I had always thought making a cd or dvd backup of my pics was the smart and safe thing to do. It seems that it is still smart to backup them up.. but not as good of a backup as I had thought..

from the sun-sentinel:

It seems that photos stored on CDs or DVDs may not have the same degree of permanence as traditional photographic prints developed from negatives, which, when handled and stored properly, can last for more than 100 years. Yes, CDs and DVDs are a great way to back up your digital photos, but they shouldn’t be your only method of storage.

Read more from the sun sentinal about the backups of pics on cd/s dvds.

Another good reason to use flickr, and have an extra backup dvd in a safety deposit box!