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- COMPUTERS AND MAGNETS
- by Editor, SLKUG, July 1987
-
- (Magnets near computers can create sad problems)
-
- A recently hired steno was duly to operate the desk-top computer
- and the word processor with it. She had been assigned to work in
- this nice office cubicle with sound absorbent walls and tidy-
- looking metal posts, and a carpeted floor. Really nice. After
- about a week, she reported to her supervisor that she had a
- defective batch of floppy disks. Wanting to investigate before
- complaining, her supervisor looked at the workplace. She was
- asked how she worked with the disks, and she responded that she
- wanted to make sure that they wouldn't get damaged when they were
- out of the computer so she hung them up on the wall out of harm's
- way or so she said. The problem was that she chose to hang them
- up on the metal post with kitchen magnets she had brought from
- home for the purpose! The magnets were wiping out the data on
- the disks! It is safe to assume that the trainers now include a
- comment about NOT HANGING UP FLOPPY DISKS WITH MAGNETS.
-
- ALSO RELATED TO MAGNETIC PERSONALITIES
-
- I messed up a disk a few years ago by a paper clip. No, I didn't
- paper-clip a disk to correspondence. This clip was UNDER three
- layers of paper on my desk at home. It had been magnetized by
- the magnetic paper clip dispenser. Needless to say, I no longer
- have that paper clip holder, nor do I use paper clips around my
- computer or floppy disks.
-
- MORAL OF THE TALE: Keep magnets away from your computer. This
- includes speakers in radios and tape recorders. Your monitor
- could be radiating enough to damage a disk, too. Of course, the
- metal cabinet Kaypro models are well shielded and the metal will
- protect your disks, but the PCs with the external monitor may not
- be perfectly shielded. Can you afford to lose data? And then
- there are the paper clips. If you must use paper clips, use
- those which are all-plastic, not just plastic covered. The wire
- may have been magnetized. Keep paper clips away from your disks
- unless you enjoy suffering the woes of lost data files.
-
- REMEMBER, THE DATA YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN.