CompuServe Messages

Fred, <excuse me for jumping into a different section> Paper labels are ok — we use them all the time, and can even sell you blanks for printing in a laser printer if you like. They are light weight enough, and the disc is spinning fast enough, that they doesn't cause problems. The adhesive may take a year or two off the expected 50-year life span, but nothing significant, I think. Put the label on the top (metalized) surface, not the clear substrate, or the player can't read the disc. Just don't try to remove a label once it's stuck. You could damage the metalized layer, which would ruin the disc. CD-R discs are, or should be, standard, and should work in any CD-R machines. We've had some poor results with some brands, and perfer to use only Taiyo Yuden/DIC Digital discs, which we do resell as well. The reason for not leaving a CD-R in the sunlight is that the dye that composes the data layer is photosensitive, and potentially some of the broad-band spectrum in sunlight might damage it. CD-R discs are made of polycarbonate (the clear plastic), the dye (an organic compound), gold, and lacquer on top of the gold to keep it from rubbing off. Actually, the lacquer might be the most vulnerable part of the disc — either from heat or abrasion. This is why Philips recommends using only a felt-tip pen to mark on it — to avoid scratching the lacquer and the metal. Since a CD player (rom or audio) needs to reflect its reading laser off the metal, the metal must stay shiny and uninterrupted. With mass replicated ("silver") discs, this is even more critical than with the gold CD-Rs, since the metal is usually aluminum, which oxydizes readily if exposed to air. Gold doesn't tarnish, but it can be scratched since it is very soft and the layer on a CD-R is extremely thin. I hope this answers your questions. If not, or if you have more, please let me know. Kathy Cochrane [Section 6 sysop]