h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Fact: floppy disks are not floppy. Not even the old 5 1/4" ones, that looked like they might be floppy, but weren't.

I agree cds are not compact either.

Ahhhhh. Neither are the things you are referring to "Discs", seeing as how they are usually square.

The bits that actually store the data ARE in fact floppy, and indeed disc-shaped. Try taking one apart, if your life isn't tedious enough already.

Addendum : The original 8" Floppy was floppy. The later 5.25" Floppy was quite floppy. In comparisonm, 3.5" Floppy is not very floppy at all, and so it is colloquially known as a stiffy.

I'm sure that if you put them all in a microwave for a couple of sec they'll trully be floppy? Maybe that's what they meant by floppy disks.

Stick a CD in a microwave?
Luvly Lightning effects!

Apparently doing the opposite, ie: putting CDs in the freezer, makes them sound better. Never tried it myself, as I usually put my CDs in a CD player rather than a freezer ...

Some CDs definitely sound better if put in a freezer - as long as you don't take them out again.

Like Oasis ones.

Hehe...
I remember something about that if you painted the border of the cd's green, it would also sound better. No idea why, though.

something about red light used in C.D. players reflecting of the C.D.s and monkeying about with the C.D. player, the Green felt tip stops this... or somthing. (source, classic F.M.)

Am I just a cynic, or does anyone else find themselves wondering if the idea came from the marketing department of the Green Felt Tip Marker company?

8" floppies really were floppy - at least compared to the others.

It's a well known fact that rubbing Oasis CD's in gravel makes them jump a fair bit. What is less well know is that this phenomenon can produce some interesting "dance remixes" which often sound better than the original song.

CDs may not be compact. But are Mini Disks trully mini?

Have you tried?

Talking of CDs, has anyone got any good suggestions as to what I could do with the thousands of AOL Introductory Offer CDs I keep getting sent? They deliver them to me by mail, in magazines, in games, with new computers...

I've taken to hiding them in a work colleague's desk, but he keeps finding them. Please help.



Azimuth

Personally, I use all unwanted computer CDs, whatever their origin, as high-tech drinks mats. (The mats are high-tech not the drinks, before you ask / comment. I don't know what a high-tech drink is!) At the moment I have one on my desk at home labelled 'Microsoft Internet Explorer 4'. It was given to me at a seminar a few years ago, and it's one of the last things I would want on my computer. Over the years it has become pretty much unusable as far as its contents go.

"Over the years"?
Does this mean that it at any point in time its contents was usable?

Depends on your understanding of 'useable'. When I was first given the CD, it was possible to download its contents onto a PC and use the resulting software as an Internet browser; the contents were, in that sense, useable. However, as I said, this is one of the last things I would want to do. So I suppose that, from my point of view, the contents have never been useable. If they had been, the CD wouldn't be a high-tech drinks mat.

This discussion is pointless, people. For any given use, the 3.5 is dead. The Zip disk killed it. Eventually everyone is just going to have to fess up and admit that the 3.5 thing is over. Like disco. Remember disco? Of course you don't. Nobody likes it. Anyway, if you think this is a problem, then you should meet some of the dweebs that live in my town who willfully use the old 5in. floppies just to try being unique, hoping that it will make them interesting. It doesn't. Take my advice for dealing with technology: just lie down and succumb to the sleep of the ages; it's not worth it.