I recall something about alcohol pens doing bad stuff to CD substrates. It made the news a few years back. Consult your favorite oracle for more details.
Uh oh. The oracle counseled both 'yes' and 'no' and 'install Linux':
According to Plextor (http://www.plextor.com/english/news/media.html): "Use a soft-tipped pen with water-soluble non-toxic ink (e.g. Sanford Sharpie line), when writing on the media. The top protective lacquer layer is delicate and may scratch if a ballpoint pen is used, or degrade if an alcohol-solvent marking pen is used."
According to Media Sciences (http://www.mscience.com/faq23.html): "Never write on the label surface with a solvent based pen, such as the popular Sharpie. Use only pens with water based inks, and write only on the clear inner ring if possible."
Uh ... Sharpies smell of alcohol, and the dried ink is removable quickly with alcohol but not easily with water, but one site says they're water-based and holds them up as the example of a good thing to use, while another says thou shalt not. Urk ...
NIST (http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/techbeat/tb2004_0213.htm#cd) merely says: You should never use a pen, pencil or hard-tip marker to write on your CDs." (But it would not have occurred to me to try to write on a surface like that with a hard-point pen or a pencil in the first place -- that just sounds frustrating.)
I think I've got some oil-based paint-pens in the basement ...
(no subject)
(no subject)
and 'install Linux':According to Plextor (http://www.plextor.com/english/news/media.html): "Use a soft-tipped pen with water-soluble non-toxic ink (e.g. Sanford Sharpie line), when writing on the media. The top protective lacquer layer is delicate and may scratch if a ballpoint pen is used, or degrade if an alcohol-solvent marking pen is used."
According to Media Sciences (http://www.mscience.com/faq23.html): "Never write on the label surface with a solvent based pen, such as the popular Sharpie. Use only pens with water based inks, and write only on the clear inner ring if possible."
Uh ... Sharpies smell of alcohol, and the dried ink is removable quickly with alcohol but not easily with water, but one site says they're water-based and holds them up as the example of a good thing to use, while another says thou shalt not. Urk ...
NIST (http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/techbeat/tb2004_0213.htm#cd) merely says: You should never use a pen, pencil or hard-tip marker to write on your CDs." (But it would not have occurred to me to try to write on a surface like that with a hard-point pen or a pencil in the first place -- that just sounds frustrating.)
I think I've got some oil-based paint-pens in the basement ...