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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.
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