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Comdex Bans Bags From Show Floor
ckd writes: "CNET is reporting that COMDEX organizers have a new security policy--no bags except vendor supplied plastic bags will allowed on the show floor. "While on-site, you should CARRY A PHOTO ID (DRIVER'S LICENSE OR PASSPORT) ON YOU AT ALL TIMES." They want you to leave your laptop in your hotel room, too! Oh, and no cameras at the keynotes, either. But they haven't announced that they're planning to strip search people ... yet."
They seem to think that forcing people to turn a laptop on is an important security measure. You used to be able to not even have it x-rayed if you could get it to display a boot.
With multi-swappable bay laptops, or even older ones, why did they think this was a way to protect against a weapon being in the laptop?
Has it been over a year since you last donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
You realize, of course, that this means there will be an abnormally large percentage of hotel rooms in the area with laptops in them, and thieves will know it...
I wouldn't go to any conference that required me to leave my laptop in an unattended room, particularly if I knew people like maids had keys.
The truth is, short of a strip search and body cavity search of each and every attendee, there's no way they can ensure people won't bring something dangerous into the conference. If they want to try a few basic security procedures like metal detectors and xrays to help ensure that ordinary everyday lunatics don't come in with guns and big knives, sure, that's nice. Anything else is pointless excess.
Insightful stuff on security practices snipped
Well said and unfortunantly true. Even in Sydney, where there is little credible threat (I hope), things are being pulled a bit tighter but to be honest, not much. Still you do hear things about "Well because of this event, we have to do this" all in the name of public safety.
To me, this has two sides and two argument extremes...
1) It's a grab at closing shut civil liberties. Maybe
2) It's displays a duty of care which the organisers are bound to provide. If they cant guarenttee security with the restrictions they have in place right now, then what needs to be done so this guarenttee can take place?
I personally think it's more of 2) than of 1) myself. I doubt something would happen, but IF it did and the organisers did not take all resonable precautions, then say hello to the lawyers.
It's also noted the definition of resonable risk and resonable preventative action has been risen considerably.
So what's next, we have to attend in the nude?
"Old Rallydrivers never die - they just fail to book in on time"
"Yes sir, Mr. Convention Director sir. We at fly-by-night security consulting and TV/VCR repair, Inc. have a fool-proof plan to provide heightened security measures for COMDEX!"
"Oh, good. Load off my mind."
"Don't you want to hear what it is?"
"Not really, no."
"Oh, well... I see. In that case, can you just sign right here?"
Please note that laptop security cables are no longer allowed as carry on pieces. Apparently they can be used as a weapon (noose). The airports *will* conficate them if you have one in a carry on bag. Check it and save yourself the money (around $40)...
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
I don't see why they would think that a Comdex show would be targeted.
:D
.. (no wait that should read from anywhere from Morroco to the Phillipines, or even be Greek) and be in the wrong place at the wrong time until sanity prevails.
They're expecting "only" 150,000 people (From a max. of 250,000 back in 1997) because of the dot-com bust , the not-yet-named recession, the Sept. 11 attacks and all the stuff from that (companies prohibiting certain key execs from traveling, cost-cutting measures, etc.)
Now, seeing all that people in one place, you can't imagine it. Back in the 1997 show, I was warned before attending, but being there, it's another thing.
We "planed" to get a taxi when the show closed one of the days, well, the line was 1000+ long. Don't believe it ? I've a picture from last year's show.
The lines for the 24+ different bus routes to the hotels ? 400 + long each.
In a few words, it's BIG. Many people. Chaos could ensue. And you can count on the people attending the show to help. Two or three years ago, all the cell phone lines/bandwidth was used at some peak hours, something that never happenned before, if you believe the local news those days. Remember some of the "chaos" in NYC when the cell lines got blocked after the attacks? well, it kind of happened in Las Vegas. Scary indeed.
You could see the people from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc. using their cell phones (2 or 3 models more advanced than anyone I saw in the US, BTW) at some "strange hours", I suppose they called before the offices back at home closed or just when they were opening, I don't know. But seeing all those people seating on the stairs talking in different languages, it's when it hits you: Comdex Fall is an International show. Just from here (Mexico), I don't remember the "exact" figure but it's above 12,000 people attending. Another example: I remember in the 98 show being at the Ziff Davis booth, there was an egyptian engineer trying to subscribe to some magazines. "Big deal", eh? He wasn't an immigrant working in the USA. Then the ZD representative realized he wanted to get it to get delivered to Egypt. I mean, this man came all the way from Egypt! Not as a part of a booth, but as any "regular techie". Talk about getting some job related travels (I mean, for techies, not CEO's...)
You can see companies from all around the world, press from all around the world, reporting daily from there. I remember seeing a CNN press booth just in the middle of the Convention Center last year. So you have coverage all around the world.
And don't get me started on the crowds in the rest of the strip. The buffet lines are the second worst of the year, only after the last week of the year, one of the busiest at LV. Crowds everywhere but at the casino's. Someone said the tech people are the worst crowd as gamblers, suppossedly because "we" know the odds on the chance games. I support the other theory: bad travel budgets makes us "cheap".
Also, Las Vegas had a anthrax scare some years ago when they arrested someone with an anthrax vaccine, after getting a clue from someone about it. They reacted very seriously back then, imagine now.
You also have some of the richest people in the world there. Gates, Ellison, Sony's President (or CEO? I don't remember).
I mean *HONESTLY*, who on earth would target COMDEX, something that has absolutely no importance to the general (non-technical) public? From a terrorist's point of view (which is what you try to take if your aim is an intelligent security policy) it's obviously of no use to attack a target that people would have to explain why it was that striking it meant something.
How about one of the biggest/important economy sectors? And in this "decadent, Sin City" ?
I think I already made my point. So you can't go around thinking it can't be a target. I'm sure I wish it wasn't true, but it is. I love that show, I was there 3 of the last 4 years, and yes, it's not the same as the "good all days". Yes, you can get most of the info from the internet just days after, but the "experience" is different.
Sadly, I cann't attend this year, since my VISA expired and here the embassy/consulates have a backlog/queue of 120,000+ applications/renewals to see (so I'll get my renewal until next year. Bummer). And that's before the attacks happenned, not because of any increased security. Just too much work and too many people, I guess.
I hope this doesn't get's the show killed, I hope it gets to thrives again next year.
After reading some of the sites with advice for attending there (incredible useful, BTW) and having the experience of attending the ComicCon at San Diego before, I always had a backpack with me, with a bottle of water, a digital camera (even a video one once), extra batteries for the cams, some extra business cards, etcetera. I could stuff there the "goodies" as someone mentioned before and when it was full, I could rely then in the show's bags. I guess if I was going there this year I had to "rethink" my strategy. It's a shame cameras can't be used anymore.
Someone mentioned the body search thing. It can't be done to everyone. The lines/crowd for entering would be unmanageable. Metal detector should be used, but that can't get the anthrax/biological weapons as someone mentioned. I guess you just have to rely on checking everyones pockets, I guess, like at the stadium. God, I hope there's nothing like that. And you can bet I will go there next year.
Whatever you do, don't be Irish
Funny thing, last year a friend went with us "regulars" to Comdex (Nov/2000), and from the point we arrived at the airport there were always "suspicious" looks for him. he has a mexican name, but his great-great-great-great-grandfather or something was from the Middle East, and he has "the looks", with a heavy beard and ponytail. But he's more mexican than the tequila. We talked about it when we came back. Guess what he's not doing after the Sept.11 attacks ? You guessed right. Not going "even near" the border. And I can't blame him, I saw it happenning before, so why risk it? I guess that egyptian engineer I saw before will not go there neither.
Just my 2 cents.
And see you there next year.
BTW, for the guy who is in high school and heared all this things? Go for it, I too wanted to attend three conventions when I was in college: MacWorld, San Diego ComicCon, Comdex Fall (2 out of 3 ain't bad, and MacWorld sucked when I got the chance. And now I don't use Mac anymore, so I'm not going there yet.). You have to make it happen.
Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy. I'm sure the plot has been used by others, but that one fits your description. The agent in question was a strain of Ebola which incubated for a few days.
As usual in Clancy, something goes wrong (the virus is not as contagious as the Persians had hoped) so disaster was averted by chance - there were "only" a few thousand victims.
"How can you claim that you are anti-crack, while still writing a window manager?" — Metacity README
Firstly, there's no rule that says you must leave your laptop in your hotel room. The policy explicitly notes the existance of bag checks for those of you who think that there's a high likelihood of mass theft from casino hotels which are under extremely heavy surveillance.
Secondly, this isn't a reduction of rights. Nowhere are you granted the "right" to bring your laptop to a privately sponsored convention. On the other hand, the convention organizers do have a legal responsibility to do their best to make sure everything is safe, and nobody engages in a terrorist attack, or more realistically that nobody steals those cute little LCD panels off a vendor booth, throws them in their laptop bag and walks out.
Guys, I know the slashdroids love to overreact, but this is no big deal. Get over it.
A PDA full of C4 can level a shopping mall? Hello? Have you ever even used C4?
A PDA (and let's assume it's a big one like one of the Casios) full of C4 would have a hard time levelling a decent sized mini-van.
Even if you packed it 2/3 full with C4 and the remainder with BBs or other shrapnel, you would be lucky to take down more than the few geeks clustered around you.
C4 is neat stuff, but it's just not that powerful.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
In "Debt of Honor" terrorists brought biochems. that were airborn into tradeshows contained in shaving creme cans. They would set them off behind a curtain like a bug bomb. Pretty soon, a large portion of the U.S. is infected. Granted, the virus in the book was contagious (modified Ebola), but all it has taken is 17 exposures to cause the U.S. to go into "better be careful" mode. What would a few hundred infections do? What? You don't think Clancy has inside info. on what they are most likely scared of? In that same book a Japanese pilot blaming the U.S. for his personal problems slams a jumbo jet into the White House during a ceremony. Clancy has been hassled by the govt. in the past for knowing way too much for a civilian. I'm not saying we all need to stay home, but what is wrong with being a little cautious? Is it gonna kill you not to have your own personal bag at a tradeshow? What is this garbage about taking away another right? You people are the same ones that would bitch when the govt. doesn't say anything for fear of violating your rights, and then something bad happens. Quit worrying about those stupid give-aways and Get over it!