What I Am Thankful for This Thanksgiving

by Carl Glassford

While having my morning coffee, I took some time to reflect on being grateful today. I believe that I have so many reasons to give thanks, not just today, but because of today I was able to slow my racing thoughts down and take a moment to reflect.

Here are some of the things and people I am thankful for today. May I remember to be grateful for these reasons and so many more, more often.

First off, I am thankful that I have two healthy young sons who are intelligent, witty, and educated. They are awesome young men out to make a difference in people's lives in a positive way.

I am thankful that they have not yet suffered the loss of either parent, even though their parents are no longer together.

I am thankful for the fact that ...

I had a daughter for 12 short years, as opposed to never knowing the joy of what it was like being "daddy" to daddy's little girl.

my father and I were able to make amends and be friends for a few years before he passed in 2001.

my father is no longer suffering from the cancer that was eating him alive.

my mother is still alive, healthy, and still making a positive impact on her 6 children's lives.

all of my brothers and my only sister are alive and doing well.

I was able to reconnect with my cousin, Eric Glassford, before he died from pancreatic cancer, this year at the early age of only 49, and that he no longer knows the fear of death.

I am thankful for the rest of his children and siblings who are still alive and well, and that I am able to reach out to them once in awhile and be touched by their lives.

I have cousins, aunts and uncles, and distant relatives that I can reach out to and communicate with from time to time on facebook and other places.

I have all of the childhood memories of family reunions that I was able to be a part of while growing up.

I have had so many people throughout my life who have helped me along the way and have mainly only wanted to help me succeed and move forward in life.

I have met others who have taught me valuable lessons that I may not have learned otherwise.

I am grateful that we can flip through so many channels on television (cable, satellite, or whatever source) and see so many people and events from all over the world at almost any time of the day.

I am glad that Macy's still has their annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, every year, and that I get to appreciate it from my home.

I am thankful that I can turn my tv off at the click of a button, and am thankful for something that now seems so simple, like having a remote control that I have taken for granted for way too many years.

I can login to my computer, access the Internet and reach thousands, eventually millions through blogs, websites, emails, and other means at the click of a mouse.

I am grateful that so many people worldwide can also get online and reach out to others in basically an easy to use format.

I am thankful to be alive and to be able to work with some pretty awesome people even when they forget how awesome we all are.

I am thankful that I have a warm bed to sleep in, a roof over my head, food to eat and enjoy, and people that love me, sometimes in spite of myself.

Those are just some of the things that I am thankful for this day. Take time to reflect and appreciate all of those in your past, in your present and presence, and those that will come in your future that will make positive changes in your life, even when it may not look like they are a positive influence.

One more thing, before I go. Be grateful if you can read this with your own eyes, and are able to comprehend this message. There are those who have crippling diseases and ailments which may not allow them to function as they once did.

It's easy to dwell on lack when you are hurting, but it takes a true hero to lift someone else up in a down time, as opposed to kicking them when they are down.

You are an amazing human being, with amazing capabilities; you just have to clear your mind, focus on what is truly important to you, and go after your real inner dreams.

Lift someone else up today, give thanks for the air you breathe and the blood that flows through your veins, and the thoughts that you can control and alter at will.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all of you Awesome People in this World.

There's Still Time Before the Holidays!

by Carl Glassford

The Archival Century Disc Introduces Carl Glassford's Digital Time Capsule.

Years ago I took all of our family 8mm movies, boxes of slides, and the little SONY video tapes that my dad had accumulated over the years and had all of them converted to a single VHS video tape.

Back in those days DVDs were not out yet and if they were, they certainly were not common. In fact, super VHS were the newest tapes in the industry at that time.

So, one year, at Christmas, we were raised as Catholics so we celebrated the traditional Christmas holiday. Anyway, I was short on cash, raising a family of three kids at the time, so I decided to make my dad and mom a gift for Christmas that year.

I had all of the miscellaneous media that I could find put onto a single VHS video tape then dubbed it with background music. At least the parts the didn't have any sound. Particularly the old 8mm home movies.

Years ago when you had your film processed, they sold you slides along with your photo processing. I'm not sure if they gave them to you and just included the cost of the slides in with the processing or if it was an option like adding your photos to a cd disk these days.

Either way, it only took one long night and a lot of organizing, but I got it done.

Then, on Christmas morning, dad opened his gift and found a video tape.

He immediately put it in the video recorder and started to view it. I thought for sure he was going to cry when he saw what was on the tape.

He got up and gave me a big hug (that was unusual back then because he was never a big hugger, at least not with his boys) and thanked me for making that tape for him. He said it was the best gift I could have ever given him.

That was one of the best presents I ever gave him and he never forgot it. Because I took the time to make this myself, with the help of my videographer buddy of course.

One year I purchased a nice watch for dad because he never seemed to have a decent watch, at least not a nice looking dress watch.

So, I bought him a decent watch, it was only a few hundred bucks at that time, but it was still a nice gesture. I just wanted him to have something better than those old leather band watches.

I think I got it on sale during black Friday one year.

That watch didn't compare to the video tape of all of us as kids on it. We were decorating the Christmas tree, learning how to ride bicycles, and it even had old 8mm movies of our traditionally huge family reunions on it. (Dad came from a family of 14 kids, Yowzers!)

So, I decided to give you the chance to do the same for your parents, relatives, or just close friends. The opportunity to put your family memories on what I have dubbed my Digital Time Capsule.

This is not a cylinder, a steel box, or even something you should bury without covering. It's simply a digital time capsule kit that you can use to record your digital images, transfers, and whatever else you'd like to save for the next 100 years or so.

This kit includes 10 Archival Century CDs and 2 Archival Century DVDs, along with a hard-cover plastic case that has a locking clasp on the side, called a TOLV case because it holds 12 disks (CDs, DVDs, or even Blu-rays).

So, for a limited time, you can get 10 scratch-resistant Triple A rated CDs plus 2 scratch-resistant DVDs and a nice album/case to put them in for only $29.95 plus shipping and handling. Taxed were applicable, of course.

Case Color

Black White Clear (sort of)

Order yours today! There's still time to before the holidays to get your personalized gifts started.

You can use these disks for anything digital. Images, movies, videos, photos, data, and even your favorite music.

You can purchase ''Your Digital Time Capsule' and maybe record a mix of your mom or dad's favorite music or holiday music from their era and give that to them on a 24-karat gold disc.

You can even do the artwork and take it to a print shop and they'll print a nice looking label right onto the disc for you.

Find a printer that has a thermal printer they can print onto the surface for you, these discs look like they were professionally pressed when you do that.

Anyway, if you'd like to get your hands on the best Archival Gold CDs and DVDs you'll ever find, Click Here.

And...remember, you can't find these in any stores and they are limited production runs so get them while you can, exclusively through CenturyDisc.com

Or, you can buy the 25 packs through our secure server at RMGProducts.com, our sister website.

By the way, the little kid in the white turtleneck sweater in the opening scene of this 8mm movie transfer ( You Tube ) trying to lift up his baby cousin, was me, I just realized that when I went to check to make sure the links were working.

I was a cute kid, what happened!?! Check out my mom in the platinum wig.

Thanks and I'll be seeing you soon!

Case Color

Black White Clear (sort of)

Century Disc, the Disc that Never Fails!

Read all about it here on the blog or our website. http://ping.fm/WDgff

Tales from the World of Photo Scanning: fast photo slide and negative scanning, Irvine photo, orange county, Advantix, VHS, how to scan, transfer to dvd, scanning, tips, faq, tutorial, scanner, photo, photos, photo albums, digital image, film, scanners, resolution, dpi, ppi, scan, iPhone, transfer photos to my computer, photos Mac, scanned negatives scanning to dvd

Tales from the World of Photo Scanning: fast photo slide and negative scanning, Irvine photo, orange county, Advantix, VHS, how to scan, transfer to dvd, scanning, tips, faq, tutorial, scanner, photo, photos, photo albums, digital image, film, scanners, resolution, dpi, ppi, scan, iPhone, transfer photos to my computer, photos Mac, scanned negatives scanning to dvd

The Disc That NEVER Fails!

by Carl Glassford

Over the last two years we have sold tens of thousands of Archival Century Discs, both the cds and the dvds. During this time, not even one time, has one disc ever come back as bad, unreliable, unrecordable, or defective. Not one, not once, not for any reason.

That really is pretty incredible when you think about. How many disks have you had gone bad in just one package of disks you've purchased? Some people think that maybe they didn't record to their disc properly so they just toss them in the trash and forget about it.

Out of all the cheap cds and dvds in the world, this is not one of them. People say they're expensive. Compared to what? Compared to losing your data, photos, recordings, digital information?

It has been so ingrained in our brains that discs are cheap. So, we naturally look online for the cheapest discs we can find in order to save some hard earned money. Nothing wrong with saving money except how much are you really saving if you have to do the same thing more than once, no matter what it is?

I call that the Walmart mentality. We all talk about it, we all want to save money, but reality check, at what expense to our own country and countrymen? (and countrywomen). We need to open our eyes and see that cheap isn't always worth the few bucks we save today.

I don't own the company, I don't buy the product. I sell the product, I talk about it with everyone I know, but the average person thinks the way I did before I learned that cheap cds and dvds don't make the grade.

We just assume that a cd is a cd and a dvd is a dvd and if I record something on it, it should last the rest of my life. Read an article I put on the Century Disc website and you'll learn why ordinary discs probably aren't what you're paying for them. Depending on what purpose they are used for.

There is not other disc in the world that is as original as this disc, not one that compares in compatibility, reliability, durability, or scratch-resistance.

That's why I decided to coin the phrase . . .

~ Archival Century ~
"The Disc That NEVER Fails!"

There isn't any other disc in the world that can make this claim!

If there is, I'd like to know about it.

Thanks for visiting.

Recording Surface of the Century Disc

by Carl Glassford

What does the Recording Surface of the Archival Century Disc Look Like?

It's funny you should ask. I jumped on my twitter account and started catching up on the DMs (direct messages) that I've been sent.

Part of the whole "social networking" thing is supposed to be making new friends, establishing ourselves as a presence online, interacting, and hopefully earning a portion of our living by offering value to each other. If I'm wrong, please feel free to comment below in the comments section.

Anyway, last night, I decided to take a few digital pictures of the recording surface of the Archival Century Disc CDs and DVDs. I had been meaning to photograph the recording surface for a long time and finally just made it a point to get it done.

I have been planning to take new digital photographs for the top sides of the discs, to show the new hub-printable version of the Archival Century Discs to customers interested in ordering samples. So I did.

Click to Enlarge

While I was at it, I took digital photographs of the recording surface of the Archival Century Discs as well.

Then, this evening, just after work, I logged onto my twitter account and received a direct message from someone who said "Cool Product" along with a link to the Archival Century Disc Review which now on the new site which used to be CDFreaks.com.

I clicked on the link, not knowing what it was, then ended up on error page. So, I went back to the post and tried the link again. It was only partially right so I erased part of the link and found the post I think the micro blogger was referring to, which was our review by MegaDETH on the new myce.com website.

Apparantly, CDFreaks.com has upgraded to myce.com (I'm assuming it means My Consumer Electronics) since they are into reviewing and discussing so much more than just optical media these days.

So, now my link to what was once CDFreaks.com, is myce.com beta version. Hey, at least they included all of the hard work they did in thoroughly testing the Archival Century Discs, both the cds and the dvds.
(Which we greatly appreciate, in case we haven't thanked them enough?)

All of that to say, one of the comments on the review was if the OP could show them some pictures of the recording surface of the discs. That was only ten months ago, but better late than never, I suppose.

So, for anyone else who has asked or wondered what the recording surface of the Archival Century Discs look like, here they are.

Click to Enlarge

As you can see, they look almost just like any other ordinary CD or DVD product. The difference is that they have a revolutionary Hard Coat Protection like the Blu-ray discs and a nice AZO Blue (cd) and AZO Purple (dvd) glow to them.

I have rambled on long enough for more than a post, I will see you again soon.

Beer on the Brain

by Carl Glassford

I was out and about running some errands early this morning. While at the gas station, I happened to see a banner hanging in front of a local bar. The sign said "15 Draft Beers on Tap."


Nothing really odd about that. Hey! T'Katz Pub off Webber and Beneva in Sarasota has 15 different kinds of beer on tap. After getting my gas, for some reason, I began to have random thoughts of stupidity, or maybe my sense of humor kicked back in?

The first thought that crossed my mind was of 15 levers, each of which, when pulled, dispenses its own brand of beer. Then my mind began to wander.

I must be watching too much Leno, if there is such a thing. I love Monday night "Headlines" on the Jay Leno Show, some of them really crack me up. Especially some of the Wedding Announcement names.

Below is what I had came up with, there were a few more but I didn't want to spend the rest of my evening modifying cartoon beer mugs.

Enjoy!

This was my first afterthought...


Then, I thought about half-full and half-empty beers. Of course, I couldn't exclude the engineers.

Then I thought about beers that got dumped...



Last but not least...


Got to have a sense of humor, folks.

P.S. I thought about dressing up a couple of military beers (being draft and all) but I did not want to be disrespectful to those who work so hard to keep us safe over here.

Let’s raise $10,000 Together for Breast Cancer Research!

by Carl Glassford

Saving Your Lifetime Memories Helps Save Lives and Breasts (that's a good thing, right?)

Hi, my name is Carl Glassford. I'm the marketing director for a revolutionary new product that I refer to as “the predecessor to the Blu-ray disc.”

The average person can use these discs to store their lifetime family memories, share home movies and photos with loved ones in a digital format, copy your favorite music cds and play them in the car, and... anything you can copy to an ordinary cd or dvd, you can do with these, except these discs will actually work, every time.

These discs have the same ultra hard coat protection on the recording surface as the new Blu-ray discs. These are real 24-karat gold cds and dvds on steroids!

It's like taking a 24-karat gold disc, putting a real silver reflective layer on them (for compatibility), then putting a clear coat that's 100 times stronger than the disc itself on it to protect your recorded music or data.

On top of all of that, it has a clean white printable surface that you can write on with a permanent marker (which you are not supposed to do on ordinary cds or dvds). Or, you can print your favorite photos or custom-made labels on them using a thermal printer (which looks like a real photo image), or you can print your own custom-made label using a disc-capable inkjet printer.

Until now, this type of surface never existed. If it did, it wasn’t made available to the public, until now. In the past, you either had to purchase labels or you had to purchase a specific type of disc to use in an inkjet printer or an entirely different set of discs to use in a thermal printer.

Our company worked directly with the engineers at Mitsubishi Media (MKM) to create this specific product. These are made by Mitsubishi, so you know you’re getting a high quality product. We have no doubt that these are the world's finest cds and dvds that you will ever find.

Not one of these fine discs has ever failed to record or play unless completely destroyed beyond recognition. Most discs fail after the smallest of scratches, but these discs keep on playing.

They're like the energizer bunny of optical media and they’re only available online through CenturyDisc.com and our secure shopping site RMGProducts.com.

I wouldn't recommend scratching these discs just for fun, but I can tell you, we have many times, and it is fun. To be able to see them play after being scratched with a razor knife. We've taken razor blades, steel wool, sandpaper, and even a restaurant fork and knife to these discs and they have continued to play., flawlessly.

It’s fun to see the looks we get from photographers, videographers, computer geeks, and anyone else that actually sees us take these discs out of our media player, turn it over, and show them that this is the actual disc they have been watching in that player. When they see and feel the scratches for themselves, it’s almost unbelievable.

No other disc in the world can take this much abuse and still keep playing. The beauty of this is that you can make another copy before the abused disc fails, allowing you to keep all of your precious digital memories, important documents (insurance, mortgage, ultra sound photos, medical records, etc) and anything else you need to backup on a disc that is not only designed to last a lifetime but works in almost every player on the market.

The silver layer was added under the gold layer was to give the discs better reflectivity so they would work like a standard cd or dvd, but have the longevity of gold, without tarnishing or oxidation, like ordinary silver discs (ever wear silver jewelry and have your skin turn green? that’s what oxidized silver does, it deteriorates).

The printable surface is so durable that it helps to protect the top layer from being scratched as well. Which means the discs are protected from both sides in addition to being tested to last well over 100 years.

No other cd or dvd in the world offers you a LIMITED LIFETIME WARRANTY on their discs, but we do.

With other brands, you buy them and they either work or they don't, no refunds, no replacement discs, more trash in the landfills. What else are you going to do with them if they don't work? Most of us wouldn’t think of sending just a few discs to the recycle centers, so they end up in the landfills.

Which, I guess if you look at it that way, these could be considered more "green" than any other disc out there. No waste. If it works all of the time and never fails, then there's certainly no reason to discard them.

Back to this campaign. I have taken it upon myself to introduce this awesome product to you while trying to raise $10,000 for “the cure.”. Since the month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness month (in case you weren't aware, it is), I decided to run a campaign on facebook, LinkedIN, and I’m even going to Twitter about this (please RT, my fellow twits).

All I need is your help. Help me share this awesome product with those who are not even aware that a disc like this exists and I will donate $10 (ten dollars) from the sale of every 25-pack that we sell using this coupon. But wait!

You’ll save $5.00 off the website price on any 25-pack of these awesome 100-year, scratch-resistant, Century Disc cds or dvds. Susan G Komen for the Cure $10 Donation

This is an exclusive online offer. I have created a $5.00 (five dollar) discount coupon that works in our secure server shopping cart, and it clearly states on the coupon "Susan G Komen for the Cure $10 Donation" which will also appear on your invoice as Susan G Komen for the Cure $10 Donation.

All you need to do is click on the coupon link, graphic, or type in Susan G Komen in the apply coupon field in our shopping cart at RMGProducts.com.

When anyone buys 100 DVDs then, I will donate $40, when you purchase a 25-pack of Century Disc cds and a 25-pack of the dvds, I will donate $20. That’s $10 (ten dollars) for every 25-pack sold from now until the day after Thanksgiving, November 27th, 2009.

The other thing is, in this economy, I realize these discs may seem expensive but, what are your lifetime of memories worth? If you lost everything like so many others in the California Fires, the Hurricanes in the South, or by Tornado, or even a flood in the Midwest, I'm sure you wished you knew about these before any of that.

Now you know, and unlike some, you have the opportunity to do something about it. If things are slow, rather than sit around and watch TV (or your computer screen, as in my case), sit around and watch TV while you scan your old photo albums, or take digital pictures of your pictures and store them on the finest Archival Media you will find anywhere.

I’m not trying to be funny here. If you read my article on “Why the Century Disc Became So Important To Me”, you would know why I am do serious about getting people to save their lifetime memories on these discs.

Why Susan G Komen for the Cure?
I had a close friend (of 8+ years) who got breast cancer, went through surgery, lost her hair during chemo, and all of the other unpleasant things she had to go through to survive all of that.

Until it happens to someone you love, it may not have as much significance in your life. But, I can assure you, once it hits, not only are you affected, your life is changed forever, whether you like it or not.

What I am asking for, is a favor. I'm asking if you'll help me spread the word and let those who have been looking for a media like this (and didn’t even know it existed), decide whether they need these or not, even if you don’t think you can use these right now, someone else might be looking for these to save their digital and lifetime memories.

I’m looking for people who want the absolute finest media they can possible find to save their important digital data on. Did I mention these are Triple A rated ~ the highest rating you can achieve for any cd or dvd? They are.

To prove what I have been telling you about these discs, you can read the independent study/review that CDFreaks.com did on these discs (and were not paid to do so). CDFreaks.com is the largest consumer electronics community in the world.

Whether it's your lifetime memories, scanned or transferred from your digital camera to your computer, copies of your important documents in pdf or word processor format, home movie transfers, or anything else you would like to store and share with others, then I would like you to seriously consider the value of what you are getting when you purchase these one-of-a-kind Archival Century Disc cds or dvds. Guaranteed to perform everytime or your
money-back.

Here's the coupon info. Just go to RMGProducts.com select the Century Disc cds or dvds you would like to purchase and type in Susan G Komen in the "apply coupon" field in the shopping cart. It's that easy.

You'll receive a $5.00 discount off the purchase price of each 25-pack you purchase and I will personally make a $10 donation (it's coming out of my commissions folks) to Susan G Komen for the Cure.

Here’s the coupon code and link, click on this and it will apply the coupon for you.

Susan G Komen for the Cure $10 Donation

Okay sing it with me, Five! Five Dollar, Five Dollar Couponnnn!
(couldn't help myself, I've been singing this tune - with editorial liberties - since I started thinking about this campaign).

The Times of Our Lives - Halloween Edition

by Carl Glassford

I received a message from my cousin Drew on facebook this morning. I had previously shared a story with him about how I loved having Halloween parties at my house and how every year, I would do something new or different.

Things like, hanging a severed arm (with a knife in hand) in the shower. So, when someone went into the bathroom and opened or closed the door, the arm would move either into or out of view. It was particularly frightening because they would see the arm in the reflection of the mirror before they actually saw the severed arm and knife coming down. It looked like Norman Bates from the Psycho movie was in the shower, because you didn’t see the severed part until you were actually closer.

When you opened the bathroom door and turned on the light (which had been changed to a bulb with less wattage for the evening), the arm would be in the “up” position. When you closed the door to the restroom, the severed arm and knife would look like it was coming down at you from between the shower curtains. I used small pulleys and fishing line to achieve this illusion.

One year, I rigged a large rubber rat. It was creepy. When you opened or closed the door, the rat would scurry across the floor in one direction or the other. If you weren't expecting it, it would scare the crap out of you. Too funny. I still laugh thinking about the faces of some of my guests at those parties. I'll have to do that again someday.

Anyway, Drew was telling me about one of his antics and how he scared Eric, his brother and my other cousin, who recently passed on September 14th, this year. He was only 49, and it's too sad that he is gone. But, as all of us, we still have our favorite memories.

Drew was telling me that hid in the closet one night, silently crept out and crawled across the floor and then Wham! Grabbed Eric's leg and scared him like never before. Needless to say, Drew won the "Scaring Competition" that year.

Nowadays, things like Punk'd, Pranked, Scare Tactics, and a myriad of others, have the videos to prove and document such antics. Which always brings me back to one thing, the Century Disc. Designed for saving all of those scary photos, scary videos, and anything else you would love to be able to share with someone now or in the future.

To me, there really is no other disc (cd or dvd) on the entire planet that I would use to save anything I want archive (which is basically saving for later) and pass on to the next generation, who hopefully will pass it on to the next generation and so on.

Because, until now, there really hasn't been anything that I felt I could absolutely rely on, or believe in, for this specific purpose. If I had some of the first, original cds that were produced, they might still be good to use, but I don't.

Over the years and quite rapidly I may add, disc producers (for the most part) went over to Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and even India to have their products replicated and produced over there, due to what I call "the price wars of optical media.”

Early on, in order to get consumers (you and I) to use cd burners and cd players, they had to come up with a way to not only make these new fangled discs acceptable, they needed to strategically create a method that would almost force everyone to begin using these discs.

There are plenty of articles about how the record industry threatened the record stores into offering cds over vinyl, and why almost overnight there were cds everywhere and vinyl looked like it was seeing its demise. Vinyl aficionados have not given up and still exist today.

I could also go into how cd burner and cd player manufacturer's started giving away blank recordable cds when you purchased a new computer with a cd burner. Before you knew it, cds were all abuzz with how awesome they were, easy to store, held tons of data (back in those days a 700mb cd compared to a 100mb Iomega Zip Drive was incomparable), and allowed you to easily transfer your data (images included) from your computer to a simple, little disc drive.

Thus, the price wars began (even before they publicly introduced the DVD). The manufacturers really didn't have any alternative than to compete or be left behind as is the case of Pioneer. Pioneer was, well a pioneer in the cd manufacturing sector. They are still considered one of the highest, if not the highest rated cds ever made (according to DigitalFAQ.com).

Which is a mute point now. Since Pioneer has stuck to its roots and develops electronic devices (stereos, music cd players, widescreen tvs, etc) and got out of the cd manufacturing business altogether.

Now you know one of the many reasons why ordinary cds and dvds are so cheap, in cost and quality. What you may not know is, that this is also the reason they fail so quickly. Usually in less than 10 years if they don't fail immediately. You may think 10 years is plenty of time since they (the industry) will probably come out with another "new and improved" way to store and archive your data.

They have, it's called the recordable Blu-ray disc. It's the same size in diameter as cds and dvds. They'll hold about 5 times as much info and data as a standard dvd and Blu-ray (BD) players and burners are downward compatible. This means, that once the Blu-ray burner and Blu-ray player becomes "the standard" for everyone, you will still be able to view, burn, and use your cds and dvds as you always have.

The new Blu-ray burners use a "Blue laser" as opposed to the traditional red laser, thus its namesake. The blue laser will read just about every optical media that fits in its tray.

Having said all of that, I will say this, that if you want to archive (save/store) any of your digital information (photos, videos, manuscripts, etc.) then you want to use something that will not only last a long time, but will withstand shock from things like nuclear fallout, sun spots, electrical brownouts or electrical grid blackouts and anything else that will effect magnetic media in a negative way.

The difference between magnetic media (hard drives, external hard drives, usb drives, dat tapes, VHS, cassette tapes, etc.) and optical media (cds, dvds, and blu-ray) is that optical media will protect your data from magnetic fields or anomalies that most likely will occur, sometime during our lifetime.

Check out our YouTube Channel. I recently added videos from other sources which help to explain this problem in a couple of short animated cartoons.

Europeans seem to understand far better than we (Americans), that their own histories are being made and they demand something worthy of preserving these memories. The Century Disc, under another name in Europe (and far more expensive I might add), is fast becoming their number one cd and dvd of choice.

A lot of this has to do with the fact that they have tested and studied every archival disc available and have come to the conclusion that this is the absolute best (triple A rated) media they can find for any type of digital storage.

We asked CDFreaks.com to conduct some independent tests of their own. They are, the largest consumer electronics community in the world, so who better in America, to ask to test this media? Here’s the link, if you’d like to see how they rated these near-prefect, scratch-resistant (I call them predecessors to the Blu-ray discs), 24-karat gold and silver, dual reflective layer media. Available in both cd or dvd formats.

One of my questions is "Other than the fact that you may not understand what you have here, why would you want to use anything else besides the Century Disc, for storing your important digital data and precious memories?"

Especially now that you have a clue, that almost all other forms of media will vanish in the event of an anomaly, like even sudden burst from a sun spot.

Now you know that the Archival Century Disc, is a disc where all options are included and failure, is not an option. They even come with a 1-year money-back guarantee and are backed by a Lifetime Replacement Guarantee, no bones about it (abuse charges may apply).

Happy Halloween!

P.S. Now you have a couple more ideas that you can use to spice up your Halloween parties. I’m sure you’ll take lots of pictures so don’t forget where you can save them for a lifetime, on the Century Disc, of course.


Century Disc CDs ~ 25-Pack
It's Like Having Life Insurance for Your Data

$64.75

P.S.S. From Now Until November 27th, 2009 (the day after Thanksgiving Day) use the 'Susan G Komen' coupon (type it in the Apply Coupon field in the shopping cart) and receive a $5.00 discount on your purchase of any 25-pack Archival Century Disc CD or DVD product and I'll personally donate $10.00 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for continued Breast Cancer Research. I need 1,000 customers to step up and purchase either of these products and I will be able to donate $10,000 (ten thousand dollars) to the Susan G Komen Foundation.

I chose this because it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Susan G Komen Foundation is a 4-Star rated charity according to Charity Navigator.

So, now you get to save your favorite memories on the best gold archival discs you can find anywhere on the planet and you get to help me, help a worthy cause.
Thanks to all who participate.

That's Susan G Komen (no quote marks, don't forget the spaces and no punctuation on the letter G)

Thanks for the Memories

by Carl Glassford

"Thanks for the Memories." I understand that I may not be around to hear those words from those who will long outlive me, but I know someone, someday, will be thanking me for just that reason.

Thanks to Mitsubishi (MKM) for making the Archival Century Discs. These are one of a kind 24-karat gold and real silver layered cds and dvds which are a rare commodity and will allow me to store my lifetime memories for at least the next 50 - 100 years.

Very few people in the entire world even know these discs exist (hel~lo), let alone why they need them. The truth is, ordinary discs we buy in the store are made as cheaply as possible in order to compete in the price wars and keep their costs down.

For more on why cheap discs are so cheap, here's another article I wrote, entitled Ordinary Discs Don't Make the Grade or other articles I've posted on the Century Disc Blog and website.

Remnants of photos, videos, emails, and even cards and letters from past loved ones are important to me. I have boxes (I'm sure we all do) of these memories, photos, home movies, and even letters from loved ones of long ago. Why do I keep all of this "silly" stuff? I guess I'm just sentimental or maybe I appreciate where I've been and am looking forward to where I am going by remembering where I came from.

When I look at the only copy of a photograph our entire family ever had of my Japanese grandfather, I realize that I know very little about that side of my family. He was gone before I was born so I never got to meet him. All I know is what I heard, and that he was all for my father whisking my mother off to a more promising land to start a family. So, here I am (with 5 other siblings).

As I get older, I realize that not everyone is going to be in my life forever, let alone my being around forever. So, I have taken it upon myself to organize and catalog events throughout my life that I will make copies of and pass them along to loved ones once I am gone, maybe sooner.

It takes a lot of time but I do it in spurts. Hopefully it'll get done before my time. Then someone in my family will be able to look at my past and see who I was as opposed to a figment of their imagination.

Since my father's death in 2000, I have developed a totally different view of him as a person than that of when he was alive. We were an estranged pair for many years. Fortunately (for me), I was able to make amends and had a few short years to get to know him as my dad, as a man, and as a friend, before he died.

According to our U.S.Government, namely the Library of Congress and the National Archives, ordinary discs they tested, may not even last a decade. In fact, they believe (based on their tests and studies) that average cds and dvds will be lucky to be around more than 2 - 14 years.

They also state that people who use cds and dvds for recording their data and digital photos "should check these discs at least every two years" to make sure they are still usable. That's nice, but there's no meter on media that indicates that it is about to fail on you. It either works or it doesn't and if you don't have these discs, or don't have additional copies somewhere, you're out of luck. Everything that you thought was on that disc, is not.

I have no doubt this is one of the many reasons people no longer backup their data (digital photos, home movies, manuscripts, etc.) onto discs like they used to. We have come to realize that cds and dvds are not as reliable as we once thought they were.

People rely on their hard drives to store just about everything (especially now that external hard drives are even more affordable). Figuring they won't be that 1 in 5 people who's hard drive fails. Or, maybe they just don't think about it? I am willing to bet that even the above average person (like me) believes that, if they burn something (digital photos, important documents, manuscripts, etc.) to a cd or dvd, that it will be there forever. I never gave it any thought, I honestly thought cds and dvds would last forever, or at least all of my lifetime and then some.

That was until I learned the difference. I'm trying to save you anguish and hours of having to studying this stuff. If you'd like to save your family's legacy or even your own personal history in a digital format for just a few pennies a year for the next 100 or so years, then the Archival Century Disc is the disc for you. Honestly, it's a no-brainer.

These discs, without a doubt, without fail, and with a 100% lifetime money-back guarantee (which no other disc manufacturer in the world gives you), are the discs you have been looking for and until now, probably didn't even know they existed. Now you know.

Read my article Why the Century Disc Became So Important To Me then you'll know why I jumped at the chance to tell the world about these amazing products.

Then hopefully one day, you and/or your family will say
"Thanks for the Memories, Carl."

Video Producer Bill Wagy gives the Archival Century Disc a Glowing Testimonial

One of our longtime customers, Videographer and Producer Bill Wagy of Sarasota, Florida gave us a glowing testimonial on the only DVD he uses, the Archival Century Disc. Bill does video production for local famous events like the Sarasota Opera House, the Sarasota Film Festival and so many other events. Bill was the chief videographer at Sarasota's Local News channel SNN6 and produced all of their special interest pieces as well as their sports clips and news reels.

When it comes to the elite getting married in our area, you can bet Bill Wagy is one of the first people they try to hire (if he's available). I'm sure Bill Wagy has a laundry lists of accomplishments I am unaware of, so all I can say is that Bill is a super guy and we appreciate this testimonial (without compensation, mind you) and we appreciate his business.

Just Installed Digsby

Just installed Digsby! So far, I'm liking it! My hope is that I can start to you programs like this to keep up with all of these social media sites, etc.

Here's the link in case anyone see this post or wants to try this application.

Digsby.com

I'll be in touch!

Facts About Ordinary CDs and DVDs

Most people would agree that they have experienced problems with CDs and DVDs at one time or another. Whether it was from scratches, abrasion or they just didn’t record or play after you know you have recorded something on them.

When office networks became commonplace and companies began installing LANs and WANs (Local Area Networks and Wide Area Networks), a method for backing up the entire system needed to be installed. Usually, this consisted of a backup tape that someone needed to change daily and/or weekly.

But, even magnetic tape backup systems would fail from time to time. When CDs became more prominent and popular, people began backing up their own data on CDs just in case the tape backup system didn’t network correctly and get the most recent revisions from a workstation.

Have you ever bought a pack of CDs or DVDs and every once in awhile you came across one that for whatever reason just wouldn’t record anything? And then, came across some that said they recorded your data, only to find later that the disc still appeared blank? Yet, at that point, even though it appeared blank, it read as though you had already recorded on it, only to have to discard yet another disc.

That was the point where you and I both began to feel that CDs and/or DVDs were not as reliable as we once thought they were. I mean, isn’t a disc just a disc? Aren’t all discs created equal?

The truth is, most DVDs and especially CDs lost their value early on. Back when CDs were first introduced, they were practically giving them away with new computer purchases just like Microsoft WindowsTM. Back then, if you bought a new computer with a CD player/burner, you may have gotten a coupon for free CDs or a discount on a particular brand of CDs with your computer purchase (nowadays most computers come standard with a dvd player/burner).

I know that the disc industry frowns on my telling you this, but for years now, you and I have been buying a mixture of grade A, B, and even grade C discs from the local office supply store and especially cheap discs online. But, the truth is the truth and that’s what happens. The manufacturers began “mixing” the great with the good and the bad in order to keep their costs down and to get the general public accustomed to using CDs.

Now that CDs and even DVDs have become ‘the norm’ for recording music, images, photos, and even home videos, people are becoming more aware that there has to be a better way to store all of these things.

So, here’s the jist of all of this. Bad discs are bad simply because they are manufactured in mass production runs and at the end of these runs, the stamper die which includes the silver metal layers, the media dye, and the plastic substrate that the disc is attached to, are not pressed as accurately as the those in the beginning of the production run.

In order to save money and in order to make a ‘complete run’ most manufacturers considered 500,000 to be the threshold. Which means that the last 100,000 or so, would be less effective than the first 100,000.

In 2007, Mitsubishi created a new disc, which we call the Century Disc. This disc is not only fine-tuned to be accurate every single time you use it, it has so many features that I almost have to write a book about it.

The Century Disc has ultra-precise groove tracking simply for one reason. This reason is that Mitsubishi did a lot of testing over the years and decided that 25,000 discs per production run is the threshold where they feel the stamper die (more on this below) begins to lose its near-perfect impression power.

Every manufacturer has to use a machine that ‘stamps’ the metal layer and the media dye on the substrate (the plastic part of the disc). The difference is in how well the stamper die is manufactured, the media dye being used, and the recording layer (which is usually silver or semimetallic form of silver/alloy).

The machine presses each substrate at a high rate of speed and stamps each disc like a cookie cutter. Each time it presses a disc, it creates pits and grooves on the recording surface and these are the areas the laser writes your data to. If you have a misprint like an offset penny or coin, then you can relate to this analogy and how important it is to get it right from the onset.

If you have an offset or misprint disc and it is not detected, then, your data either gets recorded incorrectly or not at all, and the end result is the same. No recognizable data on your disc either way.

Years ago, this didn’t seem to be a problem. Why? Because none of us (at least not the average person) knew that there was a difference in disc quality. I, for one, always thought that a disc was just a disc and there was no difference between them.

There is a difference and that’s why a lot of recording professionals prefer one brand over another and computer geeks prefer another brand over other generic brands. Unless you researched this, you probably didn’t know and had no reason to check into it. I know that I didn’t give it any thought until I came across the Century Disc. Now, I seem to absorb everything I come across about discs, substrates, media dyes, and anything related to optical media.

If you read my article on “Why The Century Disc Became So Important To Me” you will understand my passion for this product. I don’t want to get into all of that right now so that I can stay on subject.

If the average or ordinary CD or DVD is manufactured at the rate of a half-a-million or more at a time, using the same stamper die/press, and at the end of that run you end up with a mixture of A-rated, B-rated, and C-rated discs all boxed together, how can you tell which of these discs will be good or bad?

You can’t tell by looking at them, you just have to take your chances, throw some away, hope that the ones you have recorded to are good ones and end up with 10% or more being trash. That’s the way it used to be.

With the Century Disc, only 25,000 discs are manufactured per stamper die run. Which means, even though you may pay more for a more precise and more accurate disc, you get the peace of mind in knowing that every disc you use is dead-on accurate. No worries about whether or not your presentation, video, critical data, or even your photo images are actually on your disc.

The peace of mind to me, is worth the extra cost. I hate it when I used to think that I backed up my files onto a disc, deleted those files from my hard drive (assuming I had them on disc), and later found that I no longer had those files because they were nowhere to be found.

You get the idea. Have you ever had to copy your files, whether photos, data, etc. more than once? I’m sure if you’ve used discs you have already experienced this problem. I look at what my time is worth and realize that I would rather buy an expensive disc that I can count on each and every time then to buy cheap discs only to rerecord something I thought I had already recorded.

The fact that the BLER (Block Error Rate) on the Century Disc is consistently tested at 15 BLER per second or less, compared to the average decent disc which inherently and consistently has 30 - 50 BLER per second, this leads me to believe that the Century Disc is always at least twice as good as any other disc I could buy.

What is Block Error Rate anyway? First of all, all discs have Block Errors. Block Errors are what determines whether a disc works or fails. The industry has determined that a disc (CD or DVD) is trashed at the rate of 220 BLER (block errors per second).

I don’t want to get into the technical aspects of block error rates in this discussion, but I will tell you that block errors are one major factor in determining whether a disc is A++ grade like the Century Disc or a low C-grade as in many other mass-produced discs. Since CDs and DVDs have ratings, why don’t they put these ratings on the packaging? So far, I have never walked into an office supply store and seen a CD or DVD package that states “A, AA, AAA, or A++ rated discs.

The Century Disc is an A++ rated disc which also has the same scratch-resistant protection as the new Blu-ray discs. I say this because it is manufactured at the same facility as our TDK OEM Blu-ray discs and the hard coat is applied using the latest technology and newest equipment available today.

The Century Disc is a truly archival media. It has a 24-karat gold layer that encapsulates and protects the silver recording layer. It is tested to last well over 100 years. I know, we won’t be here then and why should we care? I used to think exactly the same way. Then, I began to think, “Hey! I can save all of my family photos for my grandkids and I can save all of my mom and dad’s photos from when they were young and pass them on too.”

Not only is the Century Disc designed to last a lifetime (over 100 years), but it is also designed to be compatible with almost every CD and DVD recorder/player on the market today and yesterday. Why? Because, the Century Disc uses Mitsubishi’s patented DRL (Dual Reflective Layer) Technology. Most discs have a silver reflective layer, the Century Disc takes that into consideration and gives you a 24-karat gold protective layer on top of a real silver (AG) metal reflective layer for extra compatibility. Now you get the best of both worlds all in one disc.

The Century Disc has a unique, universal printable surface. This means, you or I, can make labels on the computer for our discs, save them on to a disc and take them to a printer or someplace that can print onto the disc surface for us. Now you can have custom looking discs without having to mess with labels that throw your discs out of balance, get crinkled, or smear from the ink not being dry yet. Inkjet printers with a built-in disc printing tray are becoming more popular and are more affordable for the average person now.

Personally, I never use those do-it-yourself labels to make disc labels. Partly, because I didn’t know that you weren’t supposed to write on the top side of CDs. Like I said, I was an optical media novice. No one ever told me not to write on my CDs with a permanent marker, that it could eventually ruin the recording. Now I know.

So, let’s recap.

Ultra-Precise Groove Engineering gives you a higher quality near-perfect disc everytime. Only 25,000 discs manufactured per stamper die run compare to mass quantities of 500,000 (yes, literally a half-a-million).

Ultra-Hard Coat protects your recording surface from scratches, fingerprint smudges, and other elements that could easily render your discs useless.

Universal Print Surface allows you to use the Century Disc with an inkjet printer, thermal printer, have them mass-produced by a silk-screen company, or write on the top of the disc with a permanent marker and none of these processes effect the recording.

Near-Perfect rotational balance because of the design and substrates used, I thought this was worth mentioning because some discs actually have flaws and are warped but undetectable to the average eye. The Century Disc is designed in such a way that it has a near-perfect rotational balance which causes less wear and tear on your laser servo and disc drives overall.

That just about covers it. Did I mention how great they look too? There’s something about the look of the disc that it even looks sharp and unique without printing.

So, here’s my offer. I know you figured there had to be a pitch somewhere right? This offer is actually to your benefit.

I challenge you here and now, buy the Century Disc, available in CD-R or DVD-R and if you do not think it is absolutely the best disc you have found, then return them for a complete refund for up to one-full-year from the date of purchase.

I promise you that each and every disc will perform as it is supposed to perform; and each and every disc will work every single time you use it. It will burn accurately the first time you burn to it and it will read on every CD or DVD player you play it on, or I will gladly refund your money. No bones about it.