If there’s one thing that’ll interest you about Sony’s third generation internal Blu-ray optical drive, the BWU-300S, it’s not the specs. So, what if it can write single and dual layer BD-R discs at up to 8X speed, or if it writes DVDs at up to 16X, CDs up to 48X and supports DVD-RAM recording.

No, we don’t care about all of that. We care that this drive comes with a free movie, not the news about no DH DVD playback. So long as it comes with Men In Black on Blu-ray, we’ll buy it. That’s like - a fifteen dollar value. Unbelievable.

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Music can be really costly these days, especially if you’re the one guy caught leaking the Guns N’ Roses album on to the net.  Even music stores mark up prices on both uses and new CDs at an outrageous rate. It almost seems like everyone is out to get anyone who loves listening to music.

Well, Amazon wants you to know that it’s not out to get you with overpriced music from classic artists.  I mean afterall, you’ve probably heard most of the songs on a CD you’re willing to buy, anyway. Amazon wants to hook up all those in the KISS Army by letting the Greatest Kiss album go for just $1.99. That’s like 12 cents a song! This album has all the hits, too! Deuce, Strutter, Detroit Rock City and more! It seems like all it’s really missing is Love Gun. This deal will be going on the whole weekend through Monday. If you’re a KISS fan that doesn’t already have this album, don’t miss out.

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LG makes every product under the sun. You name it, LG probably mass produces it. LG also enjoys marketing bizarre combination of electronic equipment. Take this 8″ portable DVD player, the LG DP889. Little excessive on the numbers, don’t you think?

Well, this portable DVD player not only works as a normal CD player but it also happens to be a digital photo-frame. Now, when you aren’t watching The Dark Knight on it, you can gawk at family photos as you dream of days past. It’s compatible with a plethora of formats, including DVD video/DVD±R/DVD±RW/Audio CD/CD-R/CD-RW, ensuring nearly any burned disc will work. It’s priced at $200, making it the most diverse digital photo-frame in existence and while, not quite as compact and portable as the Panasonic LF-P968C DVD burner, it’s certainly getting there.

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For years now, I’ve been been producing my own music. I’ve played gigs here and there and the one thing I always wanted to do was whip up a batch of 100 or so limited edition CDs. But what’s a limited edition release without the bitchin’ artwork? I didn’t have any cheap methods years ago, but now I’m highly considering the Dymo DiscPainter. It’ll print any artwork you want on a blank white CD at 600 dpi. Not too bad.

Core77 has a nice brief review on it and some great example photos of printed CDs. Looks perfect for anyone self-releasing material.

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I think my mom is into The Replacements but no matter. When an album costs 49 cents, you and every bum in Manhattan can afford a copy. No excuses. Paul Westerberg, frontman for the band, decided to release his latest album this way. He originally wanted to do it for 44 cents but Amazon wouldn’t let him (they’re the only retailer carrying it currently). The music on the CD has been described as “freewheeling, choppy, (and) chaotic.”

If you’re really cheap and still can’t afford the 49 cents (you bastard) or you’re not into Paul Westerberg, you can always listen to WHYY free of charge!

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Aleks Kolkowski’s exhibit at the Futuresonic 2008 festival in Manchester is turning heads. He owns an original vinyl cutting device intended for making 45rpm records that is now being used to draw grooves in CDs.

During the festival, spectators were invited to bring in their old, unwanted CDs and have them etched with a song so they can be played on a turntable. Talk about regression!

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Unless you’re a giant living inside of a fantasy novel, I highly doubt you’ll be able to fit these over-sized discs into your computer. Part of Thomas Mailaender’s “Items” project, these gigantic storage medias are better fit for dealing blunt force trauma than providing any data usage.

And the madness doesn’t stop at storage. The project also features a massive calculator and a pen the size of a child. While Tolkien might be able to find a use for these objects, maybe as a writing utensil for the mighty Ents, we’ll be left without any luck. (more…)

Aren’t you kinda sick of seeing some random company logo strewn across your very personal CD mixes? We know people put a lot of heart and soul into their mixes. It’s only right to have your own design on it a well. The Dymo DiscPainter prints 600 dpi graphics directly onto your disc in about a minute.

The USB powered DiscPainter spins the disc around a it prints the image onto its face. The device is compatible with Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, or the included Dymo Discus software, on both Mac and PC platforms. A nice touch of custom taste is a cool addition to the plain old blank disc model. Available for $280. — Andrew Dobrow

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While it seems I barely ever have a CD jewel case to spare, it seems some people actually have an over abundance of the cases. If you are one of these people, here is a cool way to make a chandelier from the empty cases, rather than just chucking them in the trash.

But what to do with the CD’s that would go in these cases? Well, these guys seem to have the right idea. — Andrew Dobrow

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If I had this many blank CDs, I wouldn’t know what to do with them either. The Panda Chair is made from a simple base, and assembled with hundreds of blank CDs. Of course, if you want to make one yourself it’s up to you if they’re blank or just a bunch of Avril Lavigne albums.

It looks really cool. It was recently being displayed at the Nude Pavilion for the International Furniture Fair of Valencia. Maybe Sony should start up a furniture line? I’d buy it. — Andrew Dobrow

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