What do you find when you haven’t opened a drawer in almost a decade? Of course there’s at least one “Try AOL free!” disc in there.

Originally posted at The Social

Uh, holy crap? As prayed/predicated, Netflix streaming will be available “later this year” on the PS3. Like the Xbox 360, it’ll be free with the $8.99-a-month plan. Unlike the 360, you’ll enable Netflix via an “instant streaming Blu-ray disc.”

Apparently, the free disc activates the Netflix mojo via BD-Live, in what must be the best use of BD-Live ever. At least until the next major system update, you’ll have to load up the disc every time you want to use Netflix. But you’ll be able to pick out movies or throw stuff into your queue using an onscreen interface, so there’s no going back to the old-school days where you had to add stuff to your queue on your computer before strolling over to your Xbox and TV.

Pop on over to Netflix to reserve the disc now—I have a feeling there’s gonna be a huge demand crush for them. [Netflix, Sony, Thanks Kyle B!]

Back when I was a kid, vinyl records were the vehicle used by diehard music lovers to listen to their favorite songs. Eight tracks were going out of style really quickly and the latest thing was the cassette tape. Even with the passing of the eight tracks and the appearance of the cassette tape, scores of music lovers, such as matt nathanson, stuck to the long-established vinyl records for their listening enjoyment.

We have come a long way since the hay day of vinyl records. CDs are all the rage now with good reason. The audio quality is truly pure and you almost feel as if you are in a sound-proof room when you focus your listening skills on the CD player. You can simply sit back with an xs energy drink and enjoy the songs. The clean sounds are a big improvement from the vinyl records that crackled as they played.

However, it is that crackling sound that is only offered by the vinyl records that I find so pleasing. There is something about that sound that is so fun to listen to especially when I’m in a wistful mood. Maybe it is because the crackling sound is tied so intimately to the songs I loved when I was a young person. I just can’t seem to separate the two.

I discovered my love for the one of a kind antique sounds of the crackling vinyl records accidentally. A close friend of mine offered free disc jockey services for my wedding. Of course I did not refuse the nice wedding gift. There was a catch. My friend plays vinyl records, nothing else.

This was not actually a hindrance for me. I wanted to forego all of the stylish pop-chart music of today and focus on older dance music and classic songs available on vinyl records. My friend started playing dinner songs at the reception. He chose traditional Irish music for the wedding meal. It’s not hot new music, but it’s pretty.

The entire reception hall fell silent during the prayer. Once the prayer ended, the DJ placed the needle on the record and the quiet room filled with soft crackling sounds followed by lovely Irish music. The transition was magnificent and the memory of the moment the crackling sounds overtook the reception hall still gives me chills. You simply could not duplicate that with a compact disc.

Technologically, we have come a long way when it comes to music. However, we should not altogether let go of the little gems from our past. The haunting sounds of the crackling vinyl records help us truly touch the past even if for just a flash.