General Discussions

g-1: Net / Forum Etiquette..cuts / step over..

I was told a long time ago from one of the original "Regular" members that the people, volunteers, dell-owners are what makes this forum work and an enjoyable place to search for solutions / help with their computer system. Each volunteer is dedicating his / her own time in an effort to help someone and deserves the respect of the other members. When someone posts a question and then another member replies, his reply falls under the original post, another member wishing to add his / her comments should post next-in-line, following the thread--->

<12/10 04:07PM>Why am I having Trouble with Direct CD....John Doe

--------<12/12 05:11PM>RE: Why am I having Trouble with Direct CD...Mary

---------------<12/12 08:15PM>RE: Why am I having Trouble with Direct CD....BR549

-----------------------<12/12 08:42PM>RE: Why am I having Trouble with Direct CD...John Doe

Someone would ask; "What's the big deal? On the Technical side, following a thread makes it much easier to review the issue at hand, the steps ( in a particular order) that have been taken, the consequences there of, was it resolved or not, the follow up.

Someone would ask; "What is a "cut / step-over /stomp-on" and again what's the big deal? Example:

<12/10 04:07PM>Why am I having Trouble with Direct CD....John Doe

---------<12/13 06:18AM>RE: Why am I having Trouble with Direct CD...Su234 <--The "cut"-->

--------<12/12 05:11PM>RE: Why am I having Trouble with Direct CD...Mary

---------------<12/12 08:15PM>RE: Why am I having Trouble with Direct CD....BR549

-----------------------<12/12 08:42PM>RE: Why am I having Trouble with Direct CD...John Doe

The "cut" is very easy to see due to location of the post, date and time. The first impression; It is considered bad net etiquette, It also shows contempt to the other members that responded to the issue before the cut, disrespect, like their attempt at help was dismissed by the "cutter". Each persons response is due the consideration of the other members of the forum. Regardless of whether they were right or wrong if the attempt was sincere. Now there are times when cuts do happen, when two people are typing at the same time to the original post or the next post in-line. You have to check the time of the posts, when this happens most of the Regulars, members that have been here for a few years, myself included, will post right back, apologizing for the cut, this is the polite thing to do and shows respect, pure and simple. Then if someone is being a smart-a$$, he may disserve to be cut, and / or ignored by the other members. Also people using the Summary View may not realize the cuts / stepover that does show in the Explanded View.

The "cut / step over / stomp on" that bothers the people the most, are the ones an hour or day later that say the same thing as another member, like an "echo". Someone either never took the time to read the replies from the other members or frankly did not care. Why someone would do this is beyond me, it's just rude and highly frowned upon. Usually those will get the most responses. Of course none of this is set in Stone, one may post anyway they choose, regardless of whether it offends others, to a degree. Respect, common courtesy and civility has always been the protocol of DellTalk.

Note: I do not want to give you the wrong impression or mislead you, there are no set rules for posting other than Dell’s Terms of Service. There is an understanding or better yet a call it Tradition, our way of showing respect for each other, but you have the sole right to post in the manner in which you choose. Again it may be old fashion or a dying breed but I will continue to honor each member’s attempt at help by adding any of my comments to a thread in the proper order. If I cut, step over everyone else and post directly below the original poster then it can be a sign of arrogance, sorry but that is how it is perceived now and in the past.

Yes there are exceptions to this, if someone is being a jerk, or a suggestion that may do more harm, such as "The only way to get rid of that error is to format C: ". I may step in and say something like " Yes formatting may indeed correct this but you might want to try this first…"

I’m not saying there is a right way or a wrong way to post, simply Tradition.

g-2: CD-R and CD-RW media

I found some information on CD-R, CD-RW media; these quotes are from Wimm L Rosch ~ ~Fifth Edition.

The CD-R medium records information by burning the dye layer in the disc.  By increasing the power of the laser in the drive to 4 to 11 milliwatts, the laser heats the dye layer to about 250 degrees (Celsius) .  At this temperature, the dye layers melts and the carrier expands to take its place, creating a non-reflective pit within the disc.

Three compounds are commonly used for Photo-reactive dyes used by CD-R discs.   These are most readily distinguished by their color, either green, gold or blue.

Green.  The dye used in green CD-R discs is based on a cynanine compound.   The Taiyo Yden company developed this photo-reactive dye, which was used for the first CD-R disc, including those used during the development of the CD-R standards.   Even now, green CD-R discs are believed to be more forgiving laser power variations during the read and write processes.  The green cynanine dye is believed to be permanent enough to give green CD-R discs a useful life of about 75 years.  In addition to Taiyo Yuden, several companies, including Kodak, Ricoh, TDK, and Verbatim, make or have made green CD-R discs.

Gold.  Gold CD-R discs used a phthalocyanine dye developed by Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals.  The chief advantage of gold over green discs is longer life because the dye is less sensitive to bleaching by ambient light.  If it were on a dress or shirt, it would be more colorfast.  Gold CD-R discs are believed to have a useful life of about 100 years.  Some people believe that gold discs are also better for high-speed (2x or 4x) recording than are green discs.  Mitsui Toatsu and Kodak manufacture most gold CD-R discs.

Blue.  The most recent of the CD shades is blue, a color that results from using cynanine with an alloyed silver substrate.  The material is proprietary and patented by Verbatim.  According to some reports, it is more resistant to ultraviolet radiation than either green or gold dyes and makes reliable discs with low block error rates.

Erasable/Rewriteable

The CD-RW system is based on phase-change media.  That is, the reflective layer in the disc is made from a material that changes in reflectivity depending on whether it is in an amorphous or crystalline state.  The most common medium is an alloy of antimony, indium, silver, and tellurium, which has an overall silver color.

In its crystalline state, the medium has a reflectivity of about 15 to 25 percent.   In its amorphous state, the reflective falls in few percent-enough to be reliably detected by the laser-based disc-reading system.

A blank disc has all of its reflective medium in its crystalline state.  To record data, the drive increases laser power to between 8 and 15 milliwatts and heats the medium to above its 500- to 700-degree (Celsius) melting point.  The operation is straightforward and equivalent to the CD-R writing process except for laser power.

Erasing the disc complicates things. To completely erase a disc and restore it to its original crystalline state, the disc must be annealed. The reflective layer is heated to about 200 degree Celsius and held at that temperature while the material re-crystallizes. The process requires about 37 minutes for a complete disc. On-the-fly erasing of a disc is possible by selectively annealing small areas of the disc with the laser at moderate power. The annealed area may be rewritten with higher laser power.