to suspect divine intervention in the origins of the universe, so inserting god into the theory makes no sense, even in the absence of further evidence.

      As it happens, I'm fairly sure the further evidence is a little better than you think when it comes to deducing what the past was like, but the deductions do break down as you approach the very beginning because the physics of the situation would be unlike anything we have the data to describe, and philosophically speaking it's entirely possible that "before the universe" is about as sensible a notion as "north of the north pole".

      So you're right - we don't know, maybe we can't know, maybe there's nothing to know. But we can do better than taking a guess and inserting supernatural silliness where it has no reason to be. (At the very least we can stop at not knowing without inventing a fiction, or maybe we can eventually gather the evidence required to settle the question).

    93. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by mpeskett · · Score: 1

      You get convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Someone else volunteers to be executed instead, while you walk free. The judge decides to allow this because he really just wants to execute someone, doesn't care who.

      Is this justice? No - you weren't punished for your crime, an innocent was punished, and the judge in this case appears to have forgotten the point of the whole exercise in favour of absurd, undirected bloodlust. Justice isn't served by issuing a penalty, then letting it be exacted on someone unconnected to the crime

      I also don't see how "accepting Jesus" is supposed to make you any more perfect - assuming human nature continues you'd still be just as flawed and sinful in the afterlife as you were in the first (and if I believed in heaven I wouldn't have it any other way - turning people "perfect" for the purpose of admitting them to heaven would be the ultimate denial of free will).

    94. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by dziman · · Score: 1

      "Mammon slept. And the beast reborn spread over the earth and its numbers
      grew legion. And they proclaimed the times and sacrificed crops unto the
      fire, with the cunning of foxes. And they built a new world in their own
      image as promised by the
      sacred words, and spoke
        of the beast with their children. Mammon awoke, and lo! it was
      naught but a follower."

      from The Book of Mozilla, 11:9
      (10th Edition)

    95. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by psnyder · · Score: 1

      At the very least we can stop at not knowing without inventing a fiction

      That's basically what I was trying to say. You just put it more eloquently.

      Everything else we observe in the world happens without any sign of divine intervention and can be explained by natural means

      There are a few things that cannot be explained by natural means (depending on your definition of natural). Let's narrow it down and say there are a few things that cannot be explained by logical means. Infinity, 3 dimensional space, and Brownian motion are 3 examples. I'm not trying to suggest divine intervention, just that these do not fit neatly into any logic or natural cause and effect relationships.

      From my understanding, Brownian motion can be proved to be random mathematically. Anything that is truly random sits outside the realm of logic, and yet by our observations, it is true.

      You cannot have a tiniest bit of 3 dimensional matter. In order for it to have dimension it must have parts. In order for a 1 dimensional line to have length, it must have 3 points (2 terminal points and 1 in the middle). And if these points are truly points (dimensionless) they would occupy the same space, and the line would have no length. So a length must have parts that have length, which must also have parts that have length, etc.

      We postulate infinity, and it holds true based on logic in geometry, mathematics, etc. But it too falls outside the realm of cause and effect.

      These 3 things are illogical. Yet we observe them.

      Maybe in the future, we'll be able to predict Brownian motion, find the smallest length (Planck?), see the edge of a finite universe and find that asymptotes don't extend to infinity, but jump to zero at a final point.



      A 4th example of something defying logic is the beginning of existence, or that something always existed. It is an example of an "uncaused cause". The modern argument against Aristotle's "unmoved mover" is that we've observed particles being moved without any observable moving body. If it is truly not caused by anything, it has no rational explanation.

      We observe Brownian motion, 3d space, infinity, and the universe on some level, so we believe they exist on some level. But we cannot use logical arguments to claim any knowledge of "how" they exist. The "how" is irrational.

      Your logical arguments against your premise were sound. But the "I ... take this as a reason to (narrow down the possibilities of how the universe was created)" is what doesn't make sense.

      You cannot logically argue, for or against, the reasons behind something that defies logic.

    96. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How did this get a score of 4 funny, but the parent got a 1 offtopic.. you mods suck

    97. Re:What the bets the first release will be... by FelixNZ · · Score: 1

      What Grandparent fails to add is that despite dad covering the fines, he gets a whipping and looses trust in being able to borrow the car again. So what you get, is genuinely repentant murderer still faces the repercussions of his crime, through whatever means, but the death penalty is accepted by Jesus QC, who of course knows that being the Man/God he is, the death ultimately has no lasting side affects of, you know, not living...

  2. 1,000 years? by girlintraining · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You know, when CDs and DVDs came out, they claimed they would last 50 years. I have yet to find one that lasts longer than 5. So I'd say, 1,000 years translates to about a hundred years, tops. Also, it may not be vulnerable to humidity in a controlled environment, but in the outdoors, a few seasons of freezing/melting and it'll be shot. Water beats rock every time.

    --
    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    1. Re:1,000 years? by batrick · · Score: 5, Informative

      I have music CDs that are over 10 years old still working perfectly.

    2. Re:1,000 years? by stinerman · · Score: 5, Informative

      Burned or stamped?

      My stepfather has an extensive collection of CDs he bought in the mid-to-late 80s that play as well today as they did back when he bought them. I ripped a Cars album without need for any cdparanoia correction. The resulting file played fine.

    3. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Water beats rock every time.

      I thought it was rock, paper, scissors, lizard, spock. Where'd the water come from?

    4. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I have yet to find one that lasts longer than 5."
      Generally true (esp.TDK) - but all of my Memorex "white label" discs work perfectly, some 10-12 years later.

    5. Re:1,000 years? by maharb · · Score: 2, Interesting

      *Currently playing an 8 year old burned CD with no issues*

    6. Re:1,000 years? by ducman · · Score: 1

      Yikes! I have collection of CDs that I bought in the mid to late 80s. Thanks for making me feel old!

      --
      "We have nothing in common, your attitude annoys me, and your political views are appalling."
    7. Re:1,000 years? by timmarhy · · Score: 0

      maybe it's the disc's your buying. try spending more then a $1 per disc and you'll find they last.

      --
      If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
    8. Re:1,000 years? by tonycheese · · Score: 1

      Well everybody's hating on this guy's post, so I'll back him up. I find that the CD's I usually buy at Staples for cheap don't last more than 5 years, either. They start getting little corroded black dots on them or something and lose data.

    9. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All of the stamped CDs that I have that are 20+ years old still play perfectly fine (and rip with minimal or no errors, too). And of the burned discs that I have (going back to 1996), only 3 or 4 have had unreadable portions. I was still able to retrieve most of the data from those successfully, too.

    10. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So stop buying the cheap ones. Spend a little more now so you don't have to spend more later.

    11. Re:1,000 years? by onemorechip · · Score: 4, Funny

      Water beats rock every time.

      No, paper beats rock. There's no water in the game.

      --
      But, I wanted socialized health insurance!
    12. Re:1,000 years? by BiggerIsBetter · · Score: 1

      Water beats rock every time.

      So you're saying we should be making our CDs out of water?

      --
      Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
    13. Re:1,000 years? by hldn · · Score: 2, Informative

      you need to upgrade to rps7 or greater.

      http://www.umop.com/rps.htm

      --
      http://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
    14. Re:1,000 years? by bcwright · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Also, it may not be vulnerable to humidity in a controlled environment, but in the outdoors, a few seasons of freezing/melting and it'll be shot. Water beats rock every time.

      I really don't care if my archival storage can stand being left outside for several years, because I don't intend to do that. I'd be quite happy if it were at least as durable as a book, which if well made and with reasonable care can last at least a couple hundred years, possibly over 1000 under ideal conditions. So what if it can get ruined if it's left in the rain? If I care enough about the data, I just make a few copies and put them in different places and hopefully if I've chosen well at least one will survive. Right now it's not at all clear that typical CD's and DVD's are even as durable as cheap pulp paperbacks.

    15. Re:1,000 years? by tonycheese · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Haha, whatever. Guy refers to anybody, dude! At least for me. Or, the other guy's answer.

    16. Re:1,000 years? by schon · · Score: 1

      Generally true (esp.TDK)

      The oldest TDK I have were bought in late 2007 - they all work well (amazingly enough, just going through them, copying to my new Myth box so the wife can view them :)

      all of my Memorex "white label" discs work perfectly, some 10-12 years later.

      Holy shit - so *you're* the guy who got the only good box of Memorex

      I've never seen a Memorex disc last longer than a couple of months - some are unreadable *minutes* after burning.

      Sony are a bit better, but not much (typically 2 years.)

      I've had good luck with Phillips, but the best I've used are Maxell.. haven't had one fail yet.

    17. Re:1,000 years? by haruchai · · Score: 1

      Cheap ones? I bought nothing but brand name, expensive CDR/RW years ago and I find that most
      of them, particularly the RWs are hosed. I was paying as much as $5/each in 1997-2000.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    18. Re:1,000 years? by itlurksbeneath · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I have some 20-ish year old CD's that work great.

      --
      Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts.
    19. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      from Muad'Dib?

    20. Re:1,000 years? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      You know, when CDs and DVDs came out, they claimed they would last 50 years

      I've had one music CD fail on me, out of several hundred. My oldest is from 1987.

      CD-R's do have high failure rate, in my experience. Most of my "Kodak Gold" discs from 1996 are filled with errors. My newer (post 2002) discs are all Taiyo Yuden, and knock on cyanine they're still all good (but not as old).

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    21. Re:1,000 years? by isny · · Score: 1

      Paper covers rock. Rock beats scissors.

    22. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm, girlintraining is a guy?

      Obviously, because if this person was female they wouldn't be training to be a girl.

    23. Re:1,000 years? by Grrreat · · Score: 1

      I have some from 1987 that work fine as well. ------ Another Linux Freak! SLS I believe it was. Kernel 0.99b from what I recall. 30 something 3 1/2 disks, yes a monolithic kernel those were the days.

    24. Re:1,000 years? by krou · · Score: 1

      So I'd say, 1,000 years translates to about a hundred years, tops.

      Don't worry, we've been told by some futurists and scientists that people born today will be able to defeat ageing, so it's likely that in 1,000 years someone, somewhere, will be able to sue them for false advertising when their Britney Spears album stops playing correctly.

      --
      'If Christ had tweeted the sermon on the mount, it might have lasted until nightfall.' - John Perry Barlow
    25. Re:1,000 years? by aquabat · · Score: 1

      While water is the purest of analog formats, I don't believe the technology would be applicable to digital media.

      --
      A republic cannot succeed till it contains a certain body of men imbued with the principles of justice and honour.
    26. Re:1,000 years? by crispytwo · · Score: 5, Funny

      I find it all depends on which part of the floor I leave the CD. Near the middle are worst, but surprisingly the ones next to the wall are almost as bad. The ones close the wall, but less near the center seem to survive the best.

      In summary,
      1) left near doorway = rating 1 star
      2) left center of room = rating 1 star
      3) left around center or room = rating 3 stars
      4) perimeter of room = rating 4 stars
      5) left at wall of room = rating 2 stars
      6) other (case, desk, special CD container) = rating 2-4 stars

    27. Re:1,000 years? by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

      Then let's make the DVDs out of water! Oh wait...

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    28. Re:1,000 years? by value_added · · Score: 1

      *Currently playing an 8 year old burned CD with no issues*

      First, there are people who have experienced no problems, and there are people who have. Saying that you belong to one group or another contributes nothing useful.

      Second, a music file like an mp3 with a few flipped or unreadable bits may be playable, and the music may sound fine. But that certainly doesn't mean the file isn't corrupted, or that the CD hasn't degraded or won't start degrading in the future.

      Third, I'll wager that a CD bought 8 years ago (before the onslaught of multiple manufacturers and heavy discounting) is a very different CD than what's currently available on store shelves.

      Enjoy your CD.

    29. Re:1,000 years? by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      Actually, I think water beats them all, given enough time.
       
      The next time somebody challenges me to rock, paper, scissors, screw Spock and lizard. I'm going with water!

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    30. Re:1,000 years? by Brian+Gordon · · Score: 1

      From Pokemon.

    31. Re:1,000 years? by maharb · · Score: 1

      Fourth: I presented a fact that debunks this statement: "I have yet to find one that lasts longer than 5"

      I would say that comment contributes something useful.

    32. Re:1,000 years? by AlamedaStone · · Score: 1

      from Muad'Dib?

      No, just his stilsuit.

      --
      "All these years believing you're the signified monkey, only to find out you're just a big hunk of nobody cares."
    33. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a keyboard made out of water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRkFZA4CoTY

    34. Re:1,000 years? by AlamedaStone · · Score: 3, Funny

      Then let's make the DVDs out of water! Oh wait...

      I was going to suggest dihydrogen monoxide, but that stuff is probably too toxic for consumer use.

      --
      "All these years believing you're the signified monkey, only to find out you're just a big hunk of nobody cares."
    35. Re:1,000 years? by garompeta · · Score: 1

      What about spit? Spit always wins.

    36. Re:1,000 years? by WinterSolstice · · Score: 1

      Still is ;)
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel#Architecture

      The thing about the early Linux and BSD versions was that it was so difficult to get even basic stuff working. X, sound, network cards other than NE2000/3Com types, and some SCSI types (was it BusLogic that just refused to work right? I forget)

      Anyhow - I think my oldest CD here is Billy Joel's 52nd Street, but I also have Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits. Both play fine (though 52nd Street is scratched all to hell) and I think they are like 1983 and 1985 respectively. I'd have to go pull them out of my CD boxes to check, and those are packed. The wiki entry on Brothers in Arms shows 1985, so it's probably something like that.

      --
      An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
    37. Re:1,000 years? by WinterSolstice · · Score: 1

      Wow, that's crappy luck! Most of my CDs got trashed, battered, and dragged from HS to College and on many moves (often left in cars) and I've so far only had 1 ever go bad. That was just due to a bad scratch.

      So I'd say your comment is more like saying you know a person who never smoked and died of lung cancer anyhow ;)

      --
      An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
    38. Re:1,000 years? by anexkahn · · Score: 1

      I have spindles of 10 year old CD's which still work fine. The only ones that have problems are the ones that have been scratched or left out in the car.

      --
      Curious about Storage and Virtualization? Check out
    39. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean you've never played Water, Rock, Scissors?

    40. Re:1,000 years? by GrahamCox · · Score: 1

      when CDs and DVDs came out, they claimed they would last 50 years. I have yet to find one that lasts longer than 5

      What on earth are you doing to them? The first CD I ever bought (Dark Side of the Moon I'm afraid) in 1986 still plays just fine. CDRs, perhaps another matter - I have some now that are not always readable - seems to depend on the drive - but are over 12 years old. Luckily there's nothing of value on them - funny how I burned so much stuff I thought I'd need, but never did.

    41. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      snake oil beats everyone :)

      post-apocalypse people can use these rock discs to build houses with - and the normal see-through ones for windows

    42. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In fact the CD/DVD only need to last 10 years and by that time, the startup is acquired/IPO whatever and people are happy with their bank account.

    43. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nothing beats rock

    44. Re:1,000 years? by Idiomatick · · Score: 1

      "I was paying as much as $5/each in 1997-2000."

      Well that was stupid. Buying a new drive every 3years, doubling in size each time would have been cheaper and you'd have had no file loss. But then I never understood CDs/DVDs ... I think total I've bothered with a 100spindle of CDs and a 20spindle of DVDs (between my family and friends)

    45. Re:1,000 years? by TheModelEskimo · · Score: 1

      Your step-father? The Cars? Mid-to-late 80s? Your grammar is just good enough that I almost divided by zero when I was reading that.

    46. Re:1,000 years? by DudemanX · · Score: 1

      Water beats Rock, Fire, and Ground.

      Water is vulnerable however to Grass and Electric.

      Here's a helpful chart.

    47. Re:1,000 years? by BlackSabbath · · Score: 1

      > Water beats rock every time.

      I thought it was paper that beat rock?

    48. Re:1,000 years? by matty619 · · Score: 1

      You know, when CDs and DVDs came out, they claimed they would last 50 years. I have yet to find one that lasts longer than 5.

      Really? I've got a whole stack of CD's from the late 80's, sure some are a bit scratched up, and maybe skip a little, but most play just as good as the day I bought them, 20 years ago. As far as CD-R's go, I have many from the late 90's back when they had a much darker blue dye, some of their reflective coatings are beginning to flake off, but in general, most of them still work.

    49. Re:1,000 years? by theillien · · Score: 1

      and the normal see-through ones for windows

      Or they can use all the unsold copies of ME

    50. Re:1,000 years? by frnz · · Score: 1

      me tooo, Dire Straits and Vivaldi CD dated back to 1988 still playing great

    51. Re:1,000 years? by mehrotra.akash · · Score: 1

      I have no name CD-R's from more than 10 yrs back which are in perfect condition..

    52. Re:1,000 years? by Psychotria · · Score: 1

      Are you feeling OK? LOL

    53. Re:1,000 years? by purpledinoz · · Score: 1

      But rock beats scissors! but scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock.... hmmm quite a conundrum.

    54. Re:1,000 years? by tyrione · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I have CDs from the mid 80s. What most people fail to notice is that the thickness of those old CDs did allow one to skip them on the road and be able to put them back into the player and read correctly. They are thicker than today's CDs. Like all stuff in technology they hook you at a reasonable price, jack you up on costs later and cheapen the product so it fails sooner, rather than later.

    55. Re:1,000 years? by surferx0 · · Score: 1

      Water beats rock every time.

      And god forbid it comes into contact with paper

    56. Re:1,000 years? by ch0rlt0n · · Score: 2, Funny

      Five years!? You do realise they're not actually coffee coasters?

    57. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Soviet Russia rock beats you!

      (sorry)

    58. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed, this is why you laminate it after you are done burning.

      Ah the wonders of lamination.

    59. Re:1,000 years? by Monolith1 · · Score: 1

      Water beats rock every time.

      Actually, I think you will find paper beats rock everytime...

    60. Re:1,000 years? by agentgonzo · · Score: 3, Funny

      No, paper beats rock. There's no water in the game.

      Spock also beats rock.

    61. Re:1,000 years? by gsslay · · Score: 1

      I have yet to find one that lasts longer than 5.

      Wow, you can't be looking too hard. Or maybe you are exceptionally rough on your CDs. You do know you're not really suppose to use them as coasters or to scrape ice off your windscreen?

      I have CDs that play just fine after 25 years.

    62. Re:1,000 years? by AC-x · · Score: 1

      Y'know I recently moved my collection of CD-R and DVD-R burnt (backups, of course ;) movies onto an external harddrive, a lot of the discs in there were 7,8 even 9 years old and all of them read fine.

    63. Re:1,000 years? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      It's getting harder to call Linux a monolithic kernel with things like FUSE and the newer stuff to produce userspace block device drivers, it's starting to be more accurate to think of it as a really badly designed microkernel.

      However, I think the grandparent meant monolithic as in 'no modules'. Back then the kernel was a monolithic binary, as well as a monolithic process. The default kernel build included a few drivers and you needed to recompile it to get the rest of the ones that your system needed.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    64. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then you're doing something wrong. I have nearly 10,000 music CDs (dating from the mid-80s), hundreds of burned data CD-Rs (dating from the mid-90s), hundreds of DVDs, and a thousand-or-so burned DVD-Rs (from around 2000 onwards), and they've been transported around the country a few times, kept in less than ideal storage conditions, and guess what? They're fine. A couple of music CDs got some sort of bloom on them that was easily wiped off. Other than that, no issues. I'd love to know what the hell you're doing with your discs!

    65. Re:1,000 years? by marcuz · · Score: 1

      you won't hear it but the actual data is probably a little corrupted

    66. Re:1,000 years? by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1

      You keep my precious bodily fluids out of this! I warn you, my name is a Killing Word.

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
    67. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have cds that are over 20 years old and still work perfectly. So nyahh!!!

    68. Re:1,000 years? by jridley · · Score: 1

      I have CD-Rs that were recorded around 1994 (the recorder was the size of a standard size PC case, cost $3500 and recorded at 2X - and with hard drive speeds at the time and no buffer underrun protection, you couldn't even touch the mouse or you'd burn a coaster) that are fine. I have a spindle of 50 of them, and I pull them out every few years and run a sampling through Nero CD Speed which detects even low-level errors that would normally be corrected.

      These are all still fine, with only one or two correctable errors per CD, about the same as a freshly-burned CD.

      The problem, I suspect, is that you're using cheap discs. These were recorded on Kodak gold datalife discs, they cost about $5 each at the time. Also, they're in a spindle in a dry basement with very constant temperature and low light.

    69. Re:1,000 years? by jridley · · Score: 1

      To hell with major name brands. I think they all just buy whatever they can get on the asian market.

      Taiyo Yuden FTW.

    70. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >I really don't care if my archival storage can stand being left outside for several years, because I don't intend to do that.

      really? really you don't intend to do that? Let me tell you a few more things that weren't intended. The Titanic wasn't intended to sink, so the captain didn't really care about the exact number of lifeboats on hand. The Library of Alexandria wasn't intended to be burned to the ground. German citizens in the thirties didn't intend their elected government to create an era that was to live on in infamy forever as synonymous with pure evil. Vesuvius? Not intended. Katrina? Not intended. Let me tell you something: you can take your intentions and shove them where they, ahem, weren't intended.

    71. Re:1,000 years? by WinterSolstice · · Score: 1

      It's still at most a modular/hybrid kernel. It's not a micro kernel (unfortunately/fortunately, depending on your opinion).

      I actually rather liked that bit with the recompiling the drivers you actually needed and wanted, though it certainly would detract from the modern "slap it in, grandma friendly" focus.
      I recall both Linux and BSD would step you through getting a good solid base installed and compiled - I think it was maybe Caldera era that we stopped recompiling the Linux kernel every install? Something like that.

      I'm even starting to see people *arguing* that it's a good thing to have as many drivers built in by default as possible (which just contributes to bloat, complexity, security issues).

      --
      An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
    72. Re:1,000 years? by noidentity · · Score: 1

      I have CD-Rs that are over 10 years old and still working perfectly.

    73. Re:1,000 years? by interploy · · Score: 1

      I really don't see the point. Even if DVD readers are somehow around in 1,000 years, any information worth keeping around that long will have been reproduced and updated constantly during that entire period. Look at any major religion; each has countless numbers of editions of their texts. And history is constantly being revised. The same with scientific works; all constantly changing and being updated. So what's left? Am I going to store my financial records and music for a 1,000 years so some guy in the future can throw away my information as completely irrelevant and tasteless?

    74. Re:1,000 years? by Wolvenhaven · · Score: 1

      No, Paper beats Rock.
      Remember: Scissors cuts Paper, Paper covers Rock, Rock crushes Lizard, Lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes Scissors, Scissors decapitates Lizard, Lizard eats Paper, Paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes Rock, and of course Rock crushes Scissors.

      --
      Orwell was an optimist.
    75. Re:1,000 years? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Yes, my late friend Linda's daughter died of dyhydrogen monoxide at age eight. Very nasty stuff!

      Also, what's worse about dihydrogen monoxide than its toxicity is that if you mix it with thiotimoline strange things happen... well, actually right before you mix it.

    76. Re:1,000 years? by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 1

      You know, when CDs and DVDs came out, they claimed they would last 50 years. I have yet to find one that lasts longer than 5.

      I've CDs that I bought back in the mid 80s, still working without any problems.

      Unrelated: what is it about slashdot that makes people feel compelled to disparage any new idea...

    77. Re:1,000 years? by Abreu · · Score: 1

      The first CD I ever bought (Dark Side of the Moon I'm afraid)...

      Don't be ashamed. The first CD I owned was an eighties hair-rock compilation called "Laser Rock" or something silly like that...

      --
      No sig for the moment.
    78. Re:1,000 years? by FireFury03 · · Score: 2, Informative

      What most people fail to notice is that the thickness of those old CDs did allow one to skip them on the road and be able to put them back into the player and read correctly. They are thicker than today's CDs.

      [citation needed]

      Philips specify the thickness of a CD - if it doesn't match the spec then it isn't a CD and can't carry the CD logo.

      In any case, the robustness of the polycarbonate is rarely the problem - the easiest way to damage a CD is by scratching the aluminium layer, since it is only protected by a thin lacquer. By contrast, DVDs have a much better design, sandwiching the aluminium between two polycarbonate discs.

    79. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's no water in the game.

      That's because it wouldn't be fair. Water beats rock and paper, and if the scissors are made out of steel, water beats those too! It's the ultimate weapon.

    80. Re:1,000 years? by FireFury03 · · Score: 1

      "I was paying as much as $5/each in 1997-2000."

      Well that was stupid. Buying a new drive every 3years, doubling in size each time would have been cheaper and you'd have had no file loss.

      Umm... I think your recollection of how much hard drives cost in 1997 is hazy. At $5/CD you're looking at 6-7 gig for $50, which is a lot cheaper than 1997 hard drives.

    81. Re:1,000 years? by Z1NG · · Score: 1

      Fourth: I presented a fact that debunks this statement: "I have yet to find one that lasts longer than 5"

      I would say that comment contributes something useful.

      You didn't debunk anything. So you have an 8 year old CD, how does that imply anything about the original commenter's bad luck with CDs?

    82. Re:1,000 years? by maharb · · Score: 1

      I don't know, maybe it proves that the experience that person had is isolated, or at least I am evidence that is not always the case. All my CD's I have ever burned and have tried to use recently still work and its been at least 8 years since I started burning stuff. Some(50) of these CD's were even free cd's from a best buy black Friday sale... not expensive CD's by any means.

      I guess I figured that people here are smart enough to deduce most of that from my one line, but apparently I have to spell it out word for word so that I don't get accused of trolling.

      The only thing I have added since my first post is an analysis of what I think my post means and the clarification that they weren't expensive disks. I was assuming everyone has the brain power to put my post in context with the other one and think about it. Apparently not, or you are just trolling me.

    83. Re:1,000 years? by formfeed · · Score: 1
      Burned.

      And that has been the problem so far. Most archives are still holding on to their micro film, even when they hand out CDs for every day use. There is a real need for an up-to-date archival medium. Unforunatly that demand hasn't been met by the industry yet, mainly because archives aren't a huge market like consumer electronics. And despite what politicans claim sometimes, they also aren't seen as critical. If they "fail", no production capacity is lost, just our cultural heritage.

    84. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Burned or stamped?

      My stepfather has an extensive collection of CDs he bought in the mid-to-late 80s that play as well today as they did back when he bought them. I ripped a Cars album without need for any cdparanoia correction. The resulting file played fine.

      Used too work for Sony Music in the "Clean Room" where they pressed the CD's. The quailty of the Commercial product is superior to the Grab Bag of disks that you get from Staples, etc. By the way,don't drop those stone disks whatever you do. Couldn't help myself on that one.

    85. Re:1,000 years? by Idiomatick · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I was overestimating a bit. Still by 2000 drive prices were cheaper than CDs (they overtook earlier if you take into account a CD burner). You could have stored your songs on a tape array? :P. I remember CD burns failing a lot, having maybe 3 burners die, they didn't last long got lost, scratched. So for me HDDs probably overtook CDs in 98.

    86. Re:1,000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate to bust your bubble, but I have several CDs over 20 years old that I ripped MP3s from just a few months ago. Yes, they will last if you don't constantly rub them with Dorito's encrusted hands or throw them around in your Honda Civic like Frisbees.

    87. Re:1,000 years? by haruchai · · Score: 1

      I had better luck with CD burners than you did. All but one died only after I'd already upgraded to something faster.
      But, I've had terrible luck with hard drives.
      But saving them to tape?
      I suppose that could have been an option but that wouldn't have been cheap either and the place I was working as an admin had so many tape failures with better quality equipment than I could afford, that I simply couldn't see myself spending additional cash on a slow, finicky, and prone-to-failure solution.
      So backing up to CD-RW was still worth it until both hard drives and fast external enclosures became affordable.
      I bought a USB2.0/Firewire 400/eSATA Nexstar for $60 last weekend to put a $80 750 GB drive into. If only we'd had these things 10 years ago, I would have been a much happier man.
      I once paid $250 for a parallel-port enclosure and $200 for a 2 GB drive to put into it - in 1997 ( I think ). What was amazing was that I could get it to work, with lots of work.
      Most temperamental beast I've ever had the displeasure of owning.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    88. Re:1,000 years? by MacWiz · · Score: 1

      Whether you're talking software, DVDs, CDs or even data, it assumes today's formats remain unchanged for 1,000 years. I'd be happy with 100 years of rock-solid.

      I have yet to find one that lasts longer than 5.

      I've got 20-year-old CDs that still play fine. I've never had a "bad" CD that wasn't like that because it got scratched or left on a dashboard or something.

    89. Re:1,000 years? by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      This technology as a whole sounds like it is past it 's use by date, a USB thumb drive will last a very long time when you only write to it once and a 4gb drive is already way less than half the price http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-SDCZ6-4096-A11-Retail-Package/dp/B000EWHEM6 and the writing technology is available pretty much every where. Unless they can seriously ramp up the storage capacity than this start up is likely to last a whole lot less than the thousand years they claim their media can last.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  3. First Prior Art by bigattichouse · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Wonder if they applied for a patent before April 22, 2004 ?

    http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Ever-Disk

    --
    meh
    1. Re:First Prior Art by jd · · Score: 1
      --
      It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
    2. Re:First Prior Art by slamb · · Score: 1

      Wonder if they applied for a patent before April 22, 2004 ?

      The government doesn't issue patents for half-baked ideas; it issues them for actual inventions (IIRC it even used to require a physical prototype be sent for examination). www.halfbakery.com is not prior art.

    3. Re:First Prior Art by pdabbadabba · · Score: 1

      It only counts as prior art if they come up with an implementation. Just having an idea is not enough.

  4. Presumably... by popo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... they also make a DVD player that lasts 1000 years?

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
    1. Re:Presumably... by The+Grim+Reefer2 · · Score: 4, Funny

      ... they also make a DVD player that lasts 1000 years?

      At $4995 for the burner it better last 1K years too.

    2. Re:Presumably... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or content that's fun to watch/listen to/use more than twice.

    3. Re:Presumably... by glyn.phillips · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Presumably all DVD readers made for the next 1000 years will be backward compatible. Have you tried to read an 8-inch floppy disk lately? And they're only three decades old!

      When the equipment for reading these starts to become museum pieces people will migrate the data to whatever the state of the art is at the time. Then these stone DVD's will last a long time in the landfill.

      It does raise some fun things to speculate about though.

      There are some ancient writings which no one knows how to read anymore. Will future archaeologists wonder what the microscopic pits in our coasters with holes in them are all about?

      Will they suffer from data overload?

      What will future archaeologists, with PhD's, think when they read what you, personally, wrote in a forum? Now that's scary.

    4. Re:Presumably... by QuoteMstr · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Presumably all DVD readers made for the next 1000 years will be backward compatible. Have you tried to read an 8-inch floppy disk lately? And they're only three decades old!

      The nice thing about he optical disc form factor is that it decouples the encoding and retrieval technology from the moving parts involves in loading, unloading, and spinning the disc. It's very easy to support additional optical media formats by simply including another kind of laser in the read head.

      On the other hand, an eight-inch floppy needs a custom loading mechanism that isn't cost-effective to build anymore, so of course we don't have anything that's backward compatible.

      As long as we have optical media at all (and I don't see the idea fading any time soon), the readers will be backwards-compatible all the way back to Red Book audio. I would be amazed if we couldn't read CDs in 100 years, and only moderately surprised if we couldn't read them in 1,000.

    5. Re:Presumably... by mlts · · Score: 1

      Will we have the ability to make DVD players that last 1000 years? Factories retool often, so components which are in easy supply for DVDs right now may not be available in 20-50 years, similar to finding wax cylinder needles or heads for reel to reel tapes.

      Also, will we have the ability to decode the pits on a DVD? If someone doesn't know the exact error correction, parsing of Gray codes, and other stuff, the DVD will be completely unreadable.

      Trick is... make a DVD player model that can be made as technology progresses, sort of (obligatory car example) having the Jeep Wrangler of optical drives, which keeps being made, but is essentially older technology.

    6. Re:Presumably... by dissy · · Score: 0

      Presumably... they also make a DVD player that lasts 1000 years?

      You aren't much of a geek if you don't plan on upgrading beyond DVD technology once the next technology gets to the same price point and is an order of magnitude better. I know I will be!

      However, I don't know when that will be. However I wouldn't mind my current DVD archives to last until that day.

      Why bother making a DVD to last 10 years or 25 years or 50 years, when it is quite possible I might not want to migrate to the next best thing for 11 years, 26 years, or 51 years.

      1000 will more than cover what I need.

      Besides, you know better than anyone this is just their way to say it will last basically forever, based on the construction methods and materials.

    7. Re:Presumably... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2, Funny

      Assuming anybody in the future cares more than a tiny bit, I'd strongly suspect that the file formats(and possibly the disk layout) will be a bigger challenge than the lack of compatible drives.

      The surface details on DVDs just aren't all that small, since they have to be easily accessible to ~$50 worth of cheap, mass-market optics, even after some kid gets greasy fingerprints all over them. Unless the future belongs to degenerate savages and murderous rat-men, rigging up a spindle, an optical microscope, and a camera to automatically record the pit structure will presumably be within the realm of a doable for a few decent engineering grads. Assuming, of course, that we don't all have cyborg mecha-vision by that time. It wouldn't necessarily be anything close to fast; but it would be conceptually simple and reasonably economic for anything of some historical value.

      If, however, the files on the disk are all AES-256 encrypted, decodable only with the cooperation of a DRM keyserver that was deconstructed by a rogue nanite swarm during the H+ omnipurge of 2076, all bets are off.

    8. Re:Presumably... by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Is that really interesting outside of the post-apocalyptic scenarios? I'm thinking the point here is to have something you can throw in a vault and actually pick up in a few centuries and use. Unlike pretty much all things magnetic or solid state based, this is more a competitior to digital microfilm or something. For data that's constantly changing this it's easier to just migrate it to new HDDs, but there's a helluva cost to that over a 1000 year perspective. Perhaps the rapid improvements in technology make it cheaper and easier to go with the flow of terabyte hard disks, but it's also worth pursuing what we can find of really long-term storage so we don't get killed by upkeep.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    9. Re:Presumably... by obarthelemy · · Score: 1

      DVD is a consumer electronics media, 8" was a computer media. You can still read Vinyls without having to look to hard... the first commercial one was released in1946. that's 63 years, and counting.

      --
      The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
    10. Re:Presumably... by QuoteMstr · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There are some ancient writings which no one knows how to read anymore. Will future archaeologists wonder what the microscopic pits in our coasters with holes in them are all about?

      That's an interesting thought experiment. Let's say civilization fell and rose again, and that future archaeologists came across some of our optical discs. They wouldn't need much beyond 19th-century technology and mathematics to decipher them.

      Once cleaned, 1,000-year-old discs would still shimmer the way they do today. Under a microscope (well-developed by the 19th century), pits and lands would be visible. A pit is approximately the same size as a bacterial cell, after all. The pits and lands would form a recognizable pattern. That pattern looks nothing like binary, being a clocked encoding of it. But it's obvious that a CD would spin, so eventually someone clever will realize that information is encoded at clock boundaries.

      That having been figured out, these future archaeologists will see repeating patterns of eight units. Presuming that our language came down intact (much like Latin has to us), 19th century cryptanalytical techniques could determine the correspondence of the mysterious 8-pit repeating units to letters. (After all, what is ASCII except a simple substitution cipher?)

      ECC information would be gibberish, but it could be ignored. (And once even one Wikipedia backup were deciphered, the ECC information would be understood.)

      Of course, there's a huge amount of information on each disc. It'd take a long time to go over even part of one by hand, but it could be done. After all, even in the 17th century, huge logarithm table books were produced.

      Once technology advanced a bit, it'd be possible to build an electromechanical system to read and print the contents of CDs. Even Babbage had a workable printer design, and printing telegraph machines emerged by 1910. The hardest part for our future archaeologists would be reading the discs at high speed, for which (I think) they'd need a laser. But maybe the problem would stimulate them, and they'd build lasers before we got around to discovering the things.

      Of course, this is just idle speculation, but it's fun!

    11. Re:Presumably... by mosb1000 · · Score: 1

      "and I don't see the idea fading any time soon"

      Flash media maybe? I wonder if they can some up with an archival format for that.

    12. Re:Presumably... by FlyingBishop · · Score: 1

      You misunderstand, that's not a player, it just writes the media.

    13. Re:Presumably... by QuoteMstr · · Score: 5, Insightful

      By the way: if you think this is an interesting thought experiment, you'll love A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller.

    14. Re:Presumably... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Of course, there's a huge amount of information on each disc. It'd take a long time to go over even part of one by hand, but it could be done. After all, even in the 17th century, huge logarithm table [wikipedia.org] books were produced.

      Deciphering the MPEG-2 stream might turn out to be the hard part. But if they're human and have some clue it's porn, the grad students will get it done sooner or later.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    15. Re:Presumably... by fm6 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Tightwad. You can afford to buy a new burner once a century.

    16. Re:Presumably... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      ... they also make a DVD player that lasts 1000 years?

      Maybe some will be around in 100. To turn marketing speak into 4D space-time, divide claims by 100. My 100-year Kodaks lasted 10, so maybe these will be around in 100. By which time, all of our collective information ought to fit on one USB-key-sized widget. (I'm kidding, but Moore may not be).

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    17. Re:Presumably... by marcansoft · · Score: 1

      CDs and DVDs are a lot weirder than that. Bytes aren't stored verbatim: they're swizzled around and mixed up to improve error performance (that way a scratch kills many distant bytes that can be corrected, instead of a bunch of nearby ones that can't) and they are also converted to a self-clocking encoding (EFM) before writing to disc.

      However, an explanation of this isn't that hard to write and fit into a small-ish book (you don't need all the details and specs, just a guide of just how the data made it onto the disc). Given a generous use of diagrams, it would help tremendously even if the language is dead by then.

    18. Re:Presumably... by wisty · · Score: 1

      Omnipresent wireless internet with cloud storage might kill off portable storage (except for special uses) in the next 20 years. Maybe longer, given that consumers would want to hang onto their old media. I wouldn't make any bets on the next 100.

      But that's a good point about optical disks lasting longer than mechanical systems. Even if becomes a specialized technology, the few remaining readers could read the disks.

    19. Re:Presumably... by WuphonsReach · · Score: 1

      Omnipresent wireless internet with cloud storage might kill off portable storage (except for special uses) in the next 20 years. Maybe longer, given that consumers would want to hang onto their old media. I wouldn't make any bets on the next 100.

      Eh, I fully expect corps to screw the pooch and constantly mess with consumer's or their data. Which means that portable storage will still be alive and kicking because the cloud simply isn't reliable.

      (Now, if you're talking movies / TV... I fully expect that to be streamed. But personal data? While it might visit the cloud, I think a lot of it will end up on portable storage. Or maybe storage implanted in the owner.)

      --
      Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?
    20. Re:Presumably... by IronChef · · Score: 1

      It will take 1000 years for descrambling CSS without a license to become legal.

    21. Re:Presumably... by lewiscr · · Score: 1

      Excellent book. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the protagonist being the Catholic Church.

    22. Re:Presumably... by Drinking+Bleach · · Score: 1

      It's called ROM

    23. Re:Presumably... by WinterSolstice · · Score: 1

      I agree. I'd pay good money to have some Splash! drawings from the mid-90s back. I did a TON of them because it was the standard art program at my school. So far, I haven't found anything that works (and I am now starting to think that my most recent media transfer to zip disk probably needs to be re-done too).

      Bit rot is alive and well - just look at DeScribe or any of dozens of other apps that people created documents in. For that matter, a lot of the 80s and 90s fanfold doesn't hold up too well either.

      --
      An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
    24. Re:Presumably... by gig · · Score: 1

      > When the equipment for reading these starts to become museum pieces

      Already happened. How many people have you heard say they want to make a DVD since YouTube?

      > people will migrate the data to whatever the state of the art is at the time.

      That is why I have 2 Drobos and zero optical disc readers. Since a year ago.

      So what is needed is a stone DVD player also. And a stone TV. And stone component video cables and remote control.

    25. Re:Presumably... by the_humeister · · Score: 1

      Then they'd figure out the data on these old DVDs are encrypted and can't figure out how to crack the encryption. Then they'd just go back to printing archaic porn on whatever recording device they'd have developed up to that point.

    26. Re:Presumably... by gig · · Score: 1

      Vinyl is actually older than that, but it's analog, so it's a lot easier to figure out than anything that's digital. They made their own vinyl record player on Gilligan's Island, but it's unlikely they would have been able to make their own DVD player.

    27. Re:Presumably... by gig · · Score: 1

      > You aren't much of a geek if you don't plan on upgrading beyond DVD technology
      > once the next technology gets to the same price point and is an order of
      > magnitude better. I know I will be!

      Yeah, I already did! I bought a MacBook Air and iPhone 3GS and now I buy and rent movies over Wi-Fi. Where the fuck do I put the stone DVD?

    28. Re:Presumably... by GrahamCox · · Score: 1

      I don't see the idea fading any time soon

      What makes you think that? I think solid state will be the norm within a decade. Moving parts? Who needs 'em.

    29. Re:Presumably... by The+Yuckinator · · Score: 1

      Unless the future belongs to degenerate savages and murderous rat-men

      Not the greatest movie, but this tells about a step in that direction: Idiocracy

      Definitely stupid, but believable enough to make you feel uneasy about the next hundred years!

    30. Re:Presumably... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, since it's all optical and the physical size is convenient for human hands, we might actually maintain the ability to read all the way back to CDs a thousand years from now. Being optical, it's possible for systems that read smaller features to retain the ability to read the larger ones "in software". All you'd need is a variable-wavelength laser, I think, which seems plausible.

      Of course I'm assuming no *total* civilization collapse in between. We're well past the bad old days where your island could blow up and your entire culture vanish, at least as far as computers and optical media go; LOTS of nations, spread over a physically diverse area, know enough about computers and optical discs to make them. A particularly bad spread of disasters might destroy a lot of esoteric knowledge, but if the CDs survive then I'm pretty sure that enough computer science textbooks will survive, in at least one of the languages that survives.

      If we really want to be sure, well, perhaps a library equivalent of the seed vault would be a good idea. Stuff it full of a lot of modern 'rosetta stone' kind of sample books for languages, and then a lot of books of knowledge built to last, and mirror it all on millennial DVDs, and put in some over-engineered computers built to also last that long. Considering how well our modern researches have done with stuff found by chance, I'm sure the ones from 3009AD would do well with a store of *intentionally preserved* useful data.

    31. Re:Presumably... by ProfessionalCookie · · Score: 1

      Jesus let it fade!

    32. Re:Presumably... by vikstar · · Score: 1

      What will future archaeologists, with PhD's, think when they read what you, personally, wrote in a forum? Now that's scary.

      "There once was a mighty ruler of the earth, whom's slashdot id was 615372. All countries and their inhabitants rendered positive moderation unto him, and he was glad. He suckled upon the bosom of his wealth and influence, for he had good karma..."

      --
      The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.
    33. Re:Presumably... by DerekLyons · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Presumably all DVD readers made for the next 1000 years will be backward compatible. Have you tried to read an 8-inch floppy disk lately? And they're only three decades old!

      The nice thing about he optical disc form factor is that it decouples the encoding and retrieval technology from the moving parts involves in loading, unloading, and spinning the disc.

      The read/write head moves too - otherwise you wouldn't be able to read anything but the small portion of the disk directly above the read/write head. The form factor and details are different - but with the exception of 'flying' the head, the basic mechanical operations of an optical drive are exactly the same as a magnetic disk drive.
       

      It's very easy to support additional optical media formats by simply including another kind of laser in the read head.

      For certain handwaving values of 'simply', sure. In reality, as a given standard recedes ever further from the bleeding edge manufacturers are going to be increasingly unwilling to increase the cost and complexity of the read (or read/write) head in order to support formats fewer and fewer people use.

    34. Re:Presumably... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...and it would all end when Microsoft Windows could not Activate.

    35. Re:Presumably... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, by then it won't be encumbered and even Linux will play them out of the box.

    36. Re:Presumably... by clickety6 · · Score: 1

      Duh! They won't need to have DVD players lasting that long. They can simply put the instructions for building a DVD player onto one of the DVDs!

      --
      ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
    37. Re:Presumably... by SpooForBrains · · Score: 1

      And then imagine, after all that effort, them discovering that the disc they've just decoded contains "Debbie Does Dallas: The Next Generation"

      --
      "The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
    38. Re:Presumably... by houghi · · Score: 1

      Sure they could read it. That does not mean they know what the stuff means. Say I burn a movie on it. Perhaps they will be able to determine that the name was 'Britney Spears Concert.avi'. Now that you have that name, it means almost nothing. They would know perhaps who it was (Some godess, otherwise they would not find so much reference to her.)

      That does not mean they would be able to figure out the codecs that you need to watch the movie.

      Take something simpler. A word document. You would probably be able to read parts of it, but to understand it all will be a hell of work.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    39. Re:Presumably... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      LPs are still sold new, unlike 8" disks. Try getting a record deck thirty years after the last LP is sold. A better comparison is the 78. Most modern record decks can't play them. You can still buy old ones that can, but it's getting harder to find them. Now compare the complexity of a gramophone to a DVD player. The old gramophones that still exist are mostly maintained by individuals. If the needle breaks or is blunted, it's easy to replace, and the same is true of the other mechanical components. How easy is it to replace or realign the laser in a DVD player?

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    40. Re:Presumably... by Theovon · · Score: 2, Interesting

      CDs aren't encoded in a straightforward manner. Data is stored as a composition of Reed-Solomon codes and 10-8 codes, and the RS encoded bits are interleaved. Without detailed knowledge of the encoding, it might as well be encrypted. You're expecting to see plain data interleaved with parit. You'll see nothing of the sort.

    41. Re:Presumably... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would be amazed if we couldn't read CDs in 100 years, and only moderately surprised if we couldn't read them in 1,000.

      The following already ship without optical drives: net books, smart phones, most tablet pcs, e-readers. Then there is itunes, pandora, digital distribution, netflix streaming, virtual consoles... If high speed internet was as wide spread in the US as in some parts of the world I doubt Apple would still be shipping optical drives purely for looks. I wouldn't give optical media another 10 years myself.

    42. Re:Presumably... by natehoy · · Score: 1

      I am 615732, King of Kings! Look upon my works, Ye Mighty, and Despair!

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    43. Re:Presumably... by natehoy · · Score: 1

      Dammit, a good Ozymandias joke, ruined by dyslexia.

      And what idiot came up with the spelling of "dyslexia?" It's almost as cruel as putting an "s" in the word "lisp".

      LYSDEXICS OF TEH WROLD, UNTIE!

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    44. Re:Presumably... by hedge49 · · Score: 1

      In your scenario, do you think they'll have to reinvent the 8-track?

    45. Re:Presumably... by crndg · · Score: 1

      That's an awful lot of work. Consider how many CD's and DVD's there are in the world. If even a small fraction survive, the chances are pretty good that those poor, unfortunate souls 1000 years from now will spend decades unencoding a disk, only to find it contains Britney Spears' greatest hits, or Ernest Escapes from Guantanamo. Meanwhile, the disk containing all the scientific or literary knowledge of the ages languishes untouched.

    46. Re:Presumably... by JediTrainer · · Score: 1

      LOL

      "Writing is easy. Someday I hope to learn how to read."

      --

      You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
    47. Re:Presumably... by Firehawk · · Score: 1

      You are assuming the DVD that is discovered by future archaeologists will have data mostly consisting of text.

      According to Murphy's Law, the stash that this future archaeologist discovers first will be a bunch of porn movie DVDs.

    48. Re:Presumably... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Assuming, of course, that we don't all have cyborg mecha-vision by that time

      Hey, I have cyborg mecha-vision you insensitive clod!

      You will be assimilated. In fact you'll pay good money to be assimilated. I did.

      Resistance is futile.

    49. Re:Presumably... by bugs2squash · · Score: 1

      Once cleaned, 1,000-year-old discs would still shimmer the way they do today.

      That will be their downfall, the fragments of them will spend the next 1000 years as earrings.

      --
      Nullius in verba
    50. Re:Presumably... by HiThere · · Score: 1

      I expect that we'll move to mem based memory within the century. They *might* connect to the computer using some descendant of USB3.

      Note that this memory is a factor of 10^6 less dense than nano-tech based memory, but it's known to be currently buildable, and durable. (Think of it as a bunch of iron needles that can move into one of two positions as selected by magnets. Now scale that really small, but each needle over 10 nm in length and you have a kind of crude mem memory.)

      Mem memory is rather like core memory, only it's a lot smaller, doesn't depend on magnetic fields persisting, and can be built by automated factories. They're just working out the details. It's faster than flash to write, is as fast as semi-conductors to read, and should last a humongous number of read-write cycles. (Well, the lab versions have.) It's also persistent with the power removed.

      These will probably obsolete both flash and disk memory, and possibly even semiconductor memory. Unless something else comes along first that's even better.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    51. Re:Presumably... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No you miss the point. We won't be using spinning optical media at all in (make up number) 50 years.

      12cm spinning optical media will look just as quaint as 8" floppies do now, and you will only find a BluRay-HDE+ (Hi Def Extreme Plus) reader in a museum. They are already looking a little quaint with current solid state offerings.

      In 1000 years they'll think it was quaint their ancestors needed "media" at all. The word itself will probably be archaic.

    52. Re:Presumably... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to the rep at the recent New York Photo Expo, blank DVDs are $15 each. EACH! Maybe the military should be buying these.

    53. Re:Presumably... by dissy · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Yeah, I already did! I bought a MacBook Air and iPhone 3GS and now I buy and rent movies over Wi-Fi. Where the fuck do I put the stone DVD?

      Well, you could build a small box out of these stone DVDs to store your MacBook and iPhone within..

      I am uncertain as to how much extra protection this would give your data, but it would at least be a conversation starter!

  5. Apparently not that special by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apparently it's not like your choice is between 3 years and 1000 years. From TFA:

    "... [the new disks] outlast the durability of competitors that claim a 300-year shelf life."

    I don't know, but 300y sounds like a pretty good improvement over the standard, too...

  6. Fun with ceramics by icebike · · Score: 2, Funny

    Coasters have come full circle now.

    I remember my mom's ceramic coasters (bone china she called it, which as a 5 year old, creeped me out).

    They were pretty durable, and lasted my mom all here adult life. The writing on the bottom was still readable after all those years.

    --
    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    1. Re:Fun with ceramics by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      They were pretty durable, and lasted my mom all here adult life.

      Sounds like there pretty tough.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:Fun with ceramics by icebike · · Score: 1

      Ahhh, run away, the typo police are here.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    3. Re:Fun with ceramics by rockNme2349 · · Score: 1

      Your joking right?

      --
      Sewage Treatment Facilities - "Our duty is clear."
    4. Re:Fun with ceramics by Jesus_666 · · Score: 1

      Ahhh, run away, the typo police are her.

      FTFY

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
    5. Re:Fun with ceramics by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      The writing on the bottom was still readable after all those years.

      She has tattoos on her butt?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    6. Re:Fun with ceramics by natehoy · · Score: 1

      off coarse hes jowl king, see lee.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
  7. Finally, a convenient alternative to pyramids... by Bob_Who · · Score: 4, Funny

    Jeeez, it took long enough to come up with a practical alternative to hieroglyphics carved in stone. So far, that was the best technology for millennial storage. I just want to be certain that I get that 1000 year warranty, in case its just a bunch of empty promises. I don't want to be disappointed 800 years down the road.

  8. 1000 years? by Obliquitous+Cowherd · · Score: 3, Funny

    We'll see.

    1. Re:1000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed. I'm going to spend a couple of years at the speed of light and I'll find out.

      brb.

    2. Re:1000 years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Will you? really?

    3. Re:1000 years? by jellyfrog · · Score: 1

      brb.

      I don't think light speed works like that. Wait, where are you going? Come back!

      ...Damn. Well. See you.. later, I guess...

  9. Expensive by techrolla · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's going to be really hard to convince average computer users who think their data will last forever that it won't. And after 50 years no one might even own dvd players.

    1. Re:Expensive by david@ecsd.com · · Score: 1

      I, for one, can see this as a stop gap for data that I don't want to degrade. Photos from my childhood, scanned into jpg and stored on a DVD that's intolerant to bitrot? Priceless. Growing up, my mother took countless photos of my siblings and me, and now, some thirty-mumble years later, who knows where the film can be found, or how long they'll last until the yellow overtakes all the other colors? I'd love to be able to scan them and store them semi-permanently. Is this "synthetic stone" resistant to fire? If so, that'd be a real bonus. Can you put a price on your memories? That's how you convince the average computer user.

    2. Re:Expensive by Vainglorious+Coward · · Score: 1

      [I] see this as a stop gap for data that I don't want to degrade...I'd love to be able to scan [30 years of photos] and store them semi-permanently

      We already have stop-gap semi-permanent storage - you simply copy that multi gigabyte archive onto each new computer as you upgrade. The huge pain in the ass is not keeping files longterm, it's the effort of scanning all those photos in the first place.

      --
      My next sig will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush
  10. Only one downside by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The .000000000000000001x record rate.

  11. Microwavable? by bigjarom · · Score: 1

    Unless they still make the cool sparking design whilst in the microwave, I am not interested!

  12. Pits? by zippthorne · · Score: 1

    Recordable DVDs don't use pits, do they?

    --
    Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    1. Re:Pits? by selven · · Score: 1

      Why would this need to be recordable?

  13. YOG LIKE ROCKS! by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 0

    YOG EAT!

    --
    "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
  14. will it be shot down? by the_Bionic_lemming · · Score: 1

    Knowing that a significant revenue source for the distributors of DVD's is the fact that people scratch and rebuy, will the various distributors allow it to prosper?

    --
    _ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
    1. Re:will it be shot down? by Inschato · · Score: 1

      Actually.. a lot of distributors of DVDs will usually let you send back a damaged disc for a replacement (although, sometimes you're charged a fee for this. I seem to recall EB Games having a 2$ deal for pre-owned game discs, but I can't be sure if that's still around) so your point may still be valid anyway.

    2. Re:will it be shot down? by jonwil · · Score: 1

      This isn't for your regular disks (its likely more expensive than most regular disks), its for stuff that needs to be archived for a LONG time, especially stuff being stored in climate controlled location.

    3. Re:will it be shot down? by DrXym · · Score: 1

      It isn't for distributors, it is for data centers and the like.

  15. I Hate ROCK Music by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 4, Funny

    What are they recording?

    The Rolling Stones?

    The Stone Roses?

    The Stone Temple Pilots?

    Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35?

    --
    "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
    1. Re:I Hate ROCK Music by slasher999 · · Score: 1

      Live at the Stone Pony Series

      (all the New Jerseans are laughing)

    2. Re:I Hate ROCK Music by FlyMysticalDJ · · Score: 1

      The Queens of the Stone Age

  16. This new archival format from Cranberry... by turing_m · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... seems to have been designed to linger.

    --
    If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
    1. Re:This new archival format from Cranberry... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Did you have to?

    2. Re:This new archival format from Cranberry... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get it.

    3. Re:This new archival format from Cranberry... by lewiscr · · Score: 1

      I don't know about everybody else, but (as a teenager) it took me a long time to figure out that that song wasn't a fart joke.

      I still laugh.

    4. Re:This new archival format from Cranberry... by TheModelEskimo · · Score: 1

      *silence*



      *beating drums resume*



      *faint strumming*

  17. Hate these claims: These guys can't lose by syousef · · Score: 1

    What are the odds the company's around to sue if they're wrong in 100 years let alone 1000? I can tell you the odds of the guys who made the claim being around are zero. If you're going to put your faith in this nonsense I have a bridge to sell you.

    --
    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    1. Re:Hate these claims: These guys can't lose by ProfM · · Score: 1

      If you're going to put your faith in this nonsense I have a bridge to sell you.

      Well, depends on where this bridge is ... and if it goes somewhere.

    2. Re:Hate these claims: These guys can't lose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Will your bridge last a thousand years?

  18. Stone DVDs? by QuoteMstr · · Score: 3, Funny

    They'll come in several varieties:

    • Mafic
    • Felsic
    • Pornographic
    1. Re:Stone DVDs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      And here I thought they would just come in Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary. Shows what I know.

    2. Re:Stone DVDs? by Stupid+McStupidson · · Score: 0

      I just want to know where the pterodactyls that fit inside a DVD burner come from

    3. Re:Stone DVDs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They'll come in several varieties:

      ...

      • Pornographic

      You must be referring to the StoneD ... V.D.s

    4. Re:Stone DVDs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, there is graphic granite.

  19. badass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope it works as advertised.

    Even if it only lasts for 10% of the advertised time. There have been all kinds of questions about safeguarding and backing up data to insure that it won't go bad in a couple years and if this turns out to be a good solution then great.

    Course, I'm not ever going to buy from them so my feelings won't be hurt if it's a crock of shit.

  20. Convienient... by smitty777 · · Score: 1

    ...it will probably take about that long for me to figure out the lyrics to my Municipal Waste DVD.

    --
    "Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish"
    Albert Einstein
  21. Re:Finally, a convenient alternative to pyramids.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thats IF Cranberry hasn't already been sunk due to lawsuits over the disks lasting only 100 years.

  22. Who gives a FRACK? by slasher999 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    We'll all be LONG DEAD by then! Who cares if it lasts beyond the lifespan of our children? I honestly couldn't care less - so not impressed!

  23. Curious... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    TFA quotes temperature resistance of 176 degrees. Fahrenheit. For a "synthetic stone" product that is supposed to be super durable, that is chickenshit. It's barely warmer than parked-car-in-summer-sun.

    I have to wonder, did some journalist fail at accuracy, or are these things actually pretty painfully unexciting in terms of temperature resistance?

    1. Re:Curious... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      > For a "synthetic stone" product that is supposed to be super durable, that is
      > chickenshit.

      That's because they are actually plastic.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    2. Re:Curious... by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Informative

      http://cranberry.com/faqs.php

      How is the Cranberry Disc(TM) different from regular DVDs? ... Instead [of organic dyes], the Cranberry Disc's data layer is composed of rocklike materials known to last for centuries. The Cranberry Writer(TM) etches the Cranberry Disc's rocklike layer creating a permanent physical data record that is immune to data rot.

      What temperature can the Cranberry Disc withstand?
      The Cranberry Discs can withstand temperatures of 176F indefinitely with no effect to the data or the readability of the data in a standard DVD drive.

      Can the Cranberry Disc withstand UV rays and prolonged exposure to the sun?
      Cranberry Discs can withstand the full spectrum of the sun, including UV rays, indefinitely with no effect to the data or the readability of the data in a standard DVD drive.

      The data layer is their synthetic material.
      Presumably, they still sandwich it between plastics that are vulnerable to heat.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    3. Re:Curious... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, plastic is just a rather soft stone.

    4. Re:Curious... by jda104 · · Score: 1

      Their site states "300 degrees" (F?).

      Ironically, they also sell a safe into which you can put your super-durable DVDs. They list as one of the justifications:
      "Fire. The DVD can withstand temperatures as high as 300 degrees. Unless you can make sure that your house doesn't burn down at more than 300 degrees, you need the DVD Vault."

    5. Re:Curious... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Errr, a parked car in summer will roughly reach 120F. And you're complaining that 176F isn't good enough?!

    6. Re:Curious... by Zalbik · · Score: 1

      TFA quotes temperature resistance of 176 degrees....It's barely warmer than parked-car-in-summer-sun.

      Where the hell are you parking your car? Mt. Vesuvius?

    7. Re:Curious... by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      When the outside temperature hits 115 degrees with full on sun, the inside can hit 150+ within 10 minutes or so. Make it nice and black inside, and surfaces will probably be hitting 160. Soooo.... yeah. Don't leave stuff inside the car in Arizona or Death Valley.

      --
      Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
    8. Re:Curious... by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      And you thought paleontology was a bitch already....imagine finding these fuckers buried a thousand years from now, the plastic all gone, and the raw bits laying in the dirt.
       
      Instead of using a brush to dust off an old carved stone, we'll be using a single carbon-nanotube fiber to dislodge individual grains of sand, hoping not to disturb the data under them.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    9. Re:Curious... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can tell you're not from around here ...

      How long is your tour?

    10. Re:Curious... by Nqdiddles · · Score: 1

      I'd agree with this. A parked car in summer (where I live) would be 120F only if it was in the shade, and probably with the airconditioning on too. Being white (as my car is) might help as well.

      That's all beside the point though - what the hell are you doing leaving valuable data on a CD/DVD in your car in summer? Of course this isn't the target market for these disks, but surely any sensible person would take a (relatively disposable) burnt copy in the car and leave the original (or main backup, or whatever) somewhere safe - like not in a car that can easily exceed 50C in summer. These disks sound good, but any sensible person is going to take all the other common sense precautions to look after their data as well.

      --
      And that kids is how I met your mother.
    11. Re:Curious... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In fact, it's only 176 Kelvins

    12. Re:Curious... by fnj · · Score: 1

      Where the heck do you live, Alaska? The temperature inside a parked car in many locales can soar well over 120 F in direct sunlight with the windows raised. In fact, 150-200 F has been recorded. And cracking the windows open 1.5 inches does essentially NO GOOD AT ALL.

      Summer Temperatures Make a Car a Potential Oven
      American Physical Society: Temperature Rise And Heat Buildup Inside A Parked Car
      Direct measurements documented
      Pediatrics: Heat Stress From Enclosed Vehicles: Moderate Ambient Temperatures Cause Significant Temperature Rise In Enclosed Vehicles

    13. Re:Curious... by pz · · Score: 1

      TFA quotes temperature resistance of 176 degrees. Fahrenheit. For a "synthetic stone" product that is supposed to be super durable, that is chickenshit. It's barely warmer than parked-car-in-summer-sun.

      I have to wonder, did some journalist fail at accuracy, or are these things actually pretty painfully unexciting in terms of temperature resistance?

      176F = 80C

      That sounds like maximum operating, not storage, temperature for something stone-like.

      --

      Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
    14. Re:Curious... by I'm+not+really+here · · Score: 1

      Unless it is a baking pan full of brownies... 4 hours at 175*F makes for a nice treat for lunch!

      --
      Before commenting on the Bible, please read it first
    15. Re:Curious... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Last I checked, 160 was less than 176...

  24. is this a joke ? by shakuni · · Score: 0, Troll

    DVD that can store data for 1000 years. Who cares even if it does ?

    1. Re:is this a joke ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The generations that rediscover our tech and culture around that time will, when they try to find out what mistakes we made. Unfortunately the DRM will render the fate of humanity unviewable!

    2. Re:is this a joke ? by cherokee158 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The Library of Congress cares, which is who spurred the research into this media. And you should, too, if you want any portion of our culture preserved for future generations.

      The widespread contempt for creating anything of lasting value I see almost everywhere today speaks volumes about both this generation's shortsightedness and its selfishness.

    3. Re:is this a joke ? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      ironically, content that's out of date in a few years at most is copyrighted for over a lifetime.

    4. Re:is this a joke ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      DVD that can store data for 1000 years. Who cares even if it does ?

      1) The RIAA
      2) The MPAA

    5. Re:is this a joke ? by formfeed · · Score: 1

      The widespread contempt for creating anything of lasting value I see almost everywhere today speaks volumes about both this generation's shortsightedness and its selfishness.

      Your rant is hardly original. Thanks to the lasting quality of books, I could show you similar complaints about "this generation" in several texts for the last 2000 years.

      I'd say this generation is no more selfish and shortsighted than, let's say, some roman youth right before the fall of the empire.

  25. Made from Diamondium or Diamondillium? by ndelta · · Score: 1

    It won't deteriorate. Until some trans-dimensional being gets shklis or shkler tentacles on it.

  26. Re:Finally, a convenient alternative to pyramids.. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

    I'd be interested to see, actually, how "practical" hieroglyphs in stone could be made to be, if somebody did a completely straight-faced interpretation of the idea, using fully modern techniques.

    With all the research that has been done for barcodes, and the resulting wealth of fairly high density, surprisingly robust, and monochrome printable data encoding systems, plus modern CNC gear and a dash of robotics, you should be able to produce a device that would swiftly, automatically, and (comparatively) efficiently write data to stone tablets, and interface with ordinary computer systems as a WORM drive...

  27. Re:Finally, a convenient alternative to pyramids.. by Angst+Badger · · Score: 1

    As it stands, you might want to get a solid five-year warranty on existing recordable DVDs, because the odds are you'll be disappointed as little as two years down the road. I have 5.25" floppy disks from the 8-bit Apple II era that have a higher data retention rate than a lot of DVD-R discs.

    --
    Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
  28. other than laughing by memnock · · Score: 1

    at our current high tech stuff, there can't be that many reason to worry about 1,000 year retention.

    1. Re:other than laughing by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

      at our current high tech stuff, there can't be that many reason to worry about 1,000 year retention.

      Personally I'll be hoping we make it past next Tuesday..

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  29. Is it took much to ask for something afordable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At 60X the cost of a standard DVD it's pretty much for the buyer with no other choice. I want a stable solution for movies. I'm willing to pay the price for even Blu-rays but what pisses me off are the fact over half my DVDs give me a bad sector warning at least once. That's from the factory and it gets worse even after a year or two. I happily bought Laserdisks which were much more expensive but at least they were good quality. They degraded but they tended to work from the factory. The image quality may be better on DVDs than VHS but the product quality is much worse. I want archival quality retail products, movies and music. I'm tired of rebuying products because of poor quality media.

  30. 1000 years later..... by Whiteox · · Score: 1

    Sounds like "Conan The Librarian" when after the Mayan apocalypse of 2012, 1000 years later when the vestiges of humanity finally rediscover metalworking, Conan goes on a mission to find the mythical Stone DVD which a shamanic priest who has access to a pre-apocalypse technology, inserts it into the player only to find porn.

    --
    Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
    1. Re:1000 years later..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And that would teach humanity how to start multiplying again...

    2. Re:1000 years later..... by jellyfrog · · Score: 1

      Conan: "Uhh, this isn't the sort of multiplication I was looking for."
      Priest: "Shut up, I'm busy."
      Conan: "Listen, maths is important! You have no idea of the technology the ancients had!"

      ...

      Conan: "Oh, for God's sake. What's the point..."

    3. Re:1000 years later..... by petrus4 · · Score: 1

      As long as said porn features either Gianna Michaels, Faith Nelson, or Linsey Dawn McKenzie, that's fine.

      I would have advocated porn featuring any of those two women, for inclusion on the Voyager Golden Record, quite seriously.

  31. Re:Finally, a convenient alternative to pyramids.. by umbrellasd · · Score: 1

    We've just entered the Neoneolithic Age.

  32. flash memory? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    why not just store information on a flash memory chip?

  33. Greatest slogan EVER! by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

    How did their marketing department miss this?

    "DiamonDisc archive solutions... it's the pits!"

    Sometimes this stuff just writes itself... where do I send my resume?

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  34. they can sell it in Germany as by bitt3n · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Thousand Year Rock

    1. Re:they can sell it in Germany as by petrus4 · · Score: 1

      If I had mod points, +1, Funny; although probably also -1, Politically Incorrect. ;)

      Also, for the record I'm wondering; is Godwin's Law technically invoked, here?

    2. Re:they can sell it in Germany as by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Explanation for non-Germans please?

    3. Re:they can sell it in Germany as by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  35. If you're actually interested in buying these... by Foggiano · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd recommend going straight to the company Cranberry is licensing from, Millenniata. It looks like you can purchase identical products for about 1/3 the price. Cranberry's got one heck of a mark-up.

  36. Lesson of Alexandria... by Anachragnome · · Score: 1

    "...but the media is unharmed by heat as high as 176 degrees Fahrenheit, ultraviolet rays or normal material deterioration..."

    In short, it still cannot survive a simple house fire or the complete leveling of a major city by fire, historically the single greatest threat to information storage.

    I am curious what it does in a microwave oven though.

    1. Re:Lesson of Alexandria... by Eskarel · · Score: 1

      That's true, but it can survive sitting in around in your house for a few hundred years(in theory) which, while not any better than a book, is at least as good as one.

    2. Re:Lesson of Alexandria... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      How long does your paper book last after it gets wet?

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    3. Re:Lesson of Alexandria... by Eskarel · · Score: 1

      Well that sort of depends upon what kind of book, what it's made of, what the ink is made of, how wet, and what happens to it afterwards. What happens to your artificial rock substrate DVD if you bend it?

      That's really not the point. The point is that while you can still destroy these things(you can destroy anything), they'll still provide quite reasonable data archiving, and they're a hell of a lot better than the current available options.

      Even the price point on the drive isn't really that bad if you consider that the only other reasonable solution for reliable long term storage is the process used to make the commercially distributed ones and the equipment for that is much more expensive.

      The biggest problem with DVDs at the moment is that you can never be sure when they'll start to fail, even under the best of circumstances(let alone average home use). Since it could be 5 years or it could be a couple months, it's almost impossible to set up a workable backup schedule to maintain them. This is kind of a problem for people since these days most people have quite a lot of valuable(usually sentimental value) digital data and no real reliable long term way to store it.

      Even if these things only really last for 50 years, and not 100, that's generally speaking enough that for most peoples purposes the data will last long enough, and that for the purposes where longer term storage is important, you can actually manage that without having a few thousand copies of your data by the time you've been archiving it for a couple of years. The price point is still a little high, but if it works that'll drop quite substantially over time, and is certainly within a viable range for someone with a commercial interest in archiving data.

  37. Wait, what? by millennial · · Score: 1
    Made with no reflective materials? Then how on earth do you read it? Let's check the article:

    However, instead of a silver or gold reflective surface, its disc is transparent, with no reflective layer.

    No. Sorry. No way. This is vaporware. It could not possibly work in a standard DVD player.

    --
    I am scientifically inaccurate.
  38. NOW WE'RE TALKING! by mateomiguel · · Score: 1

    This is my kinda computing. Etch that data in stone! Nwo they could just make me a computer made entire of stone and steel, with arcane markings etched into all sides, I can start doing my computing with a true view for the long term!

  39. Errr... by Arimus · · Score: 1

    How the ? does this work?

    Laser light is reflected off the reflective substrate and its the difference in the reflection pattern which shows its reading a pit or not... so with no reflective surface fail to see how this is going to work.

    --
    --- Users are like bacteria -> Each one causing a thousand tiny crises until the host finally gives up and dies.
    1. Re:Errr... by EmagGeek · · Score: 1

      There is always reflection when light hits a boundary in the medium.

      Three things always happen at such an interface: Absorption, Transmission, and Scattering (fancy name for reflection).

    2. Re:Errr... by cdrguru · · Score: 1

      Manufactured discs are read by a detecting a phase change in the reflection. This is done with a manufactured disc by casting the polycarbonate at different depths from the outer surface of the disc and the distance between a "pit" and a "land" can be detected easily with the optics.

      Recordable discs today work by decreasing the amount of light being reflected from a fixed reflector. I suspect these discs work a lot more like a manufactured disc than recordable discs work today, but I haven't really read up on the physics of it. I understand the laser used is way, way more powerful than what is used to change the dye in current write-once recordable discs.

  40. Nonono... Blackadder explained it all by Cryacin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Edmund: No, you see, the thing about Heaven, is that Heaven is for people who like the sort of things that go on in Heaven, like, uh, well, singing, talking to God, watering pot plants... Whereas Hell, on the other hand, is for people who like the other sorts of things: adultery, pillage, torture -- those areas.

    --
    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    1. Re:Nonono... Blackadder explained it all by TheThiefMaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Anyone who hasn't seen Blackadder, I recommend you find a way to do so.

    2. Re:Nonono... Blackadder explained it all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    3. Re:Nonono... Blackadder explained it all by Clockwork+Apple · · Score: 1

      Suppose the only two that a person likes on your lists are, watering the pot plants and adultry. What then?

      Or in the case of a lot of "christians" in the military command structure we hear about, singing and talking to God, pilaging and torture?

      How long are these lists, how many of them are there, who writes or edits them and where can I get a copy?

      C.

      --
      "Doctor, it's not the voices I hear in MY head, but the voices I hear in YOUR head that really frighten me."
    4. Re:Nonono... Blackadder explained it all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually there is an old twilight zone episode that explained it all. Can't remember the specific episode, but basically, some small time gangster gets gunned down, wakes up and think he's died and gone to heaven. Why? Because absolutely everything breaks his way. All the money, booze and dames he wants. Winning poker hands. It's about the time that he chalks up his cue,breaks the rack and watches all 15 balls sinks into various pockets that he starts to think he's might actually be in hell ... At least that's the way I remember it.

  41. $30... by stms · · Score: 0

    $30 Dollars for one 4.7 gig disk no thank you I'll stick with hard drive back up.

    1. Re:$30... by twosat · · Score: 1

      Ha, I paid about 30 New Zealand dollars for a 200 kilobyte 3.5 inch floppy disk in the in the mid eighties

    2. Re:$30... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      So the New Zealand dollar was at about $.03US at the time?

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    3. Re:$30... by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      $30 Dollars for one 4.7 gig disk

      If not dual layer, couldn't it at least be double-sided?

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    4. Re:$30... by twosat · · Score: 1

      No, it was at about $.50US at the time, but the price went down rapidly. A couple years later I got 400 kilobytes and then 800 kilobytes on a double sided disk. They were in Apple Macintosh format for the Computer Science department.

    5. Re:$30... by stms · · Score: 0

      Seriously I scored 0, John Hasler's comment got +2 and it was completely off topic, wrong and, irrelevant. Fuck slashdot.

  42. Guaranteed! by Arancaytar · · Score: 1

    ... or your money back! :)

  43. Yabba dabba do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone call the flintstones were going back to the stone age.

  44. what about format redundancy ? by nerdyalien · · Score: 0

    Personally I find this ridiculous.

    I once saw a news story on CBS covered by David Pogue on dying 'content storage formats'. It is surprising how fast even certain popular file formats extinct from the face of earth because of a new competing format. And it doesn't take centuries, one good decade is more than enough.

    Yes, you can have the 1000 y.o. DVD... but you better append the software to read your specific data + an OS which runs that software. Not to forget, find an emulator which can mimic the hardware environment for a 1000 y.o. OS.

    1. Re:what about format redundancy ? by Pinky's+Brain · · Score: 1

      Raw bitmap images and 8 bit plain text will be easy enough to decode unless society collapses.

      IMO any post WW2 level civilization could probably reverse engineer a simple file-system and read that kind of data from this disc if you changed the redundancy into plain repetition (constructing a machine to read DVD sized pits on a spiral track isn't that hard, if you don't mind doing it slowly).

  45. 1000 years by Kebis · · Score: 1

    The discs might last for 1000 years, but it's a good bet in 3009 the MPAA still will not have let the contents of those discs slip into public domain by then!

  46. Re:Finally, a convenient alternative to pyramids.. by PitaBred · · Score: 1

    Shut it Metheuselah. Stop bragging.

  47. And that would make an appropriate product slogan by ericvids · · Score: 1

    "Don't let it burn, don't let it fade"

    --
    Pet peeve: Profane people propagating perfunctory pedantry.
  48. the disk is meaningless by celle · · Score: 0, Redundant

    without the player... I haven't had a dvd-rw player laser head last more than a couple of years with minimal use. Exactly how do they expect dvd discs to last if no reader will be available to read them.

  49. I'm sure they did some excellent product testing! by jonaskoelker · · Score: 1

    You know, when CDs and DVDs came out, they claimed they would last 50 years.

    Obviously they did extensive 50-year tests of each of their competing best designs. Then went a couple of design iterations, testing each of them, such that they had some evidence to back up that claim.

    Which leads you to the startling conclusion that the Stone DVDs were first sketched out on mount Sinai, then the design was tested throughout generations.

    Seriously, they'll last a 1000 years? How do they know? What model predicts this? What's the evidence for the validity of that model?

  50. On decryption: CDs aren't all text by jonaskoelker · · Score: 1

    19th century cryptanalytical [wikipedia.org] techniques could determine the correspondence of the mysterious 8-pit repeating units to letters. (After all, what is ASCII except a simple substitution cipher?)

    Nit pick: the "Wheel of Fortune" cryptanalysis---guess a you have a couple of extremely-high-probability letters figured out correctly, make qualified guesses at the rest with grep and /usr/share/dict/words---work based on the assumption that you know the distribution of the plaintext (i.e. that it's a natural language and you know which one).

    I don't know how well they work on .iso file systems if you don't know they're iso file systems. They might work pretty poorly. And even if the CD contains mostly text, there's a lot of file system metadata that messes with your character frequencies. Good luck "decrypting" that Starcraft CD. Or that music CD.

  51. Pax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hah! Give it to my three-year-old girl. I wouldn't give it fifteen minutes before it's been destroyed.

  52. Re:Finally, a convenient alternative to pyramids.. by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

    They're just round clay tablets. 3,000 year old tech, but obviously very durable,

  53. Re:1,000 years? How about a 10,000 year clock by twosat · · Score: 1

    Some people are working on a mechanical binary clock to last 10,000 years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now

  54. the media lasts 1000 years... What about the drive by Colin+Smith · · Score: 1

    I still have boxes of floppy discs somewhere, but nothing to read them on.

    Hell. In 1000 years, the languages will be unrecognisable even assuming there is still civilisation. There are stone tablets out there in museums which nobody can understand because the language and alphabet are unknown.

    Adding microscopic bits and digital enncoding simply guarantees it's going to be undecipherable.

    Think about your archival needs:
    1 year: online
    5 years: digital optical media
    10+ year: paper
    100+ years: you really think you are that important?

    --
    Deleted
  55. Serious reply by MoeDumb · · Score: 1

    "if I find I'm wrong (I'm currently an atheist), I'll gladly change my ways (God says you only need to repent before death to be accepted in to the kingdom of Heaven)." What if, when that time comes, you are so hardened in your unbelief and sin that you couldn't care less about repentance and things spiritual? Or you have dementia and can no longer make decisions. Or you had every intention to repent that night when you got home but didn't plan on the bus which hit you or that stray bullet to the head? What's more you are mistaken if you believe that repenting from your sin and unbelief is up to you. It is not. According to the Bible, it is God who grants repentance to whom He chooses. Consider: ". . . gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim 2:25). "When they heard this they had no further objections and praised God, saying, 'So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life'"(Acts 10:18). "'Stop grumbling among yourselves,' Jesus answered. 'No one can come to me unless the Father Who sent me draws him" (John 6:44). Friend, if you ever sense the tug in your heart to repent from your sins and receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, do it! You may never get that tug again. Do not presume upon the mercy of God.

    --
    Mod Me Up. You'll make a grown man cry.
    1. Re:Serious reply by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Do not presume upon the mercy of God.
      I certainly wouldn't (if he existed) - by all accounts he's clearly a psycopath.

    2. Re:Serious reply by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      Or you had every intention to repent that night when you got home but didn't plan on the bus which hit you or that stray bullet to the head?

      Wow, now that's REALLY procrastination. "Oh my....I've been wrong ALL these years. There actually IS a God. Well, I need to fix this. I need to make things right by him........buuuuut....I'm a little busy right now. Maybe my secretary can work in an appointment with Him....maybe 6:30 ish?"

      In response to everything else you said, even if I realize it before I die but for some reason God turns me away, then the second of my 2 scenarios still applies.

    3. Re:Serious reply by Lostlander · · Score: 1

      Yes because the bible was in no way edited and redacted edited again and translated.
      http://www.awitness.org/nt/ntvary.html
      mmmk?


      It boils down to this you can't say man kind has free will and turn around and say God guided the editing of the scriptures. Man wrote the book and even if I do believe in a God I do not believe in the bible, man wrote the book and the book is fictitious and flawed as with the ideals of it's writers.

  56. Finally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A media that will last between Debian releases!

  57. Synthetic Stone DVD by mjwx · · Score: 1

    I'm going to wait until the Synthetic Stone Chisel comes down in price.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  58. most likely by LKM · · Score: 1

    Based on what definitions of "most" and "likely"?

  59. Interesting pricing scheme by Nyh · · Score: 1, Informative

    A single DiamonDisc costs $34.95, two or more individual discs go for $29.95, and a five-pack is $149.75.

    Of course, the company is also happy to sell you its burner, but that will set you back $4,995. But, for $5,000 you get 150 DiamonDiscs to burn away until to heart's content.
    So one is $34.95, two or more is $29.95 per disc and a five pack bargain is $29.95 per disc.

    But if you buy a $4995 burner you can get 150 disc for $5000, that is $33.33 per disc and you have to burn them yourself.

    Nyh!

    1. Re:Interesting pricing scheme by PhilHibbs · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I read that as being $5000 for the burner and the discs.

  60. Re:Finally, a convenient alternative to pyramids.. by Matrix14 · · Score: 1

    Papyrus lasts thousands of years in the right conditions, and it has a slightly higher data density than carved stone.

  61. Re:If you're actually interested in buying these.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    How is this modded "insightful" when the provided link doesn't even work?

  62. Re:Being atheist is old...find a new hobby by arethuza · · Score: 1

    Please tell me this is a TROLL.

  63. Re:the media lasts 1000 years... What about the dr by arethuza · · Score: 1

    "In 1000 years, the languages will be unrecognisable" - based on what? Historians don't have many problems reading texts from a 1000 years ago, or 2000 for that matter.

  64. Re:the media lasts 1000 years... What about the dr by arethuza · · Score: 1

    OK assuming that we actually have the texts, vellum and clay tablets not being the most popular media these days.

  65. Re:If you're actually interested in buying these.. by PhilHibbs · · Score: 1

    I just stumbled across this on the Long Now web site.
    http://blog.longnow.org/2009/10/22/millenniata-now-shipping/

  66. Re:If you're actually interested in buying these.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Everyone except you quietly fixed the link for themselves without moaning about it.

  67. After 5000 years... by someone1234 · · Score: 1

    We go back to stone tablets. Wow.

    --
    Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
    1. Re:After 5000 years... by petrus4 · · Score: 1

      We go back to stone tablets. Wow.

      Yes. It is a truism, that modernity only very rarely, (if at all) produces truly superior technologies.

      A similar realisation was made with XML not long ago, too.

      I can hope that within my lifetime, the same truth will be rediscovered in mainstream terms, where the command line is concerned, as well.

      I may be accused of suffering from an inverse form of the chronological snobbery fallacy. (the appeal to antiquity)

      However, the reality is that, when used as a criteria for determining the quality of something, the appeal to antiquity far more commonly holds true than its' reversal. In most cases, there genuinely is no school like the old school.

  68. Unfortunately, it will go nowhere by petrus4 · · Score: 1

    As the x86 architecture has already eloquently proven to us, (and Windows to a degree as well, given that the customer perception was that Windows was free, due to the CPU tax) competitive fitness in the marketplace is determined purely by price.

    Technological/engineering quality does not enter into the equation at all; if it did, we'd all be using MIPS or ARM processors, and the x86 would be dead.

    From the market point of view, it doesn't matter in the slightest that these disks might be more reliable, or last much longer than conventional DVDs. The cheapest solution always wins, and usually, the cheapest solution is also the worst technological solution, not the best.

    I would love to own one of these burners, and also several of these DVDs, because I'm one of the few very rare individuals who values technical excellence more than superficiality. However, the economic problem is still a very practical one for me, sadly; I'm on a pension.

    Hence, I might really want stone DVDs, but if I can only afford conventional ones, conventional are what I will buy.

    1. Re:Unfortunately, it will go nowhere by cdrguru · · Score: 1

      One user for this will almost certainly be the National Archives. Various state level archives will also probably be interested.

      Unfortunately, that is about as far as it is likely to go because it is expensive and inconvenient. When the media is no longer being made, that is pretty much the end of this except for the discs that get produced between now and then.

      This is the sort of thing that would require lots and lots of users - more than 51. I don't even think they will get all 51 in the US. And I don't see other countries paying to have this technology from an American company when they are so dependent on significant adoption.

      Yes, come back in five years and this will not exist any longer.

  69. Only one thing to say... by Cytlid · · Score: 1

    Yabba dabba dooo!

    --
    FLR
  70. Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I find it interesting that my personal beliefs about the Jewish messianic era are very similar: i.e., I don't believe in a human messiah arriving (unlike Jewish fundamentalists), but rather view it as an allegory for humanity reaching a higher spiritual level.

    Of course, in order to accept that, you have to get past the mindless shouting of those who are threatened by differing opinions about irresolvable issues.

    Right on, dude! May it be His will.

  71. sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but they still wont be able to open the docx

  72. I have a feeling this entire concept... by trum4n · · Score: 1

    ...is gonna drop like a rock.

  73. Porn ... by tgd · · Score: 1

    That's fantastic, now we can export 80's bush to the 31st century!

  74. Re:Finally, a convenient alternative to pyramids.. by sanjosanjo · · Score: 1

    Hopefully the receipt and warranty card will last 1000 years.

  75. Re:Being atheist is old...find a new hobby by zeropointburn · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It is nothing of the sort. It is a reasonable question, founded on perceptions common to many outside of the Christian faith. One answer is that since heaven is a place of eternal happiness, no discontent is possible. The only way for that to be possible is either to revoke free will or to remake people to be incapable of negative emotions and actions (which amounts to the same thing).

    --
    -1 raving lunatic; +6 subGenius... Things even out...
  76. Re:Finally, a convenient alternative to pyramids.. by natehoy · · Score: 1

    Good point. They really only need to make the media last one day longer than whatever we end up using for original sales receipts.

    --
    "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
  77. Re: in training by sbjornda · · Score: 1

    Hmm, girlintraining is a guy?

    Obviously, because if this person was female they wouldn't be training to be a girl.

    Knowning how to behave as a girl or a boy is learned. Usually most of it is learned by the age of 6 years, but let's face it, unless you're stagnating, you should be learning new things about what it means to be whatever you are all the time, as you pass through the stages of life.

    --
    .nosig

  78. Re:Being atheist is old...find a new hobby by arethuza · · Score: 1

    Actually, I was really COMMENTING on what LOOKS like rather ODD capitalization.

  79. FlinStones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After thowsands of years of various forms of barbarism welcome back to the stone age civilisation.

  80. The Important Question Is... by BiggoronSword · · Score: 1

    Will it blend?

    --
    interactive hologram, or it didn't happen.
  81. Re:the media lasts 1000 years... What about the dr by asaz989 · · Score: 1

    Your content or mine might not be that important, but I can guarantee that there are some museums and academic libraries out there that want to archive their materials digitally over long periods.

  82. Cant wait... by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

    Can't wait till these are the same price as regular dvds,
      but until then I am sure that 5$ per dvd, is not really what I plan to pay...!!!

  83. Re:8-inch floppies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those are real?!?

    I have a box that I thought came from a novelty store, like the fabled "TRS-80." Really, like Radio-shack would ever brand a computer!

  84. I have 1000 year DVD+R's for regular burners! by misnohmer · · Score: 1

    I will sell you 1000 year guaranteed DVD+R's for only $3 each per AND you can burn them on your regular burner! The warranty is 1000 years and comes with a full refund guarantee of the cost of the DVD ($3) for each one which fails.

    Want to know my secret business model? I buy regular DVD's for $0.20, sell them for $3. Any DVD which fails I return the cost so my profit is only interest on the $3 for however many years (say average 5years, $0.60 profit which covers my cost 3X). I also make the entire $3 for any DVD's destroyed (shredded confidential data, etc), lost, etc.

    Longevity claims by the manufacturer or seller are irrelevant, unless backed by some $ numbers. I bet Synthetic Stone's EULA states the warranty liability is the cost of the disk at most. Now, if there was insurance I could buy on this, the cost of this insurance would tell me the real reliability. If they are confident it's a 1 in a million chance for the disk to fail in 100 years, they should be able to sell me 100 year insurance for $1 which will pay $500,000 if that happens AND this would still net them $0.50 per disk profit (1M disks sold, $1M revenue, 1 $500K payout, $500K profit on 1M disks). If the odds differ for expected failure of 1, 10, 100, 1000 years, they should price the "insurance policies" accordingly. Then I'd believe it (and no, the "insurance company" cannot be a separate LLC which goes bankrupt every time there is a payout, it must tie to the original company or better yet be backed by a major insurance company).

  85. 1,000 years? ORLY? by Rogerborg · · Score: 1

    I'll sell you one that looks exactly the same - heck, it may even have their name on it - but my discs? They'll last for, oh, let's say 5,000 years. Did I say 5,000? I meant 10,000. And they only cost 20% more! Checks made out to "CASH", please.

    --
    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  86. In 31st century there will be no DVD-ROM drives... by galanom · · Score: 1

    my 2

  87. generations of stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Awesome... now in 1000 years people will be able to watch that burned copy of dirty sanchez. yay. thank-you guys!

  88. A Canticle for Leibowitz by tylernt · · Score: 1

    Meh. I read it and while the first third was interesting, the middle third was dull and the last third just kind of went off on some unrelated rant about euthanasia.

    Not that great.

    --
    DRM 'manages access' in the same way that a prison 'manages freedom'
  89. It's about time somebody did this... by Wolfrider · · Score: 1

    --Despite the jokes, seriously - I've long been thinking this would be the best way to archive stuff that you NEVER want to lose. Think " Dead Sea Scrolls " type longevity.

    --Stone Just Doesn't Wear if properly cared for - and should still be mostly readable if -not- cared for. These discs will likely last for generations, even if you put them at the bottom of the ocean in a Baggie.

    --
    .
    == WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
  90. Do they meet the specs? by StreamingEagle · · Score: 1

    Having spent the first 10 years of my career running glass mastering operations for 2 of the top companies in the business... I thought I should point a few things out. The same accelerated environmental testing that this company cites shows that a well manufactured (pre-recorded) CD or DVD will also last well in excess of 1000 years, assuming it is handled properly and not subjected to extreme environmental conditions. Recordable discs have a dye layer that is more susceptible to degradation, but a well manufactured CD-R or DVD-R will probably outlast the useful life of the data. "DiamonDisc the burner etches much deeper pits" - seems to show a lack of understanding of how CDs and DVDs work. To optimize the signal the pit should be an optimal width and depth. Deeper is not better. No reflective layer? How do you read the disc? I'll bet it's hard to meet the reflectivity spec without a reflective layer. I wonder what the HF signals look like... the error rates, the jitter. Have these discs been measured by an independent expert? If they aren't in spec to begin with, I don't care that they last 1000 years. To make CDs and DVDs economically, they need to be injection molded out of polycarbonate. In any case, the disc must have a clear layer that is 0.6 mm thick, allowing the drive to properly focus on the information layer. The "DiamonDisc" DVDs are almost certainly molded out of polycarbonate. If the polycarbonate breaks down in a standard DVD, it will break down in this DVD. If you want long lasting DVD-Rs, there are companies making them that have been in business for decades. Get DVDs made with a pure gold reflective layer... they'll last longer than we will.

  91. Gregorian Monks used Stone Temple Cassettes by ClioCJS · · Score: 1

    "I bet if Gregorian Monks had audio recording technology, it would be called Stone Temple Cassettes".

    --
    -Clio
    Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
    Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com