Slashdot Mirror
Total Recall Weapon Scanner a Reality
verch writes
"American
Security and Control has produced a
real life version of the weapon scanner in Total Recall.
It uses a narrow 'low exposure' x-ray that can scan a fully
dressed person on a conveyor belt in 10 seconds to show guns,
bombs, etc. Now instead of putting your luggage through the
x-ray machine at the airport you can just ride through it
holding your luggage and have everything scanned. Hopefully
it's won't cause more people to die of cancer.. "
The cancer and the cost are a red herring, IMO. It's reasonably close to background radiation now. It doesn't matter if it's $500k per installation, SOMEONE WILL PAY FOR IT. You. Yes, you. The real issue is that it's violates privacy in a way that it should never be violated. "Excuse me, sir, I noticed you were carrying a minidisc -- please insert the disc into our ChildPorn/IllegalSoftware Scanner.
Do I have something to hide? You bet your sweet ass I do.
I hope you were making an attempt at humor. Wouldn't wearing a tape recorder be an invasion of the privacy of the person to which you were speaking?
Too lazy to log in,
sKroz
"What do you have to hide" has got to be the sickest attitude of the bunch. What makes you think this will be used for guns? What about software? Hey, is that a bottle of booze in your bag? From the shape of the bottle, it looks like a Smirnoff's. Ooh, I bet his insurance company would pay for that bit of info! Oh, and I bet someone else would love to know about your shopping habits. Using X-rays and software to locate and measure certain bones, you can be identified uniquely. Certain items can be measured the same way. Not just guns. I like my privacy, and I shouldn't lose it because you don't mind.
carrying more than three guns will probably cause a buffer overflow
Did anyone else for sorry for the person shown in the X-rays? I mean geez -- in looks like the poor guy has a KNIFE stuck in him.
I've done some uncomfortable things for product demos before but, dammit, this is going TOO FAR.
Dyslexic Implant Detected...
Government Approved...
Synaptic seepage detected, advise seek medical help.
Welcome to Newark...
No,no, I think he's got a good point. If you haven't got anything to hide, shouldn't the police just be able to come into your house anytime? It won't matter, as you've got nothing to hide.
Hell, they should be able to stop you and search you on the street for that matter - if you're unkempt, shaggy and stumbling after a 36-hour coding marathon, you won't have anything to hide, so it won't matter anyway.
I think that the post office should refuse to deliver letters unless they're unsealed - the postal inspectors might want to audit them, look for evidence of illegal activity. As long as you've done nothing wrong, it should be OK, right?
And why should your medical records be private? There's certainly nothing to hide there!
(for the over-literal, that was all sarcasm)
Well, at least I'm not the only person who this is just plain scary. How much do they pay those security guards at airports anyway? What happens when they install a whole bunch of these things? Do we really want minimum wage workers scrutinizing our anatomy? People with boring jobs get job satisfaction somehow (see DMV), and I can only imagine the fun one could have with one of these things.
:P) which you subject the populace to.
It's one thing to keep an eye on what people are carrying in their bags, and it's another thing to make sure people are not carrying metal (and individually checking those who do), but it's a wholly different thing to have a pair of xray sunglasses (which this thing amount s to, just a whole lot less portable
You know, MAYBE this isn't such a bad idea...
Isn't that just a zipper?
Start selling lead lined underwear. You could make a fortune. Hell you could probably make some sales with the more hysterical segment of our population by simply citing background radiaton...
Well, what if the computer is also responsible for adjusting the amplitude of the x-rays...i.e. it is tunable for thicker clothing? Let's say a BSOD sends it to maximum....
... actually at that height you are bombarded with quite something more serious. X-Rays are gamma rays and so their impact is rather low.
... okay, all sloppyware ... are ions, say are Alpha and Beta.
Much more dangerous for a human
Does not mean though there is no risk and sure, it adds up, a bit of a gamma dose here, a bit there though driving a car is still much more dangerous and no-one is concerned about that.
For flying itself, the atmosphere does a great job in filtering out particles like Mesons, Alpha and Beta particles and what else is raining down on us all the time but the less atmosphere between you and the greate not so blue yonder out there the more you get what you did not pay for.
Best is you go by submarine 8-)
There is a higher cancer rate among long-term pilots. AFAIK, frequent flyers have never been studied carefully, but there are a a number studies showing that people who fly a lot, such as salesmen, have higher cancer rates.
Unfortunately, the studies have never been done in such a way as to conclusively show that the higher exposure is the cause, i.e. perhaps the salesmen are living a lifestyle that increase their risk other ways as well.
That said, people living in high altitude cities such as Denver also have higher cancer rates, likely due to the radiation.
FWIW, the naturally radioactive potassium in the emmissions from coal-burning provide a much higher exposure to people in the vicinity. The radiation emmitted by coal-burning each year is more than that from Chernobyl. And don't get me started on exposure from potassium in fruit & veggies...
Well it's really convenient if you're not located in the US. I wonder what they charge for shipping?
If the police can see what's happening through the walls of my house from the street, then they can go right ahead. I'm not doing anything illegal. If the post office wants to read my credit card bills, go right ahead. The only people concerned with "privacy" are people intending to commit a crime. If you're an honorable citizen and obey the laws you have nothing to worry about. If nothing else these devices should definitely be installed at the entrances to all public buildings they normally have security guards. At least we'd be able to keep wackos with guns out.
Then you probably don't mind if the cops watch you having sex with [who/what]ever you like and even make some private recording... after all, you got nothing to hide right ? Maybe they could then publish the videos since you have nothing to hide too.
People with your arguments are the good citizen of 1984. To quote someone : "Under any conditions, anywhere, whatever you are doing,
there is some ordinance under which you can be booked."
1. They should have a large wall sized monitor so you can just walk through it instead of having to wait for 10 seconds for a scan. (Assuming that they can do this while people are in motion)
2. They should use some DSP filtering to remove images of flesh and only keep images of bone and unidentified objects. Bone would be colored light green, weapons brigh read with a warning icon around it.
That would rock.
-bobby
I would be careful carring even a joint in an airport. I am sure that Mr. DEA Officer would be more than willing to charge you with an "Intent to Sell" for even a joint (or roach for that matter) in a "known" drug trafficking place such as an airport.
Stand up and let you voice be heard. May 1st is the Million Marijauna March. Lets put an end to the 63 years of oppression that Cannabis Sativa has faced.
They can't use this while people are in motion. So keep moving!
IANAL, but a law student told me that while it is illegal to record a phone conversation without the knowledge of the other party, it is _not_ illegal to record in-person conversations without their knowledge.
I think you CAN get arrested for not cooperating with a police search.
Depends. The police have no right to search you, if I remember correctly. They must get a search warrant. However, you can certainly agree to being searched, which is what you implicitly do when you purchase your airline ticket.
It's the same garbage that they do with Picture IDs. The government does not require you to have a picture ID to travel on an airplane because they can't make that law stick. So, instead, they require that the airlines require a picture ID from all passengers in order to receive FAA approval for them to be an airline.
I believe this shabby tactic was started when the Federal Government wanted to get tough on teen drinking (Nancy Reagan and her "Just So No" garbage), but the Federal Government has no right to regulate this. So they told state governments that they couldn't get federal highway funds unless they set their drinking age to 21.
Just make sure it doesn't look like a pocket knife. I can think of many people who were busted for carrying those switchblade combs because they LOOKED like switchblade knives.
Pretty soon you won't even be able to carry anything that LOOKS like a weapon.
Depending on the state (or country) you were in.
They are already trying in Australia.
An intelligent person on this board! I agree totally. I'll protect myself however I damn well please, and the government should stay the hell out.
Its not a matter of having nothing to hide. The point is that our government or anybody else for that matter should not have the ability to build up the infrastructure of totalitarianism. Even if its not used for evil purposes today, why give future dictators or a power hungry president the means to have total control over the population.
Hope they're gonna have a LOT of food at this march.
a founding father he would not make. It is sad to see so many people that think they know more about goverment then the likes of john jay and jefforson did. ever since the turn of this century our rights have eroded. Technology makes it easier. i hope jamming devices become prevelent when these scanning devices become common. I will certianly think of using it.
Re:and it runs windows...but http on Red Hat
qubit
Well you can see internal organs[sort of].
Wonder what breast implants look like on an x-ray?
There are some tried and true methods to dealing with computers.. assuming the thing isn't networked in the first place (I doubt it would be, but you never know--they might make live offsite recordings of the data), a suitably powerful Tesla coil and a car battery will deal with the computer system... at which point they fall back on their conventional metal detectors.
Oh yeah, and for those who object to the radiation issue: ever worked out how much radiation you receive sitting for hours in front of a monitor, or even walking down a street in the middle of massive levels of cell-phone traffic? The only way to avoid radiation, if you're serious, is to live in the mountains.
I'd feel sorry for such a machine. Someone with bad B.O. would be really rough.
I don't think they do collimate, they sweep the scanner and just mask the receiver (& probably the source) but it's just a narrow strip maybe with some shuttering to prevent convolution along the minor axis.
Seems pretty simple. I wouldn't trust their numbers on radiation exposure, and what about the operators exposure? Forgive me but when a sales man tells me I'm only going to receive minor exposure and he makes a quarter million in revenue a pop, well.... you figure it out.
oh, i'm pretty sure VISA doesn't accept $500,000 transactions anyways. it says they accept government purchase orders, letters of credit, etc. too
Why not just click on the image. You can see a close-up a tell for sure.
What about the sun? You'd be better in a cave... ;-)
there's detail versions like http://www.americansecurity.net/products/conpass/w oman_large.jpg
This would be great for cancer screening. Check out http://www.americansecurity.net/products/conpass/m an_large.jpg Imagine, you'd get a free check up everytime you fly.
We could also point out a history lesson to show that this reasoning is exactly the justification given by good little Nazi's, who knew that it was okay for the Gestapo and SS to search you and your property at will, because only the "bad elements" have anything to hide. What's good for the fatherland, costs your privacy. Be good little sheep and let your masters shear you.
I don't know who said it, but it is so damn true: those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it!
>The writeup said it detects non-metal weapons too. The plastic/ceramic
>guns (that actually still have metal parts) are to get around metal
>detectors.
I hate to say this but wrong, the polymer firearms
use plastics to make them lighter not avoid detection
24oz when unloaded (polymer) Vs. 49 Oz unlaoded (total metal)
That's right. We elect lawyers to write the laws so the police and other lawyers have more laws to enforce and prosecute and defend. More criminals and more jails and more more more! It's the 80's and 90's version of the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about.
Protect your rights. Defend the 2nd amendment. Join the ACLU. Liberty for all.
You have nothing to hide? Are you absolutely certain that you are not breaking any of the 100's of thousands of local, state and federal laws that have been on the books for decades or even centuries?
In at least one state it's illegal to wave to someone on the street. The law was intended to give police a weapon against prostitutes, but it could be enforced simply because the office doesn't like you.
No matter how law abiding you think you are, there are probably dozens of laws that you break every day without knowing it. Our only saving grace is that these laws are extremely difficult to enforce due to lack of evidence (and in most cases, a will to prosecute... but all it takes is pissing off the wrong cop to get you charged).
So now you want to give the law enforcement agencies the ability to enforce all these previously unenforceable laws whenever they want simply because the technology now exists to prove them easily.
Other things to think about. Just because you're hiding something doesn't mean it's illegal. For instance, many worshipers of alternative religions hide this fact from most people to avoid persecution.
What if a security guard noted that it was a female executives "time of the month" and leaked it to all her co-workers? There are lots of things you don't want others to know about but aren't illegal.
Lovely.. Airline passengers who are hot on the outside and cold on the inside.
Er. ma'am you want a baked potato with that?
Upon hearing of this new airport scan machine Americans are the only ones who immediately mention that "MY GOD THESE COULD BE USED IN HIGH SCHOOLS!"
Sad state your country must be in that this is the first thought that crosses your NRA-addled little minds
Damnit, the government set up that Colorado shooting just so they COULD get justification for such a privacy invasion. Nazi scumbags they are.
"Trench Coat Mafia"... Some government worker was watching too much X-Files.
And further, has anyone seen the constant "heightening" of school security nationwide after that? I feel my mark is well hit here.
Hey, order one, have it installed and call Visa "Hi I want to charge back this order..."
Now that's the usual general paranoia on radiation isn't it.... C'mon: low energy X-ray photons do not damage pacemakers, nor do they cause cancer if the dosage is kept limited.
Walking by some powerlines (magnetic fields) is more dangerous to your pacemaker than walking through that X-ray thingy... (that is: not at all)
I think he ment the http server is ran on a RedHat machine.. Anyways, Maybe they'll port it to X with Gtk+ =)
> (no I'm not advocating socialism here).
God save us from Americans. What's wrong with a little bit of socialism? Or do you really believe that, for example, expensive, inequitable healthcare is a Good Thing?
If jamming devices became commonplace, they would almost certanly become illegal.
a misquote: "If freedom is outlawed, only outlaws will have freedom."
just wear a lead-lined trenchcoat.
Keep looking. No, don't look at the men either.
Look at the smaller image. She has an IUD.
One of the images (not woman.jpg) has an IUD
in it. Look right on the spine.
You are looking at woman.jpg, which just has
a plain old zipper.
Consider drugs.jpg instead. There is an IUD.
Forget about woman.jpg for a moment and look
at drugs.jpg. You can see her birth control.
This has been around for quite some time I'd bet.
Walking into a certain 3 letter organization you walk down a rather long and narrow pathway that really has no architectural signifigance.
Curious.
Like Bigggg Booobbbbssssss LOL
what i want to know, is if the operator notices something weird INSIDE your body, what he'll do about it. can you imagine running after a woman who has gone through on of these things and saying "excuse me, miss, but there was this dark spot inside your right breast, and I think you should go have it checked, just to be safe..."
truly a weird tool to be using in an airport.
of course, it also might have some real medical use. go in for a checkup and they routinely take a full body snap of you for future reference...
Actually the unit is not designed with the general population in mind,( however there is no limitation on evil thoughts) only those deemed to be suspects at a customs location, or miners or jewelry personnel who can swallow precious stones and gold or microchip makers or defense locations where the mere presence of the machine will discourage theft and randomly examine or suspect examine likely candidates
Actually what is unique about the machine is that the low x-ray exposure is only part of the story. The ONE scan taken does show both bones and soft tisue because the other half is digital software interpolation where the one exposure is managed in softweare to show both skin, soft tissue and bone. Further the algorithims can also be changed, on the fly to show for anything you want, for instance the membrane of the condom into which the contraband is placed, all without having to do multiple exposures for bone, then muscle then softer tissue etc. at 150 Mrem each exposure instead of .25 Mrem for one exposure. As a matter of fact the medical version of this unit is far better than anything around here however the FDA requires the expenditure of millions just to quality for sale in the US, it is sold overseas as the Pulmoscan 760 for mass screening for TB and other diseases.
No it is only and x-ray machine, the new currency that has magnetic strips in it could be scanned just like the department stores now use mag strips to be read by those plastic things at exits... a mor esophisticated setup could read currency mags.
Most guards at airports are paid about $26,000. per year, much less for private security guards (about $16,000. per year and more for Govt guards about $30,000. per year, all less if unarmed, and believe me they have better things to do than stare at x-rays all day long. Besides this type of exam is not designed to look at everybody only random selected ( deterrent version) and "suspects"
Actually the exposure is .25 Mrem per exam. Your local dentist gives you at least 30Mrem each time he.she looks at your teeth, A chest x-ray is 150 Mrem and a 7 hour flight from NY to London is 13 Mrem... how often do you fly? In many parts of the country the base exposure is 1-2 Mrem just for living there!
The typical X-ray machine puts out a cone of radiation to expose the whole body to the beam. The Conpass puts out a very narrow low power beam that looks just like a fan (similar to MRI where the exposure is "sliced" ) and you pass through it . All enhancements and zone processing is done via digital software interpolation. if windows goes.. so does the image.
The unit is not designed for the general passenger population (at 10 second per exposure, 3-5 minutes to get on the conveyor, ten minutes to evaluate is impractical for all; but only in suspicious and random searches to minimize passenger delay, and its very presence will deter problems... Remember the house burglar will not go to an occupied house, even a cat or a sign in the front that you have a burglar system... he will go to the empty house where there is no hassle!
Hey, anything to relieve the boredom, the guard might be a kindred soul,....but do you really want to delay your trip for a hassle?
Yes all of what you say and other areas are possible now, with this machine; but it costs money The minimal x-ray beam is just the beginning to take the data. Data, in digital form can be manipulated to "see" anything you want in false color, it can also be projected on to any size surface for viewing and it can captture ( more processing power!!!) objects in movement.
We have available, now the technology to take a digital image ( x-ray or real live photo) of a white polar bear, in the arctic, in a snowstorm ( Where all you see is white) and by manipulating the digital image you can see the bear clearly and tell you what he is doing... for instance with two sequential images you can do the following: remove all objects that are moving in the same direction (ie. snowflakes driven by wind), image any datum that is stationary and outline it ( ie. snowbanks, ground profile. image all dark areas, or ones of different intensities grey to black (ie. eyes, claws, mouth or similar) then image any object whose movement is local say 1/2 inch or less ( this gives you fur) so by now you know that in all that white, you have a white ploar bear with black mouth rim, eyes, ears etch moving on an ice pack in the middle of a showstorm. I only utilized 4-5 attributes from dozens available, and given enough time, hours maybe at the computer you would be amazed at what you can see when there is nothing to see. Given enough computing power not necessarily a supercomputer, but a mini one and further developed algorhythims this could be done in real time in a dynamic ( moving ) environment
It takes 10 seconds to image properly, the exposure is less than .24 Mrem... The other data is a mistake by copy writers who incorporated timing and exposure that may be used as a "cushion" to picky.. picky peapole who might come up with one instance in one location in one time to make the statement wrong.. INTEL does the same thing... have you overclocked a Celeron.. is your airplane really able to withstand only a 1000 foot drop? The reason most of us get away with some pushing of published values is that manufacturing, in an attempt to make sure all production meets the spec will underspec an item to make sure that production values will be met even if the item is below spec when produced.
Hey BOEING will sell you a $145,000,000. million dollar 777 on their web site. he site is only a start of the process. Want to buy a unit is on demo at the May 26-29 INFOPOL Expo just outside Brusses.
Actually the x-ray in a hospital can expose you to between 40 and 2000 M-rems per x-ray ( Vs. (.24) for the Conpass) so in a Hospital intended to make you well you get dozens or thousands of times the exposure (is it any wonder that, I hear, Hospital caught diseases kill more people that those coming in with a problem? also the Hospital x-ray tend to "Splash" all around since it is a cone of x-ray light. the Comnpass is a flat fan shaped beam exposing maybe 1/2 inch on a pass.
Yeah you are correct but the order is never really taken this way, the shopping cart is only the start of intent... as a matter of fact soem sick puppy just ordered one from AmericanSecurity.net with a return address of Littleton Colo.
You have some valid points of concern. The unit is NOT for universal applications, but only for "exceptions" ie. random statistically sampled searches, which could require consent, or "suspicious persons that are now selected and taken to customs examining facilites ( 3-5 personnel including doctor and nurse for a very time consuming ,demeaning and intrusive whole body search including cavity seraches. Since there are no x-ray pictures, all is software interpolated, thaere should be few problems with an agreed time automatic erasure of the data from the hard drive within 6 hours of debarking at destination. What if you passed someone later implicated in the disaster, how can you justify or investigate if they had something when the exam was erased?
I saw on TV where a Canadian diamond mine
exposes its employees to low dosage x-rays
after every shift. I guess they don't want
them swiping the corporate jewels. Anyway,
I don't think I'd want to be x-rayed every
time I leave work or every time I fly.
You don't have to submit to being searched by aircraft security personnel, but complying with security measures IS a precondition to boarding the aircraft.
As far as getting arrested is concerned, a police officer would have to get involved and believe that there is sufficient "probable cause" for HIM (or HER) to search you, and then find evidence. I think you CAN get arrested for not cooperating with a police search.
Before each time you go through, place on your person an aluminum foil cut-out in some surreal, humorous, or rude shape. Happy faces, phallic shapes, extended middle fingers, little scotty dogs, "Bob" Dobbs heads . . .
Good question. Being an American (or, more specifically, a US citizen) I may be biased but I'll try to answer as well and concise as I possibly can. Specifically, we believe that what we have works well [or well enough.] Or, more generally, humans have trouble "thinking out of the box" so to speak.
Better read that Code of Federal Regulations a little closer; "negligible" is an acceptable body count in government risk assessment NewSpeak. The model that produces that "negligible" number is a mathematical projection of effects seen at higher higher levels, based on the **assumption** that the dose-response curve is linear.
In fact, risk assessment is not a substitute for science. If we knew what the actual body counts were, we wouldn't be using risk assessment methods. In fact, there's broad agreement in the scientific community that "risk assessment" is incapable of giving us any certainty that the numbers are even in the ball park, and that it's only rational use is in ranking relative risks for purposes of regulatory or other curative action.
Disturbingly, the historical reliability of such regulatory numbers is a history of constantly downward revision, as newer tests show that lower doses of radiation and toxic substances are harmful. Moreover, the dose response curve with radiation is actually supra-linear in some tests, the cumulative dose to which individuals have been exposed is not entered into the equation, nor is their individual sensitivities.
Perhaps most damningly, virtually the entire U.S. federal effort to regulate radiation and toxic substances assumes zero exposure from other sources, other toxins, and by other exposure routes. It's a house of cards that has not served us well. For example, it's only been in this decade that we finally persuaded EPA to review **average** human exposure to a relatively small family of chlorinated dioxins, dibenzofurans, and biphenyls that act by a common toxic mechanism, but still ignoring the fact that a broad class of halogenated hydrocarbons share the same aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase mechanism at the cellular level. And what of the more than 10,000 new chemicals that enter commerce every year? Can you assure us that none of them will increase our susceptibility to radiation?
The bottom line: anyone who bases claims of safety on risk assessment techniques is either ignorant or dishonest.
For an interesting read, you might take a look at the first case I litigated, before I went to law school. 747 F.2d 1240 (9th Cir. 1984).
Paul E. Merrell
pem@televar.com
While the procedure for using this device needs to be clarified for privacy reasons, I actually welcome better security at US airports. Compared to some other countries, what we endure in the states is feeble. If you travel overseas, you probably know what I mean. On different occassions this is what I had to go through.
1) Once had all my bags (check-in and carry-on) thoroughly hand searched. Everything got dumped out and sifted through like they were searching for a penny. This was a year after the Lockerbie explosion so everybody's bags got searched this way.
2) Got patted down fairly thoroughly. And no, he didn't so now know where to hide my "gun".
3) Got pulled off to the side so that they could search my backpack after the x-ray machine showed something suspicious. A nice soldier was asked to join us (hey, nice machine gun!).
4) Got stopped in Heathrow while carrying data recording equipment and assorted cables. Once again, hey nice machine gun!
In each instance, I didn't mind that they were so security minded.
I also have grave concerns about some of the privacy issues. However, airport security in the US could be better. Being asked, "Has anyone you don't know given you something to carry on the plane?" is kind of feeble.
Higher altitude (less atmospheric shielding from cosmic rays), and the soil/rocks there contain more uranium than most other places (uranium itself is hardly radioactive, but radon is produced by its decay, and radon decays into a series of short-lived solids which hang out in your lungs).
I think it would definitely suck to have these things everywhere, but my main concern would not be radiation, but privacy. I have no problems with them being in just airports. Not that I mean to defend this type of thing, but if they did become so pervasive the dose these things give you would have to be lowered first. Members of the public aren't allowed to be exposed to >100mRem per year, or >2mRem in an hour.
The radiation dose is 0.24 mRem. You get ~1 mRem per day natural background (cosmic rays, radon, etc.). That's completely and utterly harmless. I'm sitting here reading a copy of 10CFR20 (government standards for radiation protection) now as a matter of fact, and I can say with assurance this is an absolutely negligible amount of radiation. If you passed through one of these twice every day, you'd be getting less exposure (including average background) than people in, say, Denver CO do in background alone. The cancer rates in places with abnormally high background (ie Denver, Norway) are not statistically different from elsewhere.
- A.P.
--
"One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
I find it really amusing that they've got a shopping cart system on the web site. Seriously, how many companies are going to place an order for something that's almost a half million US$ sight-unseen on some web site?
--
SSIA.
Altitude or something?
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
I mean, if I'm pretty much naked when I walk through that thing, then I think it ought to be allowed to not wear any clothes at all, if I don't want to.
:)
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Posted by Stephen "The Carp" Carpenter:
:) They will enjoy seeing your esophogus,
My mother worked as an X-Ray tech at a hospital
for 30 years (it was her job to take the patient to the table, position the tube and press the
button)
Anyway...just drink some contrast fluid before
you go
stomac, intestines and colon.
....Course I dunno if it would be worth the
chauly taste of barrium swallow or the after
effects in the bathroom....
Considering it costs $356,000.00 to purchase, it's no surprise that it runs under Windows. Apparently Billy told em how to market it.
Posted by Lord Kano-The Gangster Of Love:
I do have a permit to carry a concealed weapon. This machine isn't a problem today, but the fear is that this type of technology could be used in the future to enforce gun prohibition.
LK
From their own webpage:
This makes hacking a handy tool for terrorists and smugglers. The "only" thing they have to do is hack the scanning station's computer, to display the image that they want the operator to see at the right time. If the system has automated image recognition-based alarms for knives, guns, drugs etc. you need to disable them as well.
One might envision a specifically shaped object that can be recognized by computer vision techniques, triggering the fake image display and disabling alarms.
Given the current rate of virusses popping up for windoze systems, it is a pretty scary thought.
- the Apocalyptic Lawnmower
Before you say that xrays are harmless, ask yourself why the x-ray machine operator in a hostpital (who has to do several x-rays per day) stands behind that shield?
"And with every 5000 frequent flyer miles, you get a free lead apron!"
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
Just $356000 apiece, plus $17000 for installation. When does the home version come out? It could be great fun at parties...
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
As far as people with assorted metal in their bodies, they already set off metal detectors and are inconvenienced.
I don't know what you're talking about. I've got my wanger pierced twice, and I've been through plenty airport metal detectors without setting them off. And that's with some pretty heavy jewelry in place.
not Franklin
i would like to have kids someday... i dunno... this just doesn't seem like something i want my gnarbles exposed to...
Large print giveth, and the small print taketh away
It will be a real mess at airports...
'Please wait, sir... we are rebooting our system so we can scan you'
'bullets.exe had caused an stack overflow on module bomb.dll DF056A:45778F'
The Conpass x-1280 runs on an Windows-based 350Mhz Intel Pentium II workstation
Then we don't have much to worry about. They'll see blue objects most of time.
Sorry, for a moment there I thought you said something about intelligence. Obviously not...
Heh... Yea, I know. That's why it's science! It's not 100% effective, but nothing is. But, as far as false positives, they know how to rule out classes, catalog false positives, type mixtures... It's really a science, and prototype testing has shown like 10% false positive's in real world trials. Not good yet, but it's still just an experiment.
There are some good alternitives though, among them is a system being developed in a few places including LANL, that is more "non-invasive", where they sniff the air around you (like a drug/bomb sniffing dog, only automated). You walk in the thing, air swishes around you, and back into the instrument, and they get instant readings on trace chemicals (selecting out perfume, selecting explosive chemical precursers...)
Anyone who really cares, email me if you want some journal referances.
On the right, the top is a female with her zipper partly open. I guess she's going through that "water retension" time of the month. Orrrr maybe her jeans just shrank too much in the drier...
Immediately below that is a male with a revolver and a knife.
The rest are a mess. Only clue is that the female on the top left is swallowing something.
What I wonder is how they collimate the beam and/or sensors and yet provide sufficient signal strength to use a low level of illumination.
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
...a "pocket grooming tool" instead of a pocket knife.
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
...the contents to a third party. If you want to make a personal record, then it is not an invasion of anyone's privacy.
See the DN thread about intent, the big IF about the abouse of log files as opposed to the proper use of log files.
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
blablabla
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
The one on the bottom right is female as well. If you look carefully you can see the underwire in her bra cups.
I love the fact that its 356 grand (plus a miniscule 17 grand to have it installed), and you can ORDER IT ON THIER WEBPAGE! hehehe I don't think my Visa limit is that high...
-- "I feel a strong disturbance in the for.."\*Segmentation Fault*\ (core dumped)
It seems they adjust the sensitivities. I've walked through and forgotten to empty my pockets with not a beep. But after a bomb threat at Toronto Airport, the gates beeped until I got rid of every bit of metal on me. Too high a sensitivity, however, and they soon push it back down due to delays.
-- perl -e'print pack"H*","6e656d6f406d38792e6f7267"'
Probably not. It's X-ray-based, remember? This means two things:
1) It works visually; a bunch of coins in a pocket would show up as a big white blob, shaped like a bunch of coins but with no real way to determine what the coins were.
2) X-rays penetrate paper. The magnetic strips in dollar bills aren't dense enough to block X-rays.
Sorry, voyeurs, but this machine appears to be too powerful to allow for that. X-rays go right through skin (but not metal and bone) so unless you have an extreme attraction to skeletons you're not going to see anything particularly fascinating on this thing.
But even so, why do I get the feeling we'll be seeing X-ray porn sites popping up on the Net soon?
A dose of radiation that is spread out over time is not as damaging as getting that dose of energy in 10 seconds. What you get over one year in daily life might be the end of you if it were a 10 second dose.
I wore a dosimeter while surveying oil wells once and had the honor of being certified to handle things evil as neutron sources. I learned to fear radiation in other's hands with all the stories I heard. Radiation damage does not show up for months or many years later.
Oh well, I have a mighty fine 17 inch particle accelerator inches from me now. What am I talking about. I just need to crank up the voltage a bit to excite the electrons in evil way.
You want the credit limit to buy one of these? Call the card company and ask. You might be surprised. Imagine the frequent flyer miles many business owners get.
I would hate to be responsible for one of those accounts, though. I had over $2000 of fraud worked on one of my accounts a few months ago in one day at some Kmart in San Jose. Haven't been there in 15 years, but someone with my number and name was.
Orwell was just 15 or so years off...
Not everyone among us is willing to give up his constitutionaly guaranteed rights just to obey an illegal law. There are many honest and good people who carry weapons "Illegally" in order to protect themselves and their families. This device is just one more way to intrude into the lives of private citizens. I for one have nothing to hide or show. But that should be MY decision, not yours or anybody elses.
picky picky.
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
Don't ever try to fly with a carry on bag that has been NEAR anything that went to a shooting range with you.
I took a piece of carry on that had been sitting next to my range bag in the closet. They did that checmical wipe thing at security. It said explosives. (must have been from powder residue or something) The rent-a-cop freaked out and tried to grab me from behind. (this is illegal, i was told later since he was a security puke not a real cop.) I reacted badly since I was not paying attention to what he was doing with my bag since I was late for a flight and was preoccupied, and the rent-a-cop ended up on the sitting ground. This turned out badly and I ended up like 3 seconds away from missing the plane.
Moral of the story: don't travel with anything that has been near shooting or reloading gear. The end. :-)
/dev
"There's no secret. You just press the accelerator to the floor and keep turning left." -- Bill Vukovich
Glocks actually have more metal than some smaller pistols, and are fully detectable by metal detectors or X-rays.
It has been illegal to sell or carry toy weapons in the New York City police state for some time now.
Of course disagreeing with the mayor will also get you arrested. Though they rarely find any crime to charge the miscreants with.
- Ixbalam =^.^=
I travel by air three or four times a year, and I've quickly learned that the longest delays (when rushing from one end of an amazingly long airport terminal to the opposite end of another amazingly long terminal - see Pittsburg airport for an example) is the security checkpoint. Standard walkthrough time, barring beeps, is like five seconds. Drop your bag on the belt, walk through, pick up bag. Now if everyone has to do that *and* have a 10 second x ray...multiply that per numbers of persons in line and add 5 minutes each for each person with "questionable" metal bits... oh for chrissakes! I'll never make my connecting flights.
As an aside, I have 6 piercings. Don't worry, most of them are ear :) But they've never set off metal detectors :)
-jwb
How many guns and explosives have actually been found by airport scanners?
You're totally overlooking the deterrent value of airport scanners. For anyone with half a brain, they know that they can't bring guns/bombs/whatever through the scanner, so they don't even try.
Of course, it has the negative effect of making the "bad guys" think smarter - nothing worse than smart bad guys...
________________________
Corporate Jenga: You take a blockhead from the bottom and you put him on top...
Oh well, so much for my future children....(of course my moniter already killed my chances anyway....)
Life is but a Beta test...
Suppose you commute by train and work in an office building. There's three times just going to and from work. Go out for lunch; one more. Go to the post office on your lunch break; that's five. University student? Great, every classroom has a scanner.
It's easy to double your daily dose from scanners alone.
Now let's mass produce these, get the price down to a couple of thousand dollars. Every late night store will have one, every school room, probably even put them in buses and trains and taxis. You will go thru hundreds in a single day if the control freaks have their way.
That's not a tradeoff I want to be forced to make for dubious claims of "safety". I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said "Those who would give up a little freedom for security deserve neither."
--
Infuriate left and right
They claim equivalent to a one hour flight. So let's put one in every post office, stadium, bank, govt office, office building, etc. I see it very easy to pass thru 5 or 10 of these a day. That's more radiation than I want. Multiply it by millions of people, and I bet more people would die of cancer from this pervasive scanning than would die from the weapons it finds.
How many guns and explosives have actually been found by airport scanners? How many would have deaths would there have been if there were no airport scanners?
And the cost -- I imagine all the money spent on these scanners would save more lives if simply spent on immunizations, or better medical care for the poor (no I'm not advocating socialism here).
--
Infuriate left and right
Okay, at airports, security is tight. So this technology might very well be used there. But imagine what happens when they put this in at bars, schools, hospitals, or other places. How far will we invade people's privacy? Will people be able to say "no"?
Imagine if by simple x-ray scan someone knew that you were wearing a tape recorder. Think they'd want to talk to you?
--
"A little less likely" isn't good enough.
I can't forego my 5 minutes in the sun to
compensate for the unsolicited xray, can I?
How can I allow myself to be subjected to anything
that is known to carry a cancer risk? There
are things we cannot control, but those should not
be used to justify adding more risks.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Okay. I'll stay in Germany. I don't have to worry. I'm not Jewish.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Why is that? These machines aren't metal detectors. They'll be able to see your gun, regardless of it being a standard 9MM, or a plastic Water Pistol.
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
If you don't have a permit and/or justification, then you probably shouldn't be carrying. (You might just be the reason for this sort of thing in the first place.)
Me, I don't carry anything more dangerous than a Swiss Army knife anymore, so I'm not worried. I have nothing to hide.
Stupid people will be persecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Stupid people will be persecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Anyone with a whole brain, and a little planning, knows that you drive an ICBM with all of the nukes on it through one of those cheasy airport metal detectors. Airport security is an oxymoron. Wait till terrorists take an airport hostage, instead of an airplane and you will see what I mean.
A large microwave oven would work just as well, and since it's household technology it should be a lot cheaper than a fancy scanning X-ray machine.
Just arrest the guys who emit sparks...
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
> I figure this will just make plastic/ceramic
> guns that much more popular
Sorry, but ceramic guns would be detected quite easily by this thing - ceramics cast quite a dark X-ray shadow, and the profile of a gun is easy to spot.
The reason glocks and such don't set of airport metal detectors is, erm, well, they ain't metal.
Did anyone manage to work out what that metal thing is inside the gut of the (female?) x-ray at top-right of the web page? Looks like an IUD but it seems quite high up. Would you want a bunch of hairy big-assed airport thugs knowing if your wife/ gf/ s.o. had one of these fitted?
Why is it that many people who claim to support standards have such atrocious spelling and grammar?
It's called invasion of privacy. I spoke to my wife about this and she most definitely would not want people knowing whether she was using any form of birth control.
/have/ been raped because of what they were wearing. What makes you think knowledge of an IUD would be treated any differently? Even leering looks and remarks are degrading.
Certain extremists believe any form of birth control other than natural methods is abhorrent and people who use them deserve to die. I would not want my wife[1] becoming a target because of a choice she made regarding her own body.
Oh, and yes, people
[1] or indeed anyone.
Why is it that many people who claim to support standards have such atrocious spelling and grammar?
>>How can I allow myself to be subjected to anything that is known to carry a cancer risk?
In that case, we should ban sun-roofs in cars.. After all, they subject us to cosmic rays which increase our chances of getting cancer!
If you look at the larger pic (click on the small one) you can see that it is just her zipper on her jeans. On the top is the button, then her zipper is about halfway unzipped.
The writeup said it detects non-metal weapons too. The plastic/ceramic guns (that actually still have metal parts) are to get around metal detectors.
Every little bit counts. That one scan might be the one to get ya. Not to mention it runs Windows.
I can just imagine the thing BSODing and frying some poor traveler. I'm sure this would really be bad for pregnant women, too. Not to mention the privacy implications. I suppose if it stops people from carrying bombs on to planes, it's worth it though.
Well then, go hide in your hole and never-ever get a sun tan, and for God's sake don't ride in a car!
One of the risks of this is they will start hiding these things as they get cheaper, and the average person will get "one hour's dose" of radiation every time he/she enters a secure building.
At 0.5 mR it's nothing to worry about.
let's pretend that someone had a magical gun that didn't have any metal (which would be impossible, since a plastic or ceramic gun would blow up in your hand). even one round of ammunition would set off a detector, so even if such a gun existed, you wouldn't be able to get the ammo through.
We can only hope that this amazing new device will allow the powerful and rich to have even more control over the individual!
All hail the captains of industry!
Wealth makes right!
Praise the Force Field! Praise the Laser Project! Slackware Loon #19830573
-earl
I was at first concerned that it was "only as much as a flight" because that's actually a lot more than most people think, but it's only about 5% of what you get in a 3-hour flight, so it's not that bad at all.
I figure this will just make plastic/ceramic guns that much more popular.
So, you're saying you wouildn't object if I gave you a 0.5 mR dose on an hourly basis? How about on a quarter-hourly basis/ how about if I decide the signal strength is too low and decide to double the X-ray intensity? etc. etc.
You don't seem to have much grasp of the "tragedy of the commons" - if one person does it, it's OK, if a few people do it, it's OK, but when everybody and their dog is doing it, we are all screwed.
Absolutely correct. Now, try to keep up with me here...
1. Elected representatives are not perfect.
2. The level of imperfection in the laws they create will be normally distributed.
3. More laws => more REALLY REALLY BAD laws
4. Judges are not perfect.
5. The level of imperfection in the laws they uphold will be normally distributed.
6. More laws => more REALLY REALLY BAD laws.
Or, to put it otherwise, while the ratio of good laws to bad laws is constant, the absolute number of bad laws increases as the total nuymber of laws increase.
I recall reading about the design for this a while back. The claim is that it's a little less likely to cause cancer than 5 minutes outdoors. They were talking about using it in prisons to help catch smugglers. One of the arguments against it was that there is a pretty strong constitutional argument that forcing everyone to let you see them naked, and getting to keep a copy of their x-ray in your database, is a pretty major invasion of privacy.
-Lkb
runs on a Windows-based
[...]
insert some reference to a BSOD here
With Windows controlling an X-ray machine, the term "Blue Screen of Death" takes on a whole new meaning.
Does this make anybody else nervous?
(Oh, and it won't be "unreasonable search" because you don't have to get on the airplane if you don't want to be scanned.)
-- Alastair
Bah! Just get creative. I have seen all manner of interesting storage devices designed to not look like what they are. ;-)
Not that I would ever use such things, of course. I am strictly a law-abiding citizen, so far as what can be proved in court is concerned.
--
Okay, I got Linux installed. So where's the free beer everyone keeps talking about??
Sales of lead-lined underwear have increased ten-fold.
"...Is this world not a call I can screen out" --
To many normal things can be used for precursors.
I.E. Vick's 44, Phenyoline (sp!!), and alot more.
"The pen is mighter than the sword... But what if you can't write?"
I ate my tag line.
-=Ellis (D)25=-
Hehehe.. They can now call it X-Rayted..hahahhaha
"The pen is mighter than the sword... But what if you can't write?"
I ate my tag line.
-=Ellis (D)25=-
I can just see it.. 37" monitor showing this in public viewing.... 'Clean up on isle 10'
"The pen is mighter than the sword... But what if you can't write?"
I ate my tag line.
-=Ellis (D)25=-
If the X-rays don't kill you first, the lead will.....
"The pen is mighter than the sword... But what if you can't write?"
I ate my tag line.
-=Ellis (D)25=-
I think that would help out w/ the rapists.. They would get sick of seeing the 'un-wanted' one walking around...
"The pen is mighter than the sword... But what if you can't write?"
I ate my tag line.
-=Ellis (D)25=-
Excuse me but this is to me going a tad too far.
And I don't think other people will tolerate it either. These kind of scanners will show exactly what we are wearing, enhancers and all... Not to mention if someone has been through an accident and contains extra metals in different places. What are they going to do then? Strip search someone because his hip has been replaces and the upper femur looks like a gun? Not to mention people who are pierced in assorted places *hint*, although I think the alarms go off on them already but at least they don't have to show were they are pierced.
Nope, I don't think this will happen, and if it does, I am quite sure there will be protests when people discover that you do not only see weapons of different kinds but also the shape of people's bodies. Just look at the picture up to the right and say that doesn't look like a women...
Oh, well, maybe it all will spawn a new kind of pr0n. The "entertainment" industry has been the first many times to use new technology.
With hopes people has a great weekend,
Johan
I really don't think that you should be taping anyone without their permission. I know that if I found out that you were wearing a tape recorder, and had been recording, I'd be terribly angry.
He could be referring to the 'search and seizure' bit of the bill of rights, that 'garauntees' and american the right not to be searched without just cause. Of course, that only applies to the government.
Yes, I know what you mean.
I have a hard disk that looks almost exactly like an oversized can of sardines .
-- Oh Well
Amendment 4 - PROBABLE CAUSE
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but
upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place
to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Therefore, it seems to me, that being scanned at airports IS an unreasonable search without a warrant. It's convenient for the airlines; it's yet another step down the slippery slope to a national security state; and, of course, it's just another hole being opened in the Constitutional safety net.
DNA is a Turing machine. You, however, being dynamic and emergent, are not.
This is a really frightening development. What is under your clothes is your own business. Do you want people to know about your piercings, or hip replacement, or colostomy bag, or pacemaker, or flask? Our society is harsh enough already on those who don't conform to the *external* appearance of normalcy.
If we make the assumption that the widespread use of this technology is inevitable, what standards must we set to ensure that privacy is not sacrificed? Here's few off the top of my head:
1. Clearly mark anyplace such a system is being used, so people can at least know if they are being scanned (this becomes more important as the technology advances and becomes less obvious).
2. Allow people to opt-out and be searched by traditional means. At least a hand search doesn't leave a recorded image.
3. Secure the output display area to prevent unauthorized viewing, and establish a system of ethics for the operators.
Any others?
Imagine how it would react to somebody walking through covered with weapons - as in the Matrix (how many guns did he have on his body? 12? more?)
Look at it--the only way this thing will cause cancer is REPEATED exposure. i.e., LOTS and lots of exposure. They only people who will get that are the various MS evangelists running around, the habitual business-travelers, and the unfortunate field-techs who have to fly out to the ends of the Earth to fix some piece of equipment.
This will affect a VERY small percentage of the population. The average pleasure traveler probably wouldn't pick up much more radiation than a dental X-ray. *shrug* Big deal. We get those done regularly...
I hope the "sort" men out there won't feel inadequate going through these things.
-
ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only
Why are all of you people so afraid of this device? It's not another plan set forth to put a stop to your civil rights. It's a friggin device that stops terrorists from smuggling weapons into wherever it's used. Unless all of you are terrorists, I don't see a reason to get paranoid
Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
"If you look carefully you can see the underwire in her bra cups."
Nah, it is the wire for his garrote...
I just love the fact that you can order the bugger online with a credit card. Now if only my limit actually began to approach the $356,000 mark...
"That's Tron. He fights for the Users."
Actually, the one on the right almost
looks like it IS a woman, but the odd
thing about it is that it looks like
she has an IUD in place! So now you
can tell if your chick is on a type
of birth conrol when you pick her
up at the Airport... Hmm... Could
be good for Bill Clinton.
-Darbage
"Iwtywimiybmab"
I HAVE a boring job. Slashdot is my job satisfaction. :)
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.
The Conpass x-1280 runs on an Windows-based 350Mhz Intel Pentium II workstation
Insert some reference to a BSOD here.
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
But I wouldn't have any problem using my $500,000 limit VISA over a non-secure connection...
get nemulator
I don't know if these guys even know how their product works or the effects of it. For example, in two places they say that the total scanning time is 10 seconds. In another spot, they say twenty. The chart says .24 mrem per inspection, the cutesy radiation comparison picture says .5 mrem / inspection. Would you guys trust a carmaker if they said their new high tech auto had 300 horsepower, and then later said it had 150 hp?
get nemulator
Dude, if your interested in that kinda stuff, i recommend a book called "The Transparent Society", i beleive the author is David Brin...Excellent, book.
"The world only exists in your eyes. You can make it as big or as small as you want." - F Scott Fitzgerald
It mentions in the article that the thing can be used to scan for drugs and other "contraband".
Great. Does this mean I can't take my weed with me when I go on a flight anymore? Just what I need... more invasion of privacy, more danger of being busted for a harmless "crime".
No,
But I do see metal detectors at movie theators
-- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
Laws only send "normal" people to jail if the law is bad . By your logic, we need to get rid of those pesky "murder" laws so less hard working Americans have to be put to death.
-
It is possible for your mind to be so open that your brain falls out.
I'll bet when they started putting in metal detectors at airports, or, better yet, those things that look at what's in your bags, everyone said "Wait until they put those in everywhere else."
Well, guess what? You don't see x-ray machines everywhere else, do you? So, why would you expect these things to pop up everywhere? Especially given that they are expensive as hell and basically do the same thing that metal detectors do.
-
It is possible for your mind to be so open that your brain falls out.
First of all, a law, by definition, can not be "illegal," as you suggest. If an Act of Congress is repugnant to the Constitution, it is unconstitutional, not illegal.
Second, I assume you are refering to the second Amendment with respect to our "Constitutionally guaranteed rights". Unfortunately (or Fortunately, depending on your perspective), the second Amendment states "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." It does not, contrary to your claim, say "...the right of the people to keep, bear, and conceal Arms, shall not be infringed."
These "honest and good" people can carry their weapons wherever they wish, so long as they don't take them somewhere weapons are prohibited; they just can't conceal them.
-
It is possible for your mind to be so open that your brain falls out.
As Orson Welles said:
"Only in a police state is the job of a policeman easy."
One of the risks of this is they will start hiding these things as they get cheaper, and the average person will get "one hour's dose" of radiation every time he/she enters a secure building.
"How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
it's happened before with some sort of gamma ray cancer treatment machine a few years back. faulty software caused patients to be exposed to huge dosages much greater than intended and reported by the machine. i don't know what os that device ran, but of course, the court award (or settlement) must have been huge.
i do not care what windows it is running on, it will a good excuse to take the train and catch up on my reading. and i thought the checkout counter lasers were bad!
Old fashion photographers who still love the quality of film will have yet another hoop to jump through when going through the airport.
Is the "Information Age" over with yet? I'm ready to get off...
--- "It's not enough that I succeed...everyone else must fail."
I just think that will everything today that gives us x-rays (computers, the sun, tv's, not to mention hospitals) that something like this would really make a difference. I spend my life around these such things, as probably do most people. I think the potential of the product is a lot more encouraging compared to the ammount of radiation we would be exposed to. As long as they don't start putting it everywhere (school, libraries, etc.)
How long before such devices are placed on streets and in building entrances to randomly search the populace As opposed to security guards? The only reason we don't have security guards all over is because then we'd have to pay them, pay Social Security, Medial, Dental, etc. This would be a great cheap alternative. I don't think the gov't would have a huge database of our wallet contents... (Think of how messed up the IRS is! This would be even worse!) But then, on the other hand, people are always quick to give up their rights, if it means catching more criminals. And unfortunately, each new law creates more criminals. What wasn't illegal yesterday, is illegal today. So then more criminals are caught that weren't criminals the day before and the law looks like it's doing the trick, while normal people go to prison and prisons become more and more overcroweded. My $0.02USD, anyway...
could this be used on coins and the magnetic strips in dollar bills to tell how much money you're carrying?
Look out honey, 'cause I'm using technology; Ain't got time to make no apology
Strong words from an Anonymous Coward. If those words make sense, why won't you tell us who said them?
-c.