Have you ever wondered where the term “jewel case”, referring to CD cases, actually comes from? I always assumed it had something to do with the shiny, transparent-as-crystal cases somehow reminding someone of a jewel. Nope, not even close.

From Wikipedia:

The name is not derived in any way from containers for jewelry, or from the fact that the case is typically made from transparent plastic as is sometimes believed. Instead, the name originates from watchmakers’ use of the term jewel to refer generally to a polished hemispherical bearing used in a mechanism (high-quality mechanical watches and clocks commonly use gemstones, typically rubies, for such bearings because of their low friction properties). A jewel case has two molded hemispherical plastic bearings, in its hinges, hence the use of the term “jewel.”

Now you know.

I found this site a while back but had forgotten about it. However, since I just bought new computers I was in the market for more blank DVDs but I couldn’t remember the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R.

How To Choose CD/DVD Archival Media is a very informative blog article. It gives the history of both CD and DVD technology, the differences between the various flavors of the media available, and which format you should choose for archival purposes. The author also has a recent update listing his choices for CD/DVD burners.

In a nutshell, the author recommends Taiyo Yuden media, which apparently is difficult to find outside of Japan; however, it’s the most reliable of all media on the market. Also, don’t spend the extra money on gold CD-Rs because they don’t give you much benefit for the price. Oh, if you’re buying blank DVDs, get DVD+R if your computer will handle it; they are better quality and generally perform better.