Slashdot Mirror
TSA May Recommend Stowing Laptops In Cargo For US Domestic Flights (cbslocal.com)
Matt.Battey writes: According to WJZ in Baltimore, the TSA may force passengers to check laptops on domestic U.S. flights. Based on the common fear, uncertainty and doubt that supports the TSA's security theater, the terror attacks in Great Britain could result in laptop bans in the U.S. TSA officer Camille Morris is quoted as saying, "A AA battery is fine. A AAA. A 9-volt battery is a huge power charge. The size of the battery that can take down a plane when attached to an explosive." Backed up by comments from Ben Yelin of the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security, his statement confirms the problem: "Airplanes have been the common threat that we've seen over the past several years." Personally, I'm just glad we have the TSA to recommend we "arrive two hours before a domestic flight, and three hours before an international trip."
I assume the TSA will now be assuming liability for every laptop now put into checked luggage.
I wonder how my employment contract will now stand up, where it reads that laptops must not be checked but carried into the cabin.
They have seen the enemy, and it is us.
- classic 'Laptop' only? ;-) ?
- Tablet ?
- 14" Tablet with Keyboard?
- Surface tablet without Keyboard?
- Bluetooth Keyboard with Smartphone?
- Desktop Mini-Tower with Smartwatch as Display
The tsa security theater is bogus. This is insane. Will we ever stand up to government over reach?
When the going gets tough, the tough create vague terrorist threats. Does locking up our laptops make us great again?
AA battery - fine
AAA battery - ok
9V battery - Danger Will Robinson!
Please tell me that SOMEONE in that department is aware that a 9V battery is simply 6 AAAA batteries in a fancy wrapper...
So... The bomb goes off in the hold and starts a fire? Jets don't usually recover from that... At least up top, you might confine the damage to a hole next to whoever has the laptop bomb (Egypt Air...)
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
At least if I needed a new laptop and didn't give a fuck whether you accuse me of stealing it because I know that even if true you can't do jack shit about it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
"TSA Go away" while we wait in their lines.
Also, let's keep inventing new ways to take down airplanes and making YouTube how-to's about them until the TSA bans phones and clothes, and people finally start to get annoyed.
I hope they're assuming liability for stuff that goes missing then. I don't put anything valuable in checked luggage anymore after getting shit stolen out of it years ago.
I can't wait until all we all have to ride nude in the plane because someone figured out how to turn a pair of jeans into an explosive.
How many people will protest this by cutting out trips by plane? There are people who "have to" fly, but the vast majority of people who say they "have to" actually don't. The only way any of this changes is when the airlines start putting pressure on the government.
Vacation locally, work remotely, drive where you need to go. As long as you keep buying those tickets, none of this will change.
If you could gate check the laptop bag, you would minimize the potential for mischief, and also make it possible to do something useful while waiting for the flight to take off.
As soon as somebody tries to cut off the blood money that TSA gets, the TSA starts shrieking about every shadow out there. Seriously, wtf is the connection between what happened in London and what you're allowed to bring into the cabin of an airplane? And what the f'ing f, a 9V battery is somehow worse than 6 AA batteries???? If they try to enact this, I hope they get run out of the airports and told to stick it where the sun don't shine.
What's the idea here? If terrorists can disguise a bomb as a laptop, is it any safer if the explosion occurs in the plane cargo compartment? Would a timer trigger be easier to spot using x-rays, as opposed to a manual trigger? They plan to fly the luggage in a separate plane without passengers?
Bottled water is no threat. They make you toss that $0.99 bottle of water purchased on the way to the airport and buy the $7 bottle from the convenience store that is always so coincidentally just outside the checkpoint exit. Get ready to see Best Buy rentals kiosks or mini stores next door soon.
Don't you think they could hide the fact that the laptop is actually on, when it is stowed in cargo?
"The size of the battery that can take down a plane when attached to an explosive."
I image a AAA battery running a timer could set off a well designed nuclear device - In fact a watch battery could too, maybe even a windup Mickey Clock!
BAN THEM ALLLLLLLL
That's 210 miles at posted highway speeds. Figure another hour or two in the air and at your destination and you may very well save time by driving.
and everyone with a brain who read this says to themselves "I'm now officially more concerned about the TSA than any terrorist organization on earth".
no seriously, slashdot referenced an article that has the paragraph:
"That kind of threat prompted a ban on laptop and computer pads from airplane cabins flying from seven African and Middle Eastern countries this past spring. It could spread to domestic flights."
Computer pads? is this some kind of new fangled feminine product?
Also why are laptops being banned from flights when the majority of terrorist attacks happen on the ground and the last one that involved a plane was years ago. This world is so scared of its own shadow that it just doesn't make sense to participate any more. Its been a great run, so long and thanks for the fish
So, they are frightened that a laptop may contain a bomb or incendiary device. Has it never occurred to them that a terrorist could use a remote control device to detonate it?
“With today’s terrorism, you can’t trust anybody,” one passenger said.
I'll show that fucking unamerican asshole some terrorism. IF YOU CAN'T TRUST ANYONE WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING OUT OF A FUCKING STEEL BUNKER SHOWING YOUR WORTHLESS ASSHOLE TO A REPORTER WHO MIGHT BE WITH ISIS YOU SPINELESS IGNORANT COWARDLY FUCK!?!
I agree! Anybody who objects to this should not be allowed to fly, and probably should be thrown into prison on a subtropical island in the Caribbean.
Luckily this is just fear mongering on the part of the OP. The actual article didn't mention laptops and domestic flights at all.
"A AA battery is fine. A AAA. A 9-volt battery is a huge power charge" ?? really?
Sticking with NiMH for consistency, a 9v is 250mah, a AA is 2100mah. hmm. AA looks to be winning. Maybe they think 9v invokes more fear? What is the official color coded fear level for a 9v battery anyway? Copper? Try it in watt-hours and the AA still wins the day. Maybe they should worry less about the size of the batteries, and more about not letting people bring on the explosives.
Bomb hell, there has been more than 1 just ignite. One just the other day and even the nightly news worried about this happening in a cargo hold.
How many plane fires are ok, if we stop a bomb? How many if it MIGHT stop a bomb. Gotta do something about the rash of planes blowing up...errr
What the fuck would putting them in checked luggage do anyway? Isn't a fire/bomb in cargo still a rather large problem?
Still have no clue what that battery shit was about. The 3 AAA batteries in my penlight are probably enough, heck a few button batteries would work. Wire around a match head needs 6 volts* or less. I came up with this 40 years ago as a kid, I hope it isn't too much info....sigh. I got tired of buying the overpriced ignitors for my model rockets. Also bottle rocket launchers on my car used em...ah it was different world....
*given the quality of matches now, no guarantee ...and i never tried with less voltage :O
The US moves ever backward towards a totalitarian regime. How any American can say with a straight face anymore that they are the land of the free and home of the brave is beyond me. I guess when all you have known is the lack of freedom in the US and you are told that is what freedom and braver is then they never know any better.
OP, I have never met an anonymous coward who lives up to the name as well as you.
Is the TSA taking into account just how much this could cost American travelers in time and luggage fees?
WAY too many people travel with laptops these days - especially business travelers. You're going to take away the best tool for getting work done on an airplane while sitting for hours?
I'll take my chances with Achmed and his shaved-faced crew...
"Airplanes have been the common threat that we've seen over the past several years."
Vehicles. Vehicles are the common threat we have been seeing. No one flew a plane into the london bridge, Nice, or any of the other attacks in Germany. It was vehicles.
You can daisy chain batteries to get required voltage or connect in parallel. You can use capacitors - most planes provide USB plug for entertainment and use AC outlets that are available on airports and some planes. How far you want to go?
Show up 15 min before departure ...naked, quick pass thru security check and board plane directly.
So, here's big nasty secret -- you could combine a 6 AAA's in series and get that critical and dangerous 9Volts. And golly you could maybe put two of those in parallel and get a tremendous current. And then you could take a piece of wire between the ends and have it be a hot filament. But don't tell anyone since it's a secret those stupid terrorists would never figure out on their own.
That way if no one sees the fire, it can't harm the plane. Also - yeah right, I trust the n1ggers at the airports not to steal my shit.
It's only a matter of time before the TSA realizes that the common denominator threatening aircraft security is the passenger and they start banning all passengers from flying. Out of an abundance of caution, of course.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
FTA: “With today’s terrorism, you can’t trust anybody,” one passenger said.
Today's terrorism? Were 20th century terrorists really more congenial and neighborly than 2017's Islamic fundamentalist crew? Was the passenger 12 years old?
“It’s a determined enemy,” according to Farbstein. “They’re targeting transportation hubs, and so what we want to do is make sure you get to your destination safely, and go home safely.”
Talk about pre-practiced, BS-meter triggering, politico speak from a trained fearmonger. I stopped taking her seriously as soon as I read "determined". She should throw in the word "safely" a couple more times to really drive home the point...
have policies against having electronics in checked baggage. If the TSA says you have to check them...and the airlines say you can't; now what?
A 9V battery does not deliver more power than an AA cell. It delivers less. (AA alkaline cell: 1.5V@0.38A = .57W, AAA alkaline cell: 1.5V @0.3A = 0.5W, 9V alkaline cell: 9V@0.05A = 0.45W, all taken from Varta datasheets for fast discharge currents.) A 9V battery delivers more voltage, which in times of cheap, low-input voltage capable and super efficient (90% efficienty) step-up converters means exactly nothing. Also, depending on detonator-type, you can detonate with 1.5V directly.
The TSA has stepped from merely ridiculously incompetent to fully incompetent.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Is the TSA taking into account just how much this could cost American travelers in time and luggage fees?
No. They were too busy thinking about all the new jobs and new expensive equipment they can justify.
In-flight laptops now available! Only $49.99 per flight and we'll throw in the headphone for free*!
*Some terms and conditions may apply.
Monorail! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDOI0cq6GZM
Now that many plane seats have touch screens in them, it's ok to start the slippery slope of slowly banning personal entertainment devices (yes, I know some people do work on their devices. Those guys in business class will probably be exempt from the ban.). Though if you thought people got mad during flight delays and lost luggage before, I'd expect to see a drastic rise in domestic airport violence going forward if this policy actually went into effect.
What about the power sockets? Lots of planes have actual plugs by your seat. Are those weaker than a battery?
Terror Alert Level Intense Orange Red
When is there ever going to be enough of a guarantee to make air travel "safe enough"? When the TSA finally says, "We're finally going to make air travel 100% safe - by banning all airplanes on flights..."?
9v batteries are DANGEROUS oh em geez https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Thanks Israel and Trump!
"...The size of the battery that can take down a plane when attached to an explosive..."
Isn't the point of the TSA to stop the explosives getting on the plane in the first place??
If people wanted to take down aircraft, they would be able to take down aircraft. They don't want to take down aircraft - they want to terrify the easily frightened so that the easily frightened will overreact and do insane stupid shit like we have in the US.
If the shoe bomber or the underpants bomber or any other kind of person they sent had been ACTUALLY tasked with taking down a plane rather than sowing fear and absurd responses, guess what? They would have set the fucking things off in the bathroom, not tried to do so while sitting in their fucking seat where people could see them. They sent morons to do something moronical, and the morons in charge ate that shit up.
If they actually wanted to kill people, they would have suicide bombers go and wait for security screening lines to inevitably get backed up. They'd kill way more people that way and they wouldn't have to go through the security theater at the airports that weeds out the dimmest bulbs in the bunch.
What they're doing now - attacking soft targets by ramming into crowds with trucks and shit - can only be meant to do one thing: terrify morons and get them to overreact, just like the morons are doing.
Fucking cowards. By that I mean the "terrorists" and the pants-pissing weaklings who vote the "leaders" into office who try this shit. Literally anyone who is legitimately afraid of being killed by a terrorist and doesn't live in a literal war zone is a fucking moron.
Know what killed and injured more people than the attack on London Bridge last week? FUCKING EVERYTHING. More people - by a fucking MILE - get killed every day from drunk driving in the US. More people get killed - by 10 fucking miles - by tobacco use in the US, every day. Domestic violence kills more people than terrorists do. Fuck, having to DRIVE instead of FLY because the airports are so fucking toxic kills more people, I'm sure.
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
Regardless of how much power this idiot thinks it takes to ignite a bomb, how did the *BOMB* get through the TSA check in the first place? Perhaps they should concentrate on keeping the bombs off the plane and then worry about how dangerous batteries are.
It's exactly crap like this that has kept me from flying since the TSA was implemented. Long trips are much more enjoyable on the Harley. If I need to go overseas I'll get a flippin' sailboat!
I won't have to fly anymore for business, since who's going to send employees anywhere without their laptops? Thanks, TSA, for making teleconferencing even more appealing!
Reinforced cockpit door is all we ever needed. The terrorists won because TSA took over and made flying an idiotic nightmare.
We should see fewer laptops being forgotten at TSA security checkpoints if this happens.
OK a new size TV
>"the TSA may force passengers to check laptops on domestic U.S. flights"
When that day comes I can't use at least my tablet, I will just never fly again. Utterly ridiculous security theater crap. Flying and airports are already near intolerable as it is.
Don't look at this in a negative light: it's not about loosing your laptop computer, it's about being able to buy someone else's computer for pennies on the dollar. Free enterprise for the win!
Why is Snark Required?
If people have to check in their laptops and tablets then the airlines have a captive audience they can now charge massive fee's for inflight entertainment. This is all BS. Most modern airplanes have power running to each seat. More power than a 9V and totally enough to start a fire or ignite "something". Its just another diversion to squeeze every penny they can from travelers. Plus, maybe even start to scan or covertly intercept laptops from "suspect" people. A total win win for them - like it always is.
I may recommend that the useless blueshirts get stuffed.
It's only a matter of time before a laptop stowed in the cargo bay brings an airliner down.
I'll drive my car for travel within the US, instead of subjecting myself to this level of idiocy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ValuJet_Flight_592
I dare say that for a "small fee" the TSA will add you to a list of privileged passengers that can carry laptops aboard, clearly their current preferred program was not earning them enough.
If this results in making phones bridge some of the functionality gap with laptops I'd be happy, I can't say I like carrying it around even when I can carry it aboard.
Nullius in verba
apple is f* with there hard to remove HDD's will kill people who may take out and disk from the laptop before checking it.
If we're serious about protecting thousands of innocent lives from terrorists, laptops (and any devices that could secrete a bomb) need to be stowed. I don't fly often, but I would certainly be willing to endure the inconvenience for safety's sake. Most would.
A stowed laptop rigged with explosives and a timer detonator could still bring an airliner down. Stowing laptops in cargo doesn't increase safety one bit.
Have you ever considered not commenting when you have no knowledge of a subject ? You know, like people who aren't idiots do.
Wow. Not one mention to the windfall all the airlines would get once everyone has to check one bag because they carry electronics. $25/electronics bag x 100 passengers that would normally not check anything - easy money.
Is there a way for me to invest in laptop theft rings at US airports? I'd be a millionaire after this rule goes in effect.
This business model has been perfected by Somali pirate gangs.
In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
I think you are missing the point here. Taking the statement completely at face value the argument seems to be that they want to ban batteries which have enough charge to detonate an explosive. If a terrorist has a battery and some explosives on a plane the problem is NOT that they have a bloody battery!
Because they're fucking morons.
Home* of the brave
Not all of us demanded the trillion-dollar theater. But protecting your desk in politics is all about pacification.
So does this mean Eric S. Raymond won't need to fly First Class to his speaking engagements any more?
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
The real reason for the TSA and Airlines to ban laptop computers in the cabin is because the number of stolen laptops by the TSA is severely low. This means that TSA cannot garner money from the the laptops that they steal in baggage.
To circumvent the low money problem, TSA is partnering with Domestic and International Airlines (those entering and exiting the USA) to share the money they can generate by stealing laptops from checked baggage and share, about 10% or the booty with the airlines.
TSA accountants estimate that a total ban on laptops in the cabin could net them $10 Billion dollars per year after sharing 10% with the Airlines. Airlines like American, whose CEO is an illegal alien from Mexico, are GO GO GOMEZ for the laptop ban.
Hey pal I've just arrived Hawaii and I've got a call from Fedex Ground. They've said that they're having a technical issue 100ft below sea level and might be delayed.
You got any laptop for me? I don't think I can use a coconut as a laptop replacement.
I'll show that fucking unamerican asshole some terrorism.
And that's where I am right now, and where I have been for some time now. I'm left on the European scale, to give an idea of my political leanings. But fuck all these unamerican pussies. This pants-wetting, hand-wringing, gun-clutching, freedom-surrendering bullshit needs to die, and everyone who espouses it needs to die as well.
We didn't skip trying to go to the moon because a rocket blew up in another country. We didn't skip rebelling against England because they were mean to us. We didn't let the South succeed or not try to succeed as the South because we were afraid that someone might get hurt.
My fucking ancestors and relatives fought, bled, and died for this country to be free. I'm liberal to the point of making US liberals uncomfortable, and I haven't owned a gun in years. Why? Because I'm a gun hating liberal? Sure, a bit of that. But a bigger reason is that I'm not afraid of shit. Because I know that I live in a very safe country, and that if I die, it's likely because shit happens sometimes.
I'm not going to run around trying to hide my shriveled balls behind as many guns as I can carry. I'm not going to give up my goddamn freedom because a bunch of unamerican pussies are afraid.
So fuck everyone who has made it so that I need my balls fondled to get on a plane. Fuck everyone who made it so I can't bring a coffee into the airport with me. And fuck everyone who is not rebelling at this newest load of bullshit. Maybe people will die if we remove these restrictions. So. Fucking. What. People die every day from the cold, flu, car crashes, and falling in the tub. If you're that afraid of the safest way to travel, then I concur:
WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING OUT OF A FUCKING STEEL BUNKER
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
I learned some 30 years ago that anything valuable goes into carry on luggage. Checked luggage is for stuff like clothing, relatively worthless. Cameras, laptops, anything worth more than $50 goes into carry on. Having the TSA forbid locks on luggage was the death knell for checking in anything worth more than a steak dinner.
The TSA adds security somewhere between the airport front doors, and the airplane. I get that.
But they don't stop anyone from entering through the front doors. So they clearly aren't protecting the thousands of people waiting in-line before check-in and before security. So I can clearly not choose the wine in-front of me.
Then they check my luggage, which goes through airport tunnels, and ultimately gets loaded onto the aircraft, long before I board the plane. So my luggage is on the plane when I'm not on the plane. So they clearly aren't protecting the planes on the tarmac. So I can clearly not choose the wine in-front of you.
If the people aren't being protected, and the planes aren't being protected, then what actually is being protected? The "flight" itself? So I can destroy the people, and I can destroy the planes, I just can't destroy them when they are mid-flight?
So, my city has a very large, very international airport. The airport is surrounded by a chain-link fence, eight feet tall. On the other side of the fence is a two-lane road. On the other side of the road is a two storey building. Landing planes fly ~500 feet above the roof of this building. Maybe closer to ~200 feet.
I guess it's a good thing that bad people are don't have big guns, or any interest in stuff on the ground.
Of course, there are four highways that enter the city of 10 million people. It's a good thing the TSA isn't responsible for securing our highways. Can you imagine? Check every car that enters the city, that could, in theory, shut down the roads with a simple traffic accident. Can you imagine the mayhem of commuters not being able to leave the city to go home at the end of the day? And yet, zero security.
There's something to be said for not making yourself a target.
Yes this!
The solution is to allow everybody an airline-supplied computer, which is connected to the internet. Everybody needs to use their online storage for their files. If the person has special software on their laptop, that's something to be dealt with in the next version of the solution.
The solution for bombs concealed in clothing is simply to have everybody fly naked.
(||) Nehmo (||)
$49.99 better have playboy!
as long the seatback has free directv!
as long as 1 or 2 checked bags are free!
Swoosh! Do you actually think that the article is legit? I really doubt that the person quoted in the article has the slightest idea about what the TSA is considering or not considering.
I guess there's no point now to have airplanes with WiFi and a nice power plug at every seat. That perk didn't last long. I guess we have to read paper books again.
The terrorists have won :-(
If only there was a way to check your bomb with your luggage and have it detonate later...that would be something. It would revolutionize domestic terrorism. It would be the best thing box cutters. Where is all the terror innovation folks? Have we just already invented (and thwarted) all the different ways to blow up an airplane?
All joking about the TSA being incompetent aside, I would never have imagined that they would ever have said something so blatantly stupid.
(When I was typing "aside" in the first line, autosuggest said "assholes".)
Also, what ever happened to "batteries in checked bags is bad"?
Probably thinking about access any laptop they want. Great for a little bonus for laptop theives. Maybe make some extra money from the FBI putting child porn on laptops. Extra cash rewards from installing three letter agency malware.
That'll make TSA's head spin when they think about what they want.
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
So, we trust the TSA, because they're so carefully screened?
The amount of liability the airlines will be opening them selfs up to would be staggering. Contact of carriage or not they are looking down the barrel of so many claims the legal hours alone will kill them.,,
On a business trip to NYC, the cabin crew informed me that the overhead bins were full. They forced me to check in my bag. Guess what? My laptop screen was destroyed. Checked exactly one time and
Resulted in one expensive brick. There is ~100% chance this will happen to you as well if checked. They just throw those bags like lead weights. Have fun trying to collect a reimbursement.
"Airplanes have been the common threat that we've seen over the past several years."
there was one in kabul, two in manchester and one in the london bridge, oh and the one in the iran attack that was a light aircraft
USPS it or UPS the laptop ahead of you to a safe person, employee, or your company branch your going to, so you don't have to be harassed at the airport.
Seriously. WTF is wrong with my country? It's now being run by a bunch of paranoid schizophrenics, afraid of everything, and trying to ruin our lives 'to be safe'. I'm really sick of it.
This sig intentionally left blank.
How is carrying a laptop in luggage any "safer" than carrying it in the passenger cabin?
The same laptop is still on the plane, either way. It has the same potential to explode thanks to shady battery manufacturing or because of malicious intent. Putting it in the cargo hold doesn't change any of that.
What it DOES do is prevent anyone from attempting to fight a fire if the laptop battery ignited. At least in the passenger cabin, there is a chance someone will notice the thing burning and take action to put it out or smother it as best they can. Meanwhile the same thing locked in cargo below will just burn until it sets off the fire detector, at which point nothing else happens because nobody can get to it. We know from history fires like that tend to take out the controls or emit enough toxic fumes to kill all on board. In flight fire is BAD.
Sig for hire.
If anybody at the TSA ever reads about the amount of explosive gases a human digestive system can produce everyday, people will not be allowed in plane anymore
Huh... I have no idea why your post is at a -1.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Clearly the TSA feels they need new laptops at home and no the Airline is not responsible when the TSA steal your stuff ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
"Airplanes have been the common threat that we've seen over the past several years."
This is factually incorrect. Motor vehicles have been the common threat we've seen. Israel has ramming attacks on an almost weekly (for a good stretch it was daily) basis. We have Paris and now London. What kind of fucked-up shit wad thinks airplanes are the vehicle of choice for terrorists?
It's nice to know that exploding laptops in the cargo bay don't matter.
And am I wrong all capacitors don't look like batteries?
I see my shadow changing, stretching up and over me...
Now what?, you ask us?
That's easy - just don't fly. :)
Or in my case, don't visit the USA.
Problems solved
TSA suggests travelers stow their cash, jewely, and other valuable in a container they're not legally allowed to lock so that other TSA agents can steal them...
If it's ok to store in the cargo of an aircraft it's ok to take in carry on.
Was this written by a Canadian?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
A 9-volt battery is a huge power charge.
You mean like this one? That's not actually huge, that's just a large picture.
The size of the battery that can take down a plane when attached to an explosive.
Trump could take down a plane when attached to an explosive. Should we ban Trump? ;)
Ezekiel 23:20
You can find USB charging or even power outlets in a plane. So removing batteries from the game is not stopping the threat.
The real threat is that the "battery" in a laptop can be the explosive. DAESH recovered an x-ray machine and engineered their explosive hiding technique to be indistinguishably from a battery.
Now that all batteries are banned, they will put the explosives inside their bodies. Where you can hide drugs, you can also hide a bomb.
Atari rules... ermm... ruled.
Slashdot story summaries: it mush be a badge of honor to let typos slip though.
I read that headline as "Theresa May recommend stowing laptops..." until my brain processed the rest of the sentence. I blame the election.
TSA May might not be a bad nickname, actually.
... for the baggage throwers. All those lovely laptops will be available soon on ebay.
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
Next item on the ban list : Mobile phones.
aaaaaaa
Next item on the ban list : Mobile phones...
aaaaaaa
TSA officer Camille Morris is quoted as saying, "A AA battery is fine. A AAA. A
Was TSA officer Camilie Morris, by any chance, in the middle of a dentist appointment when this interview happened?
Fedex first AM service is what you're looking for with Mil 810 packing. It's simple, reliable, and can be done for maybe $300 for the reusable case and $120 each way in FedEx fees. That's $540 for the first trip, even if you never took another. For a trip of more than 5 driving hours, you're probably going to be billing the client at least $1000 for travel reimbursibles and $1800 for travel time (2 hours door to board, 1.5 hours in the air, 1 hour landing to site, twice, at a nominal $200/hr) PLUS the actual time you spend on site fixing something, which is likely 4-8 billable hours. I mean, if you're already 4 grand into a fix, another $500 to courier the laptop only really matters if you get a call that would absolutely require same day field service and at that point you just bump the rate and fly private. If it's so important it has to be fixed right now, you don't fly commercial, and $50k is pocket change compared to lost business.
Perhaps laptops should be a local-for-hire service at airports for frequent travellers. Carry your SSD drive with you and plug it in at your destination.
What gets me is that the chances of dying from terrorism are tiny. I saw this graphic showing leading causes of death in perspective. Heart disease and cancer are the two big ones. Terrorism is a tiny dot. I decided to look up the hard numbers too, figuring that the graphic could be exaggerating things.
There were about 28,000 deaths from terrorism world-wide in 2015 (Source). (If we limit it to US only, the number is much smaller.) Meanwhile, 610,000 people in the US die of heart disease every year. 17.7 million in the world (Source). You would need over 630 YEARS of terrorism deaths to equal 1 year of heart disease death.
So if we're supposed to be quaking in our boots over terrorism, what should we be doing over heart disease?!!!
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
The problem is Muslims.
Does Japan have to do any of this crap? No.
They don't invite in invaders who seek to kill them.
Why do we?
Wake up White male!
I have a recommendation, too.
I recommend that the TSA be disbanded, whatever building their management occupies be demolished (there's no way to clean that much stupid out of a building to make it habitable by anyone else) and their now former employees be banned from ever having a job again that is related to either "airplanes" or "security".
It's funny, I like my recommendation better than theirs, and mine will actually have a more positive impact on airport and airplane security.
Do you have ESP?
I don't check any luggage, ever. But even if I did, asking me to check my computer is like asking me to check medications. I can't risk it won't come out the other end. I doubt I'm alone
More pointless pseudo-security that makes no one safer. I have forgotten my pocket knife multiple times and walked right on the plane with no problem. The whole idea that AA and AAA batteries can't have a big enough charge to bring down a plane is laughable. I have only a little experience with electronics and explosives and I could easily create something that used button cell batteries and had more than enough power to disable a plane. A trained bomb-making expert could do even better. At this rate, we will be forbidden to bring a potato on the plane since they could be used as a battery.
WTF?
So this about sums up your feelings then.
Time to offend someone
Geez - is TSA really worried about a battery of a certain size? Or is it a bomb disguised as a big battery?
If it simply the requirement of a powerful energy source -- then what about those darn power outlets that were added to planes so we could use our laptop on long flights?!
Seriously - I think you've all latched onto the wrong threat. I'm assuming the real issue is the laptop is the bomb and needs power to detonate. It isn't the battery - its the size of the package. A Cell phone is too small, but big thick 1990's Dell Laptop can carry enough material to make a big hole. And apparently so can an iPad. People have problems bringing blocks of cheese on a plane because they show up as C-4 on the x-ray. Batteries probably look like cheese like -> C-4
Well - "they" thought underwear had enough room too. These people are failing and iterating looking for something that will work. Basic business: fail-fast, iterate,.... succeed? Sneakers didn't make a hole. iPad? try it.
That's beautiful.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
TSA wants laptops in cargo hold where they can't be observed by other passengers or extinguished. Phone batteries and 115v outlets obviously produce more power than 9 volt batteries.
The people in the seats next to me are getting fatter. The seats are shrinking.
If TSA won't let me be engrossed in my high-end laptop on a coast-to-coast flight, I'm pretty sure some optional meetings just aren't going to happen anymore...at least in my case.
I'd consider longer-duration ground travel once self-driving cars are routinely and economically available.
Just hold on a minute here... the source has a quote from an official that the DHS is "considering a possible expansion of the ban." Period. It is the JOURNALIST who surmises "it could spread to domestic flights;" this was not the statement from the interviewed TSA official.
What if "expansion" means covering international flights from more destinations than those originally included in the laptop ban?
Lockerbie.
Nuff said.
You can't detect them even now.
Think about it. The TSA/airports require that people cluster into very large groups outside the 'secure' area of the airport.
My 11-year-old boy asked me why no one is worried about those groups getting attacked in the airport.
More people than on a plane would be affected, and someone could walk into the center of the group with a concealed weapon with ease.
Every aspect of the TSA security theatre is unwarranted and cannot be justified by an actual Adult.
Since 9/11 I have not flown, or taken any transportation that involves the TSA.
This would end tomorrow if everyone would do the same.
Witness BitZtream getting pwned!
Every passing year americans seem more and more retarded seen from an European point of view.
The America that allowed Steve Wozniak to thrive is never coming back. Melting pot my ass. More like humanitarian catastrophe.
https://xkcd.com/651/
How's life in the hypocrite lane?
So now they're considering making our laptops available for TSA baggage screeners to steal them. Nice.
Seriously, if things are so bad that we have to do this sort of thing, then it's clearly too dangerous to fly at all.