Chuck CD's / DVD's with Private Info Safely

I've been looking for a way to dispose of my old CD's and DVD's. Over the years the discs have accumulated. I have data back-ups and Linux installers mostly. I no longer need most of these discs. I've updated my data back-ups with the latest versions of files or discarded some which I no longer needed. The linux CD's and DVD's are also outdated. Linux development moves fast and these installers have already been superseded many times over since they were burned. I even have Warty Warthog  and Mandrakelinux 10.1 in one of those CD wallets somewhere.

Anyway, one of my first ideas was to look for some recycling center that could take my optical media. I was even willing to pay for shipping. It's been three years since I started asking around and I still haven't found one. If you know of one located in the Philippines, please leave a comment. One thing you need to worry about though if your sending your discs to the recycling bin is privacy. If you have any sort of private information in your data back-ups, you should render the discs unreadable before chucking them to the recycle bin. You can do that by scratching the discs enough that the reflective coating on the read side can't be read by any drives. But remember to keep away from any filings, because the materials used in coating CD's and DVD's can be hazardous. There are tools like the DVD/CD Destroyer that scratch the disc just deep enough to damage the outer film protecting the chemical coating (which has the data after you 'burn' a disc).

You can also go break, hammer or cut the discs to make it physically impossible to read the discs. That tends to be messy and you might injure yourself doing it. You might as well just shred the discs with one of those multi-purpose shredders that can take paper, credit cards or discs. Both Shredder Shark and Fellowes' Powershred line have one of those small personal crosscutting shredders that can shred your discs and documents to confetti-like sizes. There are dedicated DVD/CD shredders too, though you'll get the most use from a multi-purpose shredder.

These are just a couple of ideas on how to ensure your personal information remains safe as you dispose of your media. There are many other ways to go about this. If you have your own media disposal ideas, post comments so we can discuss them.

The Past Weeks Have Blurred Past

It seems that I keep going on a recurring cycle every now and then. I post sporadically often for a few weeks then suddenly go quiet.

Well, there's a reason. As most day jobs go, there are times that you really have to really work hard to get the results you want. It's been a busy 2 weeks for me, not because of added work, but because of tensions in the office.

Recently, our operations manager decided to give us extra tasks. We're now doing more QC (quality check) work on the work output that our agents do. Mostly its boring work, pulling long hours reviewing stuff. It's worthwhile work, though. We see where our guys could use some help or areas we could help them improve.

Then there's the part where you have to deal with people. We (collectively, me and my supervisors) have had to deal with really difficult people in the past month. A lot of fear mongering and whining has been going on and we can't really give them all the information we have. Speaking for myself, I come across a lot of information that explains why things are happening. But I am duty-bound not to disclose that to people who do not need to know. I can only share what I am allowed to speak about. Ironically, some of the higher up's are surprised that I sometimes get information earlier than they do. I have a secret weapon in my arsenal, and it's called Google-Fu ;-) Hehehe.

Anyway, tonight I'm staying home. My schedule got changed to 11 am instead of the night shift. I got a call yesterday morning from one of my supervisors asking if I could adjust my schedule to cover for another sup who was supposed to be working today. She filed for vacation time and was going to be out for the whole weekend. I said yes without hesitation. Tonight, before leaving the office, I talked to our shift manager and he told me he was in the office when my super called. He mentioned my super was all praises for me because I was always ready to take one for the team. That was in direct comparison to one other person in the team who always weaseled out of any schedule changes that didn't happen to suit his personal preferences. Hehehe - score one for me, yaay!

Now enough about work. I have been able to update my blogs here and there. Minor stuff, but it's coming along. Adding the Paypal Donate button on each of my blogs was the most major one. I also plan to do some more reviews for my tech blog. I haven't done those in a while and from the looks of my hits, it appears most of my Google clicks are coming from the last few reviews I did. I need to do some more of that. I'm actually lining up a mini-reviews of Puppy Linux, TinyMe 2008 and DreamLinux. And since I have old hardware that would make for interesting tinkering, I'm going to do a Part II of of my Vector Linux mini-review but focusing on how it will perform on a barely running Pentium II -266 MHz machine.

Now, to find time to do that...

More on Green PC's

I've just posted an entry on my tech blog about the "green" PC's I've found online. I really am looking for a low-power alternative to my desktop and would like to replace it in the near future.

For more on my search for a "greener" PC, read this post from my other blog : More "Green" PC's

Top 5 Reasons Your Friends Say You're Addicted to the Web

5. You maintain multiple blogs - You have a blog for personal issues, one for technology, one for your favorite band, one for news commentary, one for your club, one for making money and one for ummm....'private' interests (like porn).

4. You've ditched AIM/ICQ, MSN and Y! Messenger for a multi-protocol IM/Chat solution - Maybe you use Trillian on Windows? Running Adium on your MacBook? Or do you stick to Meebo.com on your favorite browser? Maybe you like the exotic and customize stuff with Miranda IM? Aha! Pidgin!

3. You have an email address for each of your activities - You have an email address for emailing friends, one for all your blogs, one for mailing lists and forums (with a twin account for bashing people you fight with in the forums), one for ad revenues and affiliate programs and one for other ummm... 'private' activities (porn). You will typically have one from each of the big players (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL/AIM/Netscape), a couple or more from niche providers (Hushmail, Fastmail, Bluebottle, Hotpop, Mail.com) and one for work (lest we forget!).

2. You have multiple browsers - You have Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Netscape, Maxthon and Browzar (for 'private' browsing of ummm... porn) on your MS-Windows systems. You also have Firefox, Opera, Epiphany, Galeon, Konqueror, Swiftfox, IceWeasel, SwiftWeasel, Kazehase and IEs4Linux on your Linux system. If you're a true- blue Linux geek, you'll go one step further and install Lynx, Dillo and may even browse sites using Emacs/W3. Then to maintain your social networking, Flickr, Del.icio.us and blog accounts you rely on Flock.

1. You have a blackbelt in Google-Fu - 'Nuff said.

Blogged About The decTOP

Posted and entry to my tech blog about the decTOP. It's a very small PC appliance. As I mentioned in several other entries, I am looking for a low-powered PC solution. This one takes the cake at 8 watts. It's amazing! This is where my search for a green PC may end. To read more on my entry go here or copy this link http://techthroes.blogspot.com/2007/10/dectop-formerly-amd-pic.html .

Getting Green on Computing

I've been following a lot of news about conserving energy lately. I
feel a tinge of guilt that the PC I'm using is contributing to
generating more greenhouse gases. It's not so efficient, is why.
That's why I've been looking at some sites that sell power-saving PCs.
Given that these PCs aren't that powerful, they are adequate for most
of the common things we do with PCs. I'm not really editing videos or
pics, so I guess a 1GHz machine is powerful enough.

The DSL (Damn Small Linux) Bargain machine is a good example of what I
would want. You can check it here:
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/store/Mini_ITX_Systems/Mini_ITX_BareBones_Computer.
It runs on less than 30 watts of power. A 14-inch TV probably sucks
more juice than this baby. It accomplishes such a low power draw by an
ingenious combination of parts. It has a low-power motherboard and a
fanless chip, flash storage (no moving parts, less energy needed), and
an operating system that's frugal on RAM. Its only $245, plus $75 for
the 1GB flash drive with DSL already installed. If only this thing
could be shipped to the Philippines! I'd love to get one for
Christmas!

Yawning at Microsofts Threats

In the face of FUD-inducing inveigled threats of Microsoft to sue, Ubuntu and Red Hat remain defiant. I expected nothing less from these Linux behemoths. I especially like the fact that Mark came out and published his take on the whole affair.

As Microsoft refuses to say what patents the Linux kernel is violating, it should have been obvious from the start that this is nothing more than saber-rattling on the part of M$. The beast is baring its teeth, gnashing as it goes, trying to scare all that care to look. They refuse to say what these patent infringements are because they know once they disclose them the whole Linux community will come together, modify Linux and make it impossible for them sue. If they're not willing to say what patents Linux is violating, then I say have Novell, Xandros and Linspire disclose the all the details of the deals they inked with Microsoft. Or better yet, induce Microsoft to start suing today! So the Open Invention Network (OIN) can start filing counter suits against M$. Using patents as canon fodder -- now that's an idea!

Linux Bible '07

Just found out Amazon is already accepting pre-orders of the 2007 edition of the Linux Bible. This would be a great geek gift, especially for someone like me :::hint, hint::: ;-)

Optimistic...

Here's to another nail in the coffin... Microsoft Could Learn a Thing or Two From Ubuntu. Well, sorta. If only more and more analysts and business people see it the way consumers do. Better yet, if only more consumers were better informed and they tell analysts and business people what they want. Ah! The fight goes on...