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11/1/04

Bin Laden Tape Fake [2]

11/1/04

NEWS: Geeks Spend $100 Million On Nothing [4]

11/1/04

NEWS: Bushonomics 101 [3]

11/1/04

Gobal Vote 2004 RESULTS

11/1/04

Powell Says Insurgents Winning

11/1/04

Your Voter Rights (with Phone Numbers)

11/1/04

NEWS: Amnesty Releases "Made In America" Torture Report

11/1/04

NEWS: Bush and Iraq [2]

11/1/04

Johns Hopkins University: 100,000 Iraqis Killed? [2]

11/1/04

Election Night Parties [2]

11/1/04

11/1/04

"One day left"... a letter by...

11/1/04

Judsge bars challengers from Ohio polling places

11/1/04

Go Ohio Board of Elections

11/1/04

NEWS: Powell Carries Water for Beijing

11/1/04

NEWS: Joey Ramone was a Republican [5]

11/1/04

One Day To Go - Who's Going To Win? [2]

11/1/04

only 33 more days!!

11/1/04

NEWS: Scientists Cast Doubt on Hypoallergenic Cat

11/1/04

NEWS: The Missing Explosives

11/1/04

The French hate Bush, LOVE the Arafat [4]

11/1/04

NEWS: Unscratchable DVDs, Thank Fuck For That [2]

11/1/04

NEWS: Jews Harassed at Auschwitz [6]

11/1/04

NEWS: Homeland Intelligence Chief: "We Have to Abridge Individual Rights" [2]

11/1/04

The Economist Endorses Kerry

11/1/04

electoral-vote.com places kerry in the lead [2]

11/1/04

Bush needs a new theme song [2]

Baka_Amerikanjin

10/31/04

Australia Manditory Voting

10/31/04

NEWS: Civilian Casualties in Iraq Woefully Underestimated [2]

10/31/04

BUSH: Greatest recruiting sargeant for al-Qaida

10/31/04

10/31/04

Another "Opinionated" Woman For Kerry

10/31/04

"Bush takes 6 point lead after new bin Laden tape"

10/31/04

In Need of Research Help

10/31/04

The unwired & the unpolled

10/31/04

Show Your Support for Kerry With User Icons [4]

10/31/04

Orange Alert! How Halloweeny!

10/31/04

Bush Is Going to Be Reelected. [2]

10/31/04

Could I sell my vote??? [2]

10/31/04

Bush's First Acceptance Speach

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NEWS: Unscratchable DVDs, Thank Fuck For That

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almostfamous

NEWSWIRE

United Kingdom

OCT 31, 2004 01:39 AM

GEEK: Unscratchable DVDs, Thank Fuck For That

TDK has developed a super tough coating to be used on DVDs and LCD screens which they claim thus far only one person has been able to scratch.

In one of the most convincing technology demonstrations this reporter has witnessed, I was handed a CD, a wire-wool pan scourer and some permanent marker pens, and invited to scratch or mark the discs. Hard as I tried, I could not make a single mark on the disc with the scourer. And the ink simply wiped off.

The only person to have succeeded in damaging the disc had undertaken a determined attack with a Swiss army knife

[...]

Two separate layers of fine silica particles prevent scratches, and fluorine-containing resins in each layer repel ink marks. To deposit the first layer of the new coating, a mix of silica microparticles 50 micrometres across and a solution of a fluorine-containing resin are spread on by spin-coating the surface at 8000 rpm.

After they have dried a second layer, made from a mix of another fluorine-containing resin and a curing agent called acetophenone, is spread on top and cured by shining ultraviolet light onto it. Quite how the two layers work together has not been revealed, as TDK is reluctant to reveal any more detail than its newly filed patents contain.

The coating may also be the saving grace of Blu-Ray DVD. The blue laser used in the upcoming next generation of DVDs has a much smaller wavelength, meaning the discs would be much more sensitive to scratches than existing red laser DVD technology. They were going to have to be packaged in caddies like minidiscs, which is something that has never been popular with consumers.

Now, thanks to TDK, the caddies don't need to see the light of day, and you might actually be able to rent a DVD from Blockbuster again and be able to watch it all the way through.

funktion

I'm lost

June 2003

OCT 31, 2004 01:42 AM

now this sounds cool!! im sure netflix is going to be a big supporter! I just hope they did some real world tests. LIke the coffee table in a stoners house or picking up from a sidewalk..

alpo

Portland, OR

OLD SKOOL

OCT 31, 2004 01:52 AM

almostfamous said:
TDK has developed a super tough coating to be used on DVDs and LCD screens which they claim thus far only one person has been able to scratch.

I know this is explained in the quote from the story, but as soon as I read this sentence I thought, "Whoa! Who scratched them, some kind of super-sharp-fingernailed Wolverine-type dude?"

Rodent

Moose Jaw, SK

August 2004

OCT 31, 2004 01:57 AM

Wow... it's about time.

black_tar_heroin

I'm lost

January 2003

OCT 31, 2004 01:58 AM

snicka--dee

snick

swashbucklAARRR

I'm lost

January 2004

OCT 31, 2004 01:58 AM

ive been ranting bout this for freakin ever, "they can send someone to mars but cant make my cds not skip"...sweet

Fstick13

Colorado Springs, CO

April 2003

OCT 31, 2004 01:27 AM

'people' haven't been to Mars yet...does that mean my cd's don't exist?

knockdown

Italy

September 2003

OCT 31, 2004 02:06 AM

this is absolutely outstanding news. I hope it will work for cds too...

dubdlx

I'm lost

March 2004

OCT 31, 2004 02:48 AM

it was about time...

thelost

United Kingdom

June 2004

OCT 31, 2004 03:05 AM

this is indeed great news, to think we might have had to go back to using caddies. the last time i used a caddie was a very old performa running mac os 7.

to say that blu-ray is the upcoming next gen of DVD technology might be a bit premature because there are other formats in contention like HD-DVD but Gizmodo for instance has already trumpetted that blu-ray has won the race. I for one would happy if blu-ray became the new standard for writable media because the gizmodo article points out that a dual layer blu-ray disc has 50gig storage versus a dual layer HD-DVD's 30gig. It also says that Sony have suggested it's possible to layer beyond dual layers which could mean an eight layer 200gig blu-ray disc, although that sounds like fantasy to me. a good one though

The gizmodo article is very much worth reading as it makes some excellent points about financial incentives for companies and such like, however being a long term reader of gizmodo i've noticed Joel the guy who writes the tech orientated blog is a bit of a blu-ray fanboy. so pinch of salt time.

illstabyou

Brooklyn, NY

March 2004

OCT 31, 2004 03:42 AM

FunkTion said:
... or picking up from a sidewalk..

I was just about to suggest that same test.

ZPO

Roy, WA

July 2004

OCT 31, 2004 04:07 AM

Just wait... The next announcement will be that a major record label has purchased an exclusive license to the process. Then it will get shelved and never used.

Why? Because if CDs are harder to damage we won't have to buy new ones so often. The record companies like it the way it is.

sadboi

Charlotte, NC

October 2004

OCT 31, 2004 05:04 AM

im sure if you gave me one of those CDs, it would be shredded into a thousand pecies in two seconds. if someone tells me something is indestructable, unscratchable, or anything like that, i just have to destroy it.

HAL9000

Milwaukee, WI

November 2003

OCT 31, 2004 05:42 AM

If they are protecting the disks with layers of fine silica particles I wonder if they will still be as felxible as the regular plastic CDs, or if they will show crazing when flexed.

EvanX

Grand Rapids, MI

June 2003

OCT 31, 2004 05:44 AM

That's cool....but if you are like me it won't really matter. I take good care of my DVDs and CDs.

D0BERMANN

Quebec, QC

May 2004

OCT 31, 2004 05:46 AM

The only person to have succeeded in damaging the disc had undertaken a determined attack with a Swiss army knife

Woah...thats one hella tough swiss army knife...anyone know what model that was?
I nearly cut my thumb off with one of them shitty knifes.

Kris7

Bridgewater, MA

July 2003

OCT 31, 2004 05:47 AM

EnfantTerrible said:
great, now I have to buy all new CD's

No you won't. This guy I knew at school said these new blue-ray players will also be able to play red-ray discs.

Graven

Reading, MN

March 2003

OCT 31, 2004 06:30 AM

Ah, but price.

My CDs are horribly shitty. I didn't take care of them at all. How much will it cost to replace my collection? Because you know this new tech won't come cheap.

STURANIUM_235

San Francisco, CA

April 2004

OCT 31, 2004 06:42 AM

ipod asshole here

Anton

Australia

September 2003

OCT 31, 2004 07:55 AM

crossdissolve said:
ipod asshole here

DVDs are generally used to play movies, but ok...

I'm glad to hear of the possibility of renting a DVD without it skipping at the end of the film - it's always the fucking end.

Pom_felo

San Antonio, TX

February 2004

OCT 31, 2004 08:20 AM

ZPO said:
Just wait... The next announcement will be that a major record label has purchased an exclusive license to the process. Then it will get shelved and never used.

Why? Because if CDs are harder to damage we won't have to buy new ones so often. The record companies like it the way it is.

Now, don't be so cynical. That won't happen.

The price of CDs will increase 200% instead.

Stiles

Oakland, CA

November 2002

OCT 31, 2004 09:10 AM

ZPO said:
Just wait... The next announcement will be that a major record label has purchased an exclusive license to the process. Then it will get shelved and never used.

Why? Because if CDs are harder to damage we won't have to buy new ones so often. The record companies like it the way it is.

I'll bet you believe in the 200-mpg carburator, too...

Lain

Astoria, NY

April 2004

OCT 31, 2004 09:25 AM

Ok... yes....

But what happens when I drag it across a concrete sidewalk?

I WANT MY MONEY BACK!

punkadixon

Dekalb, IL

July 2004

OCT 31, 2004 09:33 AM

Forget tough coating! They are going to start coating cell phones with spinach to make them solar powered!

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996434

Scopitone

Irvine, CA

OLD SKOOL

OCT 31, 2004 09:59 AM

This is great but it won't effect me much. I handle my DVDs like exposed brains.

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