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TSA Evaluating Laptop Bags

kbielefe writes "The Transportation Security Administration has sent out a call to laptop bag manufacturers to produce a laptop bag that could pass through airport screening without having to remove the laptop. The TSA will perform testing starting at the end of May, with the end result hopefully being a TSA stamp of approval that will reduce the hassle for a lot of us. According to the article, 'The key is for TSA screeners to be able to view the laptop in a single X-ray image, so the laptop would not need to be placed in a separate TSA bin.'"

20 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Well damn by n3tcat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And here I was trying to build a new laptop case-mod by integrating the laptop into the bag itself. This idea is so much easier though!

  2. paper bag by jandoedel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    so you need a bag without straps, zippers, without mouse, wires, pens.... i think they want you to use a brown paper bag.

    1. Re:paper bag by aaron_pet · · Score: 3, Funny

      macbook air in an interdepartmental env?

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  3. This one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
  4. Re:Ok... by n3tcat · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm guessing they only instituted that rule because their employees don't know what computer internals look like. So all they have to do now is just make sure all TSA employees are A+ certified and we won't have to deal with that hassle anymore either.

  5. Uh huh by MBCook · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Because instead of making everyone take our their laptop, making some do it and not others based on some random criteria like what bag it is in will not slow things down at all.

    What do you mean this year's Targus bags look just like last years? So they'll just make everyone take them out to search them because it's faster than figuring out who has a special bag?

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    1. Re:Uh huh by Jay+Maynard · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I would expect that the approved bags, like the TSA-approved luggage locks, would display a special, readily-identifiable logo.

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    2. Re:Uh huh by JWSmythe · · Score: 2, Interesting


          I had TSA approved locks. They survived about 3 trips. On the last trip, when I got my bags, I found the cut locks in the bottom of the bags, with the TSA advisory that the bag had been searched.

          So much for doing the "right" thing. I just gave up locking them. The only people I worry about stealing from my bags are the people who can open those locks anyways.

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    3. Re:Uh huh by JWSmythe · · Score: 3, Insightful


          I know. Actually, the zipper is usually more likely to give way than the lock, but since most luggage is soft these days, a box cutter will open almost any of them very nicely, and faster than fiddling with the zipper anyways. :)

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  6. Re:All the crap inside by hurfy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not that hard is it?

    Can't the bag just be wider than the laptop and put that stuff next to the laptop instead of on top/underneath. Gonna need a mega wide bag if you want one for external drives and a printer but still doable. Include metal thread embroidery that says LAPTOP and OTHER to really speed you through on the deluxe version ;)

  7. Time for loud startup sounds by Black+Art · · Score: 3, Funny

    Makes me want to change my boss' start up sound to loud orgasm noises before he travels.

    "Can you turn this on for me?"

    "Sure!"

    "Aahahahahahahahoooooohhhh!"

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  8. Just do what I do by Quattro+Vezina · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just do what I do: boycott the TSA by not flying.

    I've not flown since before 9/11, and I'm quite proud of it.

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    1. Re:Just do what I do by linguae · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As much as I don't like the TSA's policies, boycotting them is like boycotting the IRS by not working. There are some jobs that require flying. If I needed to go across country for a conference, it's much easier to just fly there than to spend a few days on a bus or train. If I needed to go overseas, I have no real choice but to fly.

    2. Re:Just do what I do by maxume · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well woop di fucking do.

      I suppose you would protest restrictions on free speech by not talking?

      (I've only flown twice since 9/11, once 4 months later, where people were still pretty freaked out, and once recently, where it wasn't a problem at all, but I'm no so hopelessly myopic that I think that not flying(much) is a viable choice for other people)

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    3. Re:Just do what I do by Danny+Rathjens · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Does boycotting really matter when the government will simply hand over $5 billion in immediate cash assistance ( and $10 billion in loan guarantees ) of your tax money to the airlines if they aren't making enough profit?

  9. Re:Ok... by JWSmythe · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've been through a *LOT* of airports in the US. Pretty much every major airport.

        I've only ever been asked once to turn on my laptop, and that was pre-9/11. I was leaving Detroit for Amsterdam. The funny thing was, the battery was dead. I told the security guy, if he could walk me over to a power outlet, I could plug it in, and turn it on for him. Otherwise, he was out of luck. He didn't make me, but we did chitchat about my work for a while. I worked at an adult company, and he was familiar with the company, so it made for an unusual conversation, but it was neat talking to a fan of the site. With several million daily viewers, it wasn't unexpected to bump into a few regular viewers, I just didn't expect it.

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  10. Or they can just not have us take it out the bag by jmauro · · Score: 4, Informative

    Like every other country on the planet.

    The lady at the Osaka airport looked at me weird when I tried to take my laptop out of the bag. I think Japan has an x-ray machine that can look through cloth, I cannot explain it any other way. We should buy those instead of what we got now and not waste our time on "Airport Cleared" bags.

  11. Re:Ok... by webmaster404 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Here is a funny quirk that pissed me off though...on the flight back to the US from HK, I couldn't take a bottle of water with me on the plane that I purchased after the security checkpoints...they confiscated larger bottles of liqid from everyone as we boarded (excluding medicines and baby formula). What's up with that?

    The same reasons airports do all kinds of strange things... To make you pay more.
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  12. Re:Or they can just not have us take it out the ba by jmauro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It was actually first implemented after Pan-Am 103 when a bomb was fashioned into a boom-box in the cargo hold of the plane, but were discontinued when it was found that they don't actually improve security in any measurable way. They were re-instituted after the September 11 attacks in order to "do something", but like the "no liquids" on the plane they've remained in place even after they've been proven to be completely irrational and with no improvement of security.

    Also the "turn on" rule was part of the aftermath of Pan-Am 103 until it was pointed out that the computer or boombox can still work perfectly fine ever after most of its internals have been removed to make a bomb.

      Just thank god they didn't implement their first idea which was to ban all electronics from the cabin of the plane. Someone had the rationality to say, no that's just stupid.

  13. Total waste of time by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's not like this stops anything.

    Most laptop batteries could easily be used to form a shaped charge with very minor modifications that wouldn't show up until after you slipped a film around the battery itself - and the separated components, combined with your seat tray table, can easily defeat the air cabin door.

    At least, based on my memories of my first two Army combat field engineer courses.

    Why are we as a society wasting our time on this?

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