evolution of misinformation (was: Computer Museum opens in San Diego

<> > A display case shows the progression of storage disks, starting wit <> > one from 1965 that's the size of a tractor-trailer tire. It held 2. <> > megabytes of data and had to be sandblasted to be erased. <> > Had to be sandblasted to be erased? Huh?? < <> We've seen that particular bit of silliness before. Once an authoritativ <> statement of wrong information is made, others will follow, and if/when <> challenged merely refer to the authority. < <I assumed that by "particular bit of silliness" you meant "the 'erased by <sandblasting' idea" but after a little thought, I realized that maybe you <just meant "the spreading of a patently false statement". Let us assume this was likely a military system where media destruction is commonplace. In that case sandblasting would certainly render it unreadable, permanently! Then again it may just be shear sillyness passed along. Allison