DVD Flamb�

Opinion from PC Magazine: DVD Flamb�: "So how'd they hold up? Apart from the microwave test, which none survived, the DVDs were pretty robust—except the Verbatims. VideoGard delivered scant protection, as smudges, sunlight, steel wool, and the dishwasher all turned Scooby Doo into Scooby Doesn't. The only passing grade came on the bendy test.

The Memorex DVDs were a distant second-worst. They passed the dishwasher, sunlight, and steel wool test, but were defeated by the bending and smudge tests. The TDK, Maxell, and Imation blanks passed all except the microwave test, although the smudged Imation disk was slow to load.

My conclusions: Don't buy DVD blanks based on brand. Some brands may claim to stand up better to abuse, but my tests didn't bear that out. Don't expect generic DVD blanks to cost less—Wal-Mart's Imation blanks offer great value and decent performance at just 50 cents, and for just 15 cents more you can pick up the TDKs, which delivered the best mix of price and performance.

I couldn't test for longevity, but don't believe brands that claim to last up to hundreds of years. Make copies of key data at least every five years. And store those DVDs in a cool, dry place, preferably far away from your microwave oven—unless, of course, you're breaking in a new intern"

Global Security on Green Zone

Global Security on Green Zone: The headquarters of Paul Bremer and those working on reconstructing Iraq is surrounded by a wall of reinforced and blast-proof concrete, and guarded by tanks and helicopters. The Green Zone -- also called "The Bubble" - is the hub of the vision for the New Iraq. It is almost self-sufficient, and staff working there can be treated in the compound's hospital or run safely in its grounds. When they go out, it is by armored car with an armed military escort.

The Convention Center is where the United States has set up headquarters, and the coalition press office is at the Baghdad Convention Center. The state-of-the-art hall is in the same Green Zone as the Republican Palace. It was once used by the fallen regime for conferences, is home to a highly visible collection of troops, some of whom live in an office that has been converted to barracks.

The Iraqi Governing Council is headquartered in the handsome marble building that once was the Military Industry Ministry run by Saddam's son-in-law, Hussein Kamel. The new Iraqi Ministry of Justice has decided to use the Adnan Buildingg, which is within the Green Zone, instead of the Clock Tower Building, for the Central Criminal Court and the Supreme Court.

The Green Zone is defended with coils of razor wire, chain-link fences, earthen berms and armed checkpoints. The area is defended by M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and HUMVEEs with .50 caliber machine guns on top. The Green Zone appears under siege, with barriers, high concrete walls and checkpoints. US officials are rarely visible outside it, and rules for British personnel bar them from leaving it unless accompanied by four bodyguards and an armored vehicle.

Iraqis and foreign diplomats have been critical of occupation officials, who they say are isolated within the Green Zone and un-informed about life elsewhere in Baghdad, an area that official US security jargon calls "the Red Zone." Being in the Green Zone in Baghdad provides a limited possibility to meet regular Iraqi people. Americans are walling themselves in, mentally and emotionally, as well as physically.

In an analysis on 01 September 2003 ["After Najaf: The Emerging Patterns of Combat in the Iraq War"] Anthony H. Cordesman states that "a critical mistake [was] made by ORHA and carried on by the CPA by creating US security zones around US headquarters in central Baghdad. This has created a no go zone for Iraqis and has allowed the attackers to push the US into a fortress that tends to separate U.S. personnel from the Iraqis. This follows a broader pattern where terrorist know that attacks tend to push the US into locating in "force protection" enclaves and cut Americans off from the local population."

By late 2003 much of the huge US military presence in Baghdad was out of sight at the airport and in other encampments.