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Is Your Laptop At Risk While Traveling?
Editorgirl35 writes "Here's an interesting story on DesignNews.com
With last week's announcement that the British government thwarted an alleged terrorist attack planned for flights from the U.K. to the U.S., news that travelers are required to check their laptops as baggage on some flights has raised a new level of panic as they try to figure out the best way to protect their laptops."
Wow, thats really safe..
Some laptops ( and most pdas ) can turn them selves on at a predetermined time.. Just estimate the time for maximum impact, laptop turns on and detonates the 'extra' battery that is made up of C4.. now you have a nice big hole in the bottom of the plane..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The ban was lifted already. As it had to be. Business travellers routinely carry laptop computers with confidential client information on them, they would be negligent if they checked them into the current baggage handling system. Forget about the laptop being damaged since it is possible to package it safely, but the possibility of lost client data would be too high of a risk.
While a permanent laptop ban would have a serious impact on certain types of businesses and travellers, it would have an even more serious impact on the airlines when their primary client base was forced to use charter aircraft.
Fortunately I don't travel by air very often. And, as has been pointed out by others, the laptop ban has been lifted (wealthier, more powerful people than I have likely already informed the appropriate scaremongers what a losing proposition this was). Even so, there's no way I'm putting a laptop through checked baggage. Luggage gets lost. Luggage gets tossed around very roughly. And items are known to go "missing" from luggage.
No. Not my laptop. It stays with me, or it stays home.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
This is how we know that that 'terrorusts' don't want to 'kill amerkuns'. If killing was their primary goal, they could start blowing up any sort of public event that have no security like concerts, movies, town meetings, carnivals, or krispy kreme openings.
The goal is to blow up symbols to inspire fear in the populace by use of mass media. There have been bombs set in discos and the past, but those didn't effect public behavior much at all, people kept on dancin.
Please arrive at your gate 10 hours early so that our one certified laptop cavity searcher can accomodate everyone...
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
I fly quite a bit in Canada and would never check my laptop, iPod, digital camera or anything else valuable as I would be afraid of theft more than damage. I've never had a theft, but I have heard horror stories from people, mainly international travelers, that have returned home only to find a video camera, liquor, jewelery or some other item stolen from checked luggage.
I do have a friend that works on the ramp, as it's called, stowing and retrieving bags from aircraft. He told me that theft isn't a problem domestically because they're watched so carefully with video cameras and security, but most importantly they just don't have the time or opportunity to pull someone's bag aside and rifle through it. He said international flights are a different story as bags are checked hours before the flight actually leaves, but he still doesn't think it's a big problem. I won't take my chances though and will continue to carry my digital/video camera and laptop onboard.
You aren't paranoid if they really are out to get you...or your stuff:
TSA Under Fire for Rising Theft by Baggage Screeners
"It's a huge security threat," said aviation industry consultant Michael Boyd. "If we've got the kind of people who would steal things out of bags, we're not sure if we have people on the job who will put things into bags. And obviously we don't have enough scrutiny of the bags once they're checked. It's huge."
As someone who gets to Latin America every once in a while (thus the name...), I would NEVER check my laptop, electronics, or ANYTHING of value in my baggage. NEVER.
Theft occurs often enough in the U.S. to make me at the very least give serious pause... in Latin America? In Argentina, for example, a country where you have almost no hope of receiving anything more than a disposable camera in the mail, there is NO way I would entrust my laptop to their baggage handlers, not to mention my camera, iPod, etc.
It looks like the security is being toned down a little bit now, and I hope and pray it stays at the present level.
I would also appreciate it if people would stop planning to blow up airplanes - can y'all just knock that off, please? Thanks, guys.
Not all Muslims are terrorists, but nearly all terrorists are Muslims.
g anisations.
Sure, and everyone eating Sauerkraut and wearing Lederhosen must be a German, if you see someone wearing a ten-gallon hat and chew chewing gum it must be an American, Asian in school uniform an naked? It's definitely a Japanese.
To adjust your splendid world view, here's some food for thought http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_or
There are two rules for success:
1. Never tell everything you know.
Because everyone knows the IRA are just really big fuzzy bunnies.
The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say. -Anais Nin
Oh and flashback to last century anyone?
========
CINC, 4th Penguin Legion
Idiotic. Then all the terrorists just give up? There are plenty of Muslims who don't look like your stereotypical Arab. And there are plenty of Middle Eastern Jews and Christians who could supply ID, or have it stolen from them. There are plenty of US citizens who are Muslim, it would be interesting to try to get a ban on their travelling through court. Not to mention the huge backlash the US would suffer.
Think of it like spam. A couple of years ago, you were getting lots of spam with the word "Viagra" in it. Simple. Filter out all messages with the word "Viagra". Two weeks later, you start to get spam about "V1agra", "V;agra", "Viiagra"....
If were honest about the way Palestinians have been treated we'd realise that we in the west are setting up a similar scenario on a larger scale and as a previous poster said in the end we'll have to talk to Hezbolah & Hamas, or if we hang on a while longer a more extreme group will be sure to come along.
"Linux is for noobs"-The new MS fud strategy
Simply put:-
- Board train with suitcase filled with explosives at any station - minimal security.
- Leave suitcase in suitable location and leave train. Here in the UK no one would touch it
- Use timer/gps to detonate bomb at suitable location. Suggestions given were:-
- As train passes suitable military base
- As train passes through suitable urban area
And even without the gps/timer aspect, consider what would happen if a bomb went of in a major rail station of your choice in a city of your choice during the rush hour. Remember 7/7/05? Those were baby bombs delivered by amateurs.init 11 - for when you need that edge.
You also have 180,000kg of aircraft traveling at 236m/s. Which gives you an additional 5 gigajoules. Hmm, insignificant in comparison to the fuel. As you were.
Deleted
Terrorism gets media attention far out of proportion to its real impact - the number of people terrorist kill is far fewer than cars kill.
The best thing to do is to ignore terrorism.
Yeah, let's whip out all the lone wolves and their deacdes ago one off attacks.
Yeah, when someone makes a blanket absolute claim, heaven forbid someone point out a counter-example. And I'm not sure how they are any more "lone wolves" than muslim terrorists.
And just over one decade, I make it. I bet you people will still be citing 9/11 as an example of "Islamic terrorism" for long after 2012.
In every thread like this there is some academic robot defending that with that obsolete PC attitude
And in every thread, there is someone who claims their opponent is being "PC", because they can't explain why they are wrong...
Or do you advocate acceding to their demands which are 1) Destroy Israel and 2) Convert to Islam
Look, it's a strawman.