There's an article on Slashdot about the longevity of CD-ROMs – some people are afraid that they may not actually last decades on end as the manufacturers have said, and so are exploring alternative storage methods.

Such as converting the file to a string of 1s and 0s and making some form of hardcopy, like an optical code or punching holes in cardboard, haha. And of course, posted comments descended into goofiness. One guy suggested encoding it into the DNA of cockroaches. But my favorite was this, by a clever individual named Burpmaster:

"Better yet, take the entire string of ones and zeros and convert it to a single large number. Place a decimal point at the beginning of the number. Next, you need a stick and a knife. Taking the number you calculated as a fraction of the stick's length, very carefully make a cut that distance away from the end of the stick.

Now you have your file stored on a nick on a stick!"

Genius! That one made me laugh a lot.

Labels: science/tech