Digital Packratting

Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters:

"'The scientists working on the Digital Preservation Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released an excellent 50 page guide on care and handling of CDs and DVDs for long term storage. It talks about the effects of light, moisture, radiation, scratches, marking, adhesive labels, and even playback on the discs. For those slashdotters who is not familiar with the physical made up of these optical discs, there is a very nice chapter explaining all the background. And if you only want to know how to care for your precious data, there is a one page summary. And yes, they agreed that glued-on labels are harmful.'"

granted, the information is good to know. but most likely, the most of us won't need that data years down the road. and i'm sure those that do need the data, will have figured out a better way of storage than on cd's. considering that cd's only last for about 20 to 50 years anyway.


lego sculptures

Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters:

"'Nathan Sawaya built a life size replica of Han Solo frozen in carbonite. It is composed of approximately 10,000 bricks and was built in approximately three months. Some sample photos are here and here. Sawaya's work also includes a mosaic of a stormtrooper and a small scale replica of the Death Star II.'"

these look really good. not only does it take skill, but it also takes imagination, considering he's working w/ material that is familiar to practically every geek out there, he does a very good job. psh, artists. they got nothin.