Burning those CD's (in the microwave).

In a discussion on how to best destroy CD-R's (containing personal or company confidential data) it was mentioned that microwaving might be a good way (unless you have one of the new strong shredders which can take both paper and cds).

I put an old CD in the microwave and here is the end result. Looks totally unreadable. Reading Paul Haas' initial report (linked from the CDR FAQ) is advisable before you try this. Paul recommends putting it on top of a paper cup; I placed the CD inside a transparent plastic bag before microwaving and that seemed to work fine as well. 5-10 seconds on high is enough. Normal disclaimers apply and a larger image (607 KB) which more clearly shows the damage is available.

How long is a bit? 17.7 meters.

I came across this a trying to find out what a "jabber" was (preparing for a network exam). The answer to this and the question in the title is found in the comp.dcom.lans.ethernet FAQ:

        In the following table, c refers to the speed of light in a vacuum,
        or 300,000 kilometers per second.

        Medium        Propagation Speed
        ------        -----------------
        Thick Coax    .77c (231,000 km/sec)
        Thin Coax     .65c (195,000 km/sec)
        Twisted Pair  .59c (177,000 km/sec)
        Fiber         .66c (198,000 km/sec)
        AUI Cable     .65c (195,000 km/sec)

        From these values, the size of a bit on 10BaseT can be calculated.
        10BaseT is twisted pair, which has a propagation delay of 177,000
        km/sec. 177,000 km/sec divided by 10 million bits per second is
        17.7 meters, or the size of a single bit on a 10BaseT network.