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MacBook Air Confuses Airport Security

Ant writes "MacNN reports that the thin design of Apple's MacBook Air is causing some confusion for the technically ignorant, according to one blogger who says that the ultra-portable caused him to miss his flight. When going through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport security checkpoint, blogger Michael Nygard was held up as security staff gathered around his MacBook Air, trying to make sense of the slender laptop/notebook. One of the less technically knowledgeable staff points out the lack of standard features as cause for alarm..."

47 of 550 comments (clear)

  1. slashvertisement by QuantumG · · Score: 2, Funny

    Besides that, it seems they were confused as to which set of procedures they had to apply to it. Is it a laptop or is it an "electronic device".. Seems the definition of a laptop included a hard drive.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
    1. Re:slashvertisement by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 5, Funny

      Kind of like a PHB making computer and networking decisions

      I categorically resent that. Historically our business transformation architecture achieves multipoint synergies by the close-tracking of business channel optimisation strategies, and our decision workshopping with regard to procurement of necessary infrastructure precludes the detail assessment quid-pro-quo with regard to non-executive decision makers. If I say we need duplicate DHCP servers then by god I want them to be exact duplicates, from their highly redundant address lists right down to the tiny little rubber feet!

      And I have great hair! Just ... not much of it any more.

      --
      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
    2. Re:slashvertisement by Fred_A · · Score: 5, Funny

      YES!!!!

      You must appreciate the IT Director who demands (and I mean vehemently demands) that all 5000 computers deployed MUST HAVE FEET. I think it's so that they can evacuate in case of fire. Makes sense to me.
      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    3. Re:slashvertisement by aadvancedGIR · · Score: 4, Funny

      "I've only ever heard of about 3 situations where it was actually ECONOMICAL (both time and money) to take a private plane"

      How many of them did not involve drugs?

    4. Re:slashvertisement by bigdavesmith · · Score: 2, Funny
      If you can't tell the difference between a laptop, and a bomb, you are not security.

      What the TSA actually appears to be aiming for is people who can identify a gun/knife/conventionally designed incendiary device, so that nobody has to stand in front of the cameras after an incident and explain how we missed the conventional threat during screening.
      There is a difference between people doing their best with limited resources, and airport security, which continually employs the most inadequate individuals I have ever seen in the workforce. I get better service at McDonalds than I do airport security.
    5. Re:slashvertisement by seededfury · · Score: 2, Funny

      .....because we all know that terrorist read slashdot for ideas.

  2. Ok - this is just getting silly! by The+Ancients · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now even the (supposed?) lack of features in the MacBookAir is a security issue??? I knew some individuals got a little worked up about it, but really!

    1. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by corsec67 · · Score: 3, Funny

      That surprises you?

      This is TSA: even water is a dangerous substance, except when you throw it away.

      --
      If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
    2. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by The+Ancients · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'd be a bit careful about water. Everyone who has ever died on this planet has drunk water at some stage in their life. Coincidence? I think not...

    3. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hey man. I have never drank water and I AM DEAD, you insensitive clod!

      wait...

      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    4. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by enoz · · Score: 5, Funny

      Perhaps those technically adept people choose not to stand behind an X-ray scanner for 12 hours a day.

    5. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by tverbeek · · Score: 4, Funny

      Back in 1996 or 1997 I got some funny looks from security after the wire connecting the main AA cells in my Psion Series 3a PDA broke, in the International terminal at Boston Logan. The button cell that served as backup power for the memory wouldn't last the duration of the flight to London (where I might have gotten it fixed professionally), and I had data in it that I'd need after I got there. So I bought a travel sewing kit* at the newsstand (the safety pin made a good fine tool), got out my tweezers and Swiss Army knife* to help disassemble the PDA and to strip the wire a little, and spent the half hour before my flight in the waiting area at the gate, hunched over the "device" and performing emergency field surgery to make a solid connection between the AAs and the electronics. I snapped it all back together just as they called for boarding.

      And the in-flight movie? Executive Decision, in which the Bad Guy uses a Psion Series 3a as the remote control for a bomb on the plane.

      *Did I mention that this was way before Sept. 2001?

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    6. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by Hes+Nikke · · Score: 4, Funny

      well, water IS 2/3 hydrogen, and 1/3 oxygen... and thats what they use to launch the space shuttle, so water must be an explosive!

      --
      Don't call me back. Give me a call back. Bye. So yeah. But bye our, well, but alright we are on a shirt this chill.
    7. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by nmb3000 · · Score: 2, Funny

      And the in-flight movie?Executive Decision

      Ah, I remember Executive Decision. As I recall it was the first Steven Seagal movie that was any good!

      --
      "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
      /)
    8. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by director_mr · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually water is the main ingredient in dihydrogen-monoxide. DHMO.org has confirmed this is a dangerous and deadly substance.

    9. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by jbellows_20 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Ah, I remember Executive Decision. As I recall it was the first Steven Seagal movie that was any good!

      It could have been better. Ten minutes with him in the movie was a little long.

    10. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by jaavaaguru · · Score: 2, Funny

      there might be more to this guy's laptop than he claims


      If you can fit more inside a MacBook Air than Apple claims, you're doing *really* well.
    11. Re:Ok - this is just getting silly! by hesiod · · Score: 2, Funny

      > you've never had a situation where something baffles you and you call in the help of some colleagues?

      If I call in colleagues and they all agree they they don't know what the hell is going on, we try to find someone who does instead of standing around staring at a computer.

  3. TSA has a hard job by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    TSA agents have a difficult job as it is. How much harder do Apple fanboys have to make it for them by insisting that their toys are "computers"?

  4. Ooga Chaka by ZeroFactorial · · Score: 5, Funny

    In other news, the Ooga Chaka tribe brutally murdered a tourist to their village who was carrying a double-blunt-ended walking stick.

    Apparently, the "spear with a lack of features" was cause for great alarm among the Ooga-Chakas.

    1. Re:Ooga Chaka by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dude, blunt spears are no joke. Ever tried catching a fish with one? You can't just stab & enjoy, you've gotta beat the sucker senseless first. Ever tried clubbing a bass to death. Its hard work.

      But with the new MacBook Air, I don't need to bludgeon my trout anymore. I can just pluck it out of the water with my newly developed mind powers and have it baked with a side of waterfowl before it even hits the ground. Yummers, pyrokineticly cooked duck! Thanks MacBook Air!

    2. Re:Ooga Chaka by LaskoVortex · · Score: 2, Funny

      You're a fucking idiot.

      Which part exactly do you object to?

      --
      Just callin' it like I see it.
  5. Re:Idiots... by Stinky+Fartface · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not just any bomb, mind you. It's a really thin bomb. With NO optical drive, which makes it perfectly useless to me.

  6. good logic... by arse+maker · · Score: 4, Funny

    Look how small it is, it must be a bomb. I personally would try to make something larger to hold a bomb, but hey thats just me. Steve jobs is the only one trying to make bombs smaller and sexier.

    Humm, and I going to go to jail for that last comment, its hard to tell what's a crime any more...

    1. Re:good logic... by bdjacobson · · Score: 2, Funny

      Steve jobs is the only one trying to make bombs smaller and sexier. [citation needed]

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8L39UwOS-Y

      I think that video speaks for itself about the uses Steve Jobs has in mind for his products.

      I'd say these TSA guys are definitely on to something...
  7. Re:No surprise really... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    well i work airport security so FUCK YOU!

  8. goatse them by timmarhy · · Score: 3, Funny
    just load up a nice big picture of goatse on your background, or maybe some tubgirl.

    if enough people did it TSA agents would quickly lose their taste for looking at our laptops.

    on a more serious note, has there ever been a record of someone attempting to sneak a bomb onto a plane via a laptop? no? then pay attention to real dangers pls just for once.

    --
    If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
  9. Re:No surprise really... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    well i work airport security so FUCK YOU!

    You fail.

    Real airport security wouldn't be that diplomatic.

  10. Re:No surprise really... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    well i work airport security so FUCK YOU!

    I was going to ask if you talked to your mother like that, then I realized you must have asked her to type that out for you.

  11. Re:Sounds like his fault by ters+a-zA-Z0-9$_.+!* · · Score: 3, Funny

    mod this troll but he was probably a typical "mac" user and was just getting hassled by airport security. 1. Possibly wearing John Lennon glasses 2. Maybe wearing a save padro t shirt or whatever the fuck 3. Answered whats this with "Thats THE Laptop what are you a caveman beige box wielding fuck" and so on until "Travel Companion" stepped in 4. Perhaps wearing sandals well if he had linux on it he probably would have got the cavity search, at least he wouldn't have liked it Christ i have a Compaq evo with no drive and well lots of ports but that thing isn't that small

  12. Re:No surprise really... by anthonys_junk · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm guessing you don't work at the international terminal.

    --
    Barbara Felden claims prior art on the flip phone, sues Motorola, Nokia.
  13. With that thin design... by iabervon · · Score: 3, Funny

    People make fun of the TSA for this, but it's only a matter of time before somebody mounts an Air on a pole and starts wielding it as a battle axe.

    1. Re:With that thin design... by Dzimas · · Score: 2, Funny

      it's referred to as a scythe, as the grim reaper just informed me when he sfhq290h H xa, . 42

  14. Re:irony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    No irony is misspelling the word "first" in a first-post.

  15. Five Finger Shoes by morcheeba · · Score: 5, Funny

    One morning the fate of the free world depended on my screener's determination on if a pair of Vibram Five Fingers was a shoe or not. Never mind that I own bulkier socks than this, but apparently it's a shoe.

  16. Re:No surprise really... by RealGrouchy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Airport Security.

    They've got electrolytes.

    It's what air travelers need.

    - RG>

    --
    Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
  17. Airport security manual by edwardpickman · · Score: 4, Funny

    When faced with new and strange technology first

    A) Strike with hand, grunt and run away.

    B) Strike with rock, grunt and run away.

    C) Strike with club, grunt and run away.

    D) If first three methods fail strike passenger with club, grunt and run away.

  18. Re:Not always true by FlightTest · · Score: 5, Funny

    A company I worked for in the past was very slow at paying expense accounts. Since I knew it was ending anyways, I just told them I was happy to travel, but they had to pay me cash up front and I'd document my expenses and return what I didn't spend. Strangely, they didn't have a problem with this, and always gave me more than I spent (but then, I never was the type to pad expense accounts). Since I was ferrying airplanes for them, I was traveling on the airlines one-way.

    So, I was a middle-aged white male, paying cash at the last minute for a one-way ticket traveler, with an airplane headset and flying charts in my bag. How many times do you think I got the extra-special treatment?

    Every. Single. Time.

    --
    Merde, il pleut encore!
  19. Appropriate Quote by Ace905 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I'm sick of some guy with a triple digit income and a double digit IQ rooting around inside my bag and never finding anything" -- George Carlin

    --

    Ace
  20. Who's dumber? by Aqua+OS+X · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't know who is dumber, the TSA screeners, or the guy who paid $3100 for an SSD MacBook Air.

    --
    "Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
    1. Re:Who's dumber? by mjwx · · Score: 2, Funny

      I don't know who is dumber, the TSA screeners, or the guy who paid $3100 for an SSD MacBook Air.
      I sincerely doubt the Macbook owner could get a job as an airport screener, they are required to think for themselves occasionally.
      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  21. THIS is how you sneak stuff past security... by Tracy+Reed · · Score: 3, Funny
  22. User's fault IMHO by denzacar · · Score: 4, Funny

    I mean... what did he expect? He wasn't using the MacAir properly.

    The commercial clearly shows that it should be MAILED to its destination.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  23. Re:Question about missed flight by LaskoVortex · · Score: 3, Funny

    Frankly, I am surprized one of those guys/gals doesn't pull a gun and go postal.

    Patience, my friend, patience.

    --
    Just callin' it like I see it.
  24. Re:Idiots... by xRelisH · · Score: 3, Funny

    Not just any bomb, mind you. It's a really thin bomb.

    Actually only the detonator is in the laptop. The bomb is sold separately as a $99 external USB device.

  25. MAC Air having trouble with AirPort? by carvalhao · · Score: 3, Funny

    When will they fix these compatib... oh, forget it!

  26. Re:Question about missed flight by halber_mensch · · Score: 2, Funny

    Frankly, I am surprized one of those guys/gals doesn't pull a gun and go postal. I think the government pension system deters most TSA employees from seeking employment in the postal system, and even so I hope you don't think that bringing a gun to an interview is an acceptable substitute for submitting a well written resume.
    --
    perl -e "eval pack(q{H*},join q{},qw{70 72696e74207061636b28717b482a7d2c717b343 637323635363534323533343430617d293b})"