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

And a nice bottle of Chianti?

Polar Bear Liver Pate anyone?

I could imagine being suddenly marooned in the north pole with a dead polar bear, onions and a bottle of chianti

Sounds like it could be made into a film.

Wine waiters recomend an LBV port to accompany dark chocolate almond tart, a 10-year-old tawny with creme brulee, and a 30-year-old tawny with apple pie.

Disk vs. Disc: If it uses magnetic technology, it's spelt with a K, if it uses optical technology it's spelt with a C.

What about vinyl technology?

PP

Probably with a K. I believe the spelling with a C originated with optical media so any disks before that would have the K spelling. (Except for discus).

Wouldn´t it be because one is short for diskette and the other is short for compact disc?

It's short for discus, but the spelling has always been interchangeable. The OED's earliest reference is in Alexander Pope's translation of the Iliad (1715-20), and in this it is spelled 'disk'.

Diskette is diminutive of disk. And as I said, disc originated with optical media like the compact disc.

No, that's not true. Disc was recorded from 1727 for discus, and disc has been used for phonograph records since 1888.

Thanks... OK... as far as digital media however, Disk for magnetic, Disc for optical.

I´m just not sure I can remember seeing disk used as anything other than short for diskette.

A "diskette" usually referred to removable floppy disks, as apposed to the hard disk inside the computer.

Ahh, hard disk. I feel embarassed now.

Surely disc is simply a geometrical term for anything round and flat.

Useful Fact: Nobody really cares which spelling you use; they're essentially interchangeable in modern english.

Yes... hence useless.