The Cheapskate's Guide to Gift Giving

 

David Shamah, The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 26, 2004

 

Like everyone else these days, I'm on a money-saving kick – and I've decided to start with that seasonal favorite, the Chanuka gift. Yes, I know everyone looks forward to them, even though (or maybe because!) of the seasonal coincidence with you-know-what, but custom is custom, and the kids expect at least one (it's all I can do to convince them that they’re

 

I've had enough of throwing money out on the glitter and the glitz in the shopping malls, though. I think I've supported Chinese industry sufficiently; they're going to be doing A-OK without my hard-earned shekels! But I believe I've found a solution that will keep both the kids and my pocketbook happy. I am going to use my huge collection of old CDs and make my own gifts!

 

The personal touch is the way to go, they say in all those women's magazines (it takes a real man to appreciate Better Homes and Gardens, believe me), so why not give it a whirl? I started my collection way, way back, starting with the seemingly endless freebies provided by AOL, promising endless hours of "free" internet. Programs I no longer use, drivers for mice and sound cards long replaced, and old backups of files that have long outlived for usefulness have all become part of my projects.

 

And what beautiful projects they are! I've got the usual, like coasters (attach four cork squares of cork to the printed side of the CD, leaving the shiny side up as the coaster, or cover both sides with contact paper; see http://www.ehow.com/how_2841_create-cd-coasters.html) and Frisbees, but I also came up with some unusual ideas. I made clocks out of some of them (painting the shiny side and attaching a clock mechanism to the back), a "disco ball" (Cut the CD into 1/2 inch squares and glue to the outside of a ball. Hang the ball from the ceiling and shine lights on it; see http://www.ehow.com/how_4570_make-cd-disco.html). For the little kids, I have CD Puppet dolls (http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/makingflowers/l/blflowercd.htm). And for friends in the old neighborhood, I am making "bird scarecrows," which are supposed to ward off pests like crows and pigeons (they get nervous when they see the reflective metal shining in the sun: gold-colored CDs seem to be the best bird-repellent; see http://www.ehow.com/how_4589_scare-away-birds.html).

 

But wouldn't you know it – one of those anti-bird CDs has important stuff on it! How that backup CD ended up in the "bad pile" I have no idea, but now I had a problem; birds had, how shall I put it, left their "calling cards" on the disc. I managed to clean the thing up alright, but then I couldn't copy my files off the CD! All I got when I tried to red the disc was "Error Reading Segment File." Plus, it now smelled bad.

 

I really needed those files, but now I was stuck – or so I thought. But fortunately, I managed to find a nice little program that let me copy my files off the old, smelly disc and back onto my hard drive. CDCheck is an invaluable tool that can rescue the data off a bad CD – thereby rescuing you from the ignominy that can result from missing information!

 

Out of all competing mass backup technologies, CDs are by far the most ubiquitous, and its ubiquity has made it the cheapest, fastest and easiest system for the average home or business user. But CDs are especially vulnerable to destruction – some would even say that they are damage-prone. There's a lot of real estate on a CD on that can potentially pick up even a small imperfection, rendering the entire disc unreadable.

 

CDCheck doesn't remove the scratches that have made your CD unreadable, but it can read "around" the scratches and tell you where the bad files are on a disc – and rescue them from the junkheap. CDCheck reporting features tell you exactly where the problems are. Files on CDs, zip drives, USB key file transfer devices – all of which CDCheck can also read - are all candidates for repair by this program.

 

CDCheck also provides you with tools to prevent problems in the first place. If you're making a copy of a CD, for example, the program can check future backups of that CD by recording and storing information abut the original files, using a byte by byte comparison engine. It may be called CDCheck, but it's scope is not limited to discs - it can also do this for files that get copied to and from hard disks and email, such as checking that a file you've copied from one disk to another or over a network got to its destination in one piece. The program works on data CDs, MP3 CDs, Audio CDs and even DVDs.

 

CDCheck accomplishes much of its magic by creating a "hash file" with information about the data it is set to work with. The program stores this file, which contains key information about every file that passes through CDCheck's scanner, and uses it to compare the actual contents of what is being copied. Actually, all computer platforms use hashes to verify content data, but CDCheck's says that is are more thorough. CDCheck will maintain a database of hashes it creates, but you can also copy r send it via email in order to verify that the file arrived in one piece.

 

If there is a discrepancy between a file and its hash, or other problems that render part of a file unreadable by the CD, CDCheck will copy that file to your hard drive, "filling in" the missing data with its own strings of information in order to keep the integrity of the file secure and allow you to access the data in whatever program is supposed to be able to read the information. CDCheck does this because a file must be the correct "length" – i.e., have an equal amount of bytes as is listed in its hash record – in order to be openable. Otherwise, your PC will complain that the file is corrupt and cannot be read. The upshot is that the file will be as readable as humanly (or computerly, in this case) as possible, with files having the maximum amount of "real" data as possible.

 

If there is a problem with a file that CDCheck needs to work on, it will tell you the exact error message associated with the file. Errors are also colored depending on the error type for quicker overview. Although deleted files work the same way, CDCheck does not recover those. The program provides complete information about CD/DVD media is provided including manufacturer, ATIP/ID code, type, capacity, etc. CDCheck also displays menus and help screens in a slew of languages (not Hebrew, though). And, the program even provides a plug-in virus checker, in order to ensure that anything it does move to your hard drive is clean.

 

It’s not easy to find good CD recovery programs, at any price. CDCheck is without question one of the best – and it's free to home users! You get thirty days, after which you are asked to donate if you can – otherwise you can get a free license by registering. (Business users are supposed to pay). This program is going to come in very handy after Chanuka – anyone that I deem not sufficiently appreciative of the hard work I put into my very personal gifts doesn't deserve them, as far as I'm concerned. I intend to reclaim the stuff I give these people – and thanks to CDCheck, I can reclaim what's on them, as well!

 

Download CDCheck from http://www.elpros.si/CDCheck. For all Windows systems.

 

ds@newzgeek.com