This quote from the article is definitely news to me!! If you can damage a CD by writing on the label side, why do the print rule lines on many brands to write on? Is this so sort of planned obsolescence? Should a CD maker know...not to not to encourage writing on the CD? Karl "Part of the problem is that most people believe that it's the clear underside of the CD that is fragile, when in fact it's the side with the label. Scratches on the underside have to be fairly deep to cause skipping, while scratches on the top can easily penetrate to the aluminum layer. Even the pressure of a pen on the label side can dent the aluminum, rendering the CD unreadable." -----Original Message----- From: SciArt-L Discussion List-for Natural Science Illustration- [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Frank Ippolito Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 8:13 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: archiving digital files An article currently on CNN brings up a scary potential for those of us who believed the manufacturers and have archived our creations onto disc... http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/05/06/disc.rot.ap/index.html -frank Frank Ippolito Principal Scientific Assistant Div. Vertebrate Paleontology American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th Street NY NY 10024 (212) 769-5812 www.productionpost.com [log in to unmask] http://research.amnh.org/users/esg/