I used to be one of those people who offices contain enormous stacks of papers, books, and--unfortunately--CDs that I haven't bothered to put back into their cases. This means that I also used to be one of those people who had a lot of scratched CDs.
iTunes resolved much of the scratched CD issue for me because when I buy a CD, I rip it to iTunes and then archive the physical CD. I also buy fewer physical CDs than I used to, which helps as well. (iTunes hasn't helped the huge, tottering stacks of papers and books--apparently I need an iTunes for paperwork. Scanning paper documents into DevonThink and Tinderbox is a lot more time-consuming than ripping CDs....)
Instructables has some tips for buffing out CD scratches using Brasso polish, which apparently works better than toothpaste. I'm a little wary of it, since buffing (as the post makes clear) is actually stripping away some of the physical media, but I figure I'm already effectively working with a coaster, so either the process will result in a playable CD or just a shinier coaster.
[via Lifehacker]
Posted by johndanseven at March 24, 2006 11:19 AM