Storage Media Abuse Thread

RADARADA Apple Valley, CA Member
edited March 2006 in Internet & Media
Hello All,

Prime & Keebs had a momentary lapse of sanity and decided to put me in charge of the Digital Media section of the forum....

...So before they come back to their senses, I thought I'd have a little fun...


We had a thread in the S-M Pub about various ways we've abused our innocent, never-hurt-no-one flash drives, and I thought it would be great to start a thread about how nasty we've all been to our little champions of portable data.:aol: Just keep them within S-M standards. I say flash drives, but if you have a unique, make-a-geek-cringe story about hard drive, ZIP drive, even floppy drive abuse, lets hear them.

Also if you have a product you really like, and want to talk about here, please PM me 1st, We're trying to keep S-M as Shill-Free as possible.

I have a feeling that this section will start to morph into more than just Digital Media soon. I need some ideas on what y'all would like to see here. NO! I won't be starting the Babe Thread up again, stop asking!! I still have a bruise where Prime whacked me upside the head with the Detroit Yellow Pages, from the last time I asked! :Pwned:

Seriously, if any of you have any ideas about other topics you like to see here, let me know.

Best Regards!

RADA

Comments

  • RADARADA Apple Valley, CA Member
    edited March 2006
    OK, I'll start...

    I have 3 or 4 flash drives from 128mb up to 1gig, I've collected from various computer shows or meetings as freebies, with the 1 gig SanDisk being the only one I purchased.

    Over the last 3 years or so I think I've washed them all at least twice, with the SanDisk being the leader in the sudsy-imersion event catagory (5x). (Makes sense, I paid for this one, have to wreck it 1st!)

    Well, the only one that went to flash drive heaven was the 128mb Dell drive that came with my lappy. In Dell's defense it was just a Lexar 128mb drive with a Dell logo. I have a Lexar 512mb that has also been bathed, but it continues to function.

    I find that with a thorough drying they seem to pull through just fine. I usually place mine on the dash of my car (it's black) for about an hour, and they're OK.
  • gibbonslgibbonsl Grand Forks AFB
    edited March 2006
    I usally loose mine:-/
  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited March 2006
    every time we find a CD in one of the drives here at work we usually have a contest of how far you can throw it, then "lets see if it can survive a toss at the wall" usually the wall wins. we do the same thing sometimes with HDD platters, and hard drives themselves.
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    I've washed my 64MB Belkin flash drive once and it still works.

    I find that all manner of interesting things can be found in the orifices of school computers. Anytime I pick any up at surplus, I usually make the cost of the machine back (~$1) and then some on loose change in the floppy drive or CD-ROM.

    We (at work) microwave CDs.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • RADARADA Apple Valley, CA Member
    edited March 2006
    Armo wrote:
    every time we find a CD in one of the drives here at work we usually have a contest of how far you can throw it, then "lets see if it can survive a toss at the wall" usually the wall wins. we do the same thing sometimes with HDD platters, and hard drives themselves.

    We take the magnets out of HDDs. I think they're a type of Rare Earth Magnet. All I know is I have been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty blood blisters on my fingers from two of these little bastards snapping together!! Thery're almost impossible to PULL apart, need to slide one off the other. They're kind of brittle too.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited March 2006
    RADA wrote:
    We take the magnets out of HDDs. I think they're a type of Rare Earth Magnet. All I know is I have been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty blood blisters on my fingers from two of these little bastards snapping together!! Thery're almost impossible to PULL apart, need to slide one off the other. They're kind of brittle too.

    Haha, I guy I work with had all of his sheets and post-it notes reinforced with hard drive magnets.. they are some of the strongest suckers I have ever seen.
  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited March 2006
    RADA your not the only person thats been injured by those things. i use them to magnitize my screwdrivers, and boy can they pack a wollop
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    iPod shuffle: Washed + still works
    cellphone: Washed + dead
    cheapo 32m no-name flash drive: washed + dead


    1/3 ain't bad.
  • TrumandrummerTrumandrummer Taylor Michigan Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    1. cheap 256mb creative mp3 player: dropped twice (nothing wronge) wore in pocket like everyday for a year (killed it)......... how cheap.


    2. Dropped my old flip phone and put a huge crack accross the front screen


    3. My friends cell phone: threw it against the wall, the cement, just about anything you could think of. Yet nothing happened but the front cover poped off, the thing was nearly indestructable (because it was a older non-flip phone)

    4. This one wasnt me but my cousin dropped her cell phone in the toilet LMAO, it still worked but had errors so she got a new one.

    5. This is sorta random, but because we had a warrenty i carelessly turned my basement sound system up a little to loud a few times(playing drums to music) and replaced 8 speakers in 7 months. i was also underpowering the speakers because the reciever wasnt good enough lol :cool2:
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    My friend and I were discussing this subject the other night. I had mentioned to him that I have dropped my iPod at least 3 times and now I can't figure out why the HD doesn't work anymore. He mentioned that I have a long history of dropping my electronics.

    1G Diamond Rio: Dropped at least four times - doorstop.
    2G Diamond Rio: Dropped twice then accidentally yanked out USB cable while flashing firmware - paperweight.
    MP3-CD Player: Dropped once - cover removes itself from rest of unit.
    Sony MD: Dropped multiple times, including one which dislodged the battery cover - still working.
    iPod: Dropped at least twice - working again with new HD. Good for another two drops.
    Palm IIIx: Dropped on floor, then stepped on it, crushing screen.

    In spite of all the times I've dropped cellphones, never had one die on me. As for HDs, whenever we replace one at work, we usually cut it in quarters with a band saw.
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited March 2006
    I've never washed any of my gear (yet) since I keep my USB flash drives on my keychain. But because of that, keeping it in my pocket with my keys and wallet all day every day usually wears the paint out really bad. I've never actually broke one though.

    I threw my old Sidekick (cellphone/PDA) accross an asphalt parking lot once by accident. Believe it or not it only suffered some minor, hardly noticible scratches on the case.
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited March 2006
    Not really media but,,,, I had an old internal modem that killed two PCs (honestly) It was carefully placed behind the back wheel of a mate car and driven over several times. This ended its reign of terror.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    My first HD, I had to hand-make the power cable for the drive. I found a diagram, can't remember where as this was PRE-Web times, and proceeded to carefully plug it in-- instant toaster, I had gotten 12 v where 5 v should be, and vice versa. The mfr let me RMA it and shipped me a new drive. By then I had fixed the cable, and made it for two drives, and I promptly bought another HD. First atari on the block with two HDs.
  • MissilemanMissileman Orlando, Florida Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    This isn't a story about a flash, but a laptop.

    I won't be able to go into too much detail, but there once was a Toshiba laptop that was connected to a missile to upload last minute atmospheric data and weather conditions to the flight computer just prior to launch. A certain nameless test flight engineer left it connected when the launch pad was cleared. It was later estimated the laptop reached Mach 3.4 before becoming shall we say "dust" acrossed the sand. I always wondered how far the pieces really went since acceleration was around 90 G's. :eek2: :o
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    fastest laptop ever ;D
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Missileman wrote:
    It was later estimated the laptop reached Mach 3.4 before becoming shall we say "dust" acrossed the sand. I always wondered how far the pieces really went since acceleration was around 90 G's. :eek2: :o
    ;D That's funny....
  • RADARADA Apple Valley, CA Member
    edited March 2006
    LOL,

    MM is the only guy I know that can answer "Mach 3.4" to the question; :How fast is your lappy?" :eek2:
  • MissilemanMissileman Orlando, Florida Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Give me a few beers and I'll start telling you about the "bushy tailed space rats" Or the laser roasted boars. Or the glow in the dark lizards.

    Maybe I've had a few too many already :doh:
  • AtticusAtticus Dryden, Ontario, Canada.
    edited March 2006
    Mr. Podsworth the 3rd(iPOD): dropped 2 times on cement and once on rug, dropped in kitchen sink full of hot water(submerged 4 or 5 seconds).. Still works

    1 Lexar 256 mb, 2 Kingston 128 mb USB drives: had them in my back left pocket and slipped on the ice outside my apartment.. landed gracefully on my behind and cracked the plastic casing on 1 of the kingston drives.. they all still work.

    Sony mini-disc player: Dropped so many times on our cement basement floor(battery out, MD ejected) it makes me cringe, washed in my jeans atleast once, stepped on at camp(in my jeans). Still worked but i sold it to raise money for Mr Podsworth.
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    New Antec case... old Motherboard... miswired USB... Lexar 1GB Jumpdrive... SMOKE.... The frigging thing smoked and I heard a pop...

    DEAD.... good news, still under waranty and replaced in a few days!!!!
  • KhaosKhaos New Hampshire
    edited March 2006
    Unrelated, but I dropped my cellphone about six months ago and did not realize it until I backed over a lump in the parking lot. I got out of my car and found the phone ripped in two, with the screen part of it separated from the keypad.

    I got it replaced under the Sprint insurance plan for $50. :D
  • RichDRichD Essex, UK
    edited March 2006
    Hello there.

    I have loads of old CD-Rs which I use as coasters.
    I too keep my flash drives on my keys. The first one I trod on when I left my keys in my pocket a dumped my trousers on the floor! (That will teach me for being messy!) I managed to cellotape the case back together and if worked fine until I trod on it again!!!!! The replacement is still intact.

    One time I was working in an IT support centre on work experience, aged 16, and had nothing to do. I was given a box of around 600 floppys which had been backed up onto CD and told to destroy them!!! Thoroughly satisfying as I have always hated Floppys.

    The best though has to be my ex's Mobile phone. She was round mine watching a film one evening and she put her phone on top of one of my speakers. Someone rang her and the vibrating alert carried the phone of the speaker and it fell into a pint of water! She had only had it two weeks and was gutted! cant think of any more for now.
  • GnomeWizarddGnomeWizardd Member 4 Life Akron, PA Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    I had a old External Zip in the back of my car once, I got cut off and given the finger so i chucked it out my window at him
  • RADARADA Apple Valley, CA Member
    edited March 2006
    GnomeWizardd wrote:
    I had a old External Zip in the back of my car once, I got cut off and given the finger so i chucked it out my window at him


    Baaahhaaaaaa!!!;D

    The question we all want to ask is did you hit his car?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2006
    GnomeWizardd wrote:
    I had a old External Zip in the back of my car once, I got cut off and given the finger so i chucked it out my window at him
    RADA wrote:
    Baaahhaaaaaa!!!;D

    The question we all want to ask is did you hit his car?
    If he did, it might bring a whole new meaning to "click of death". :aol:
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