And in fact, when you first sign up for an account, Blizzard gives you 30 days to return the game for a *full refund* if you don't agree to the TOS and don't wish to play. That seems pretty fair IMHO, and far more than most game companies will do.
'We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides,' Stringer said.
If they were trying to win on "the merits", then why would that have any bearing? The blu-ray technology did not change when a content provider stopped using it.
Unless, of course, you define "the merit" as "having more content providers".
Newsflash: If you buy the last generation of hardware, and not the top-of-the-line video card, you'll save money!
I've been keeping my PC about one or two cycles behind the bleeding edge for this reason, and it plays games just fine... you just can't crank ALL the settings in some of the newer games.
I would wager you were / are experiencing the usual lousy network performance found with Comcast in many areas, and that it's not VOIP specific.
In the DC Metro area they over-sell and mis-manage their networks so badly that 10% - 15% sustained packet loss and random drop-outs are fairly common conditions when trying to use your connection. You won't notice it unless you're actually trying to do something other than surf the web or send email (SSH/telnet sessions, VOIP, or games for example).
Just an FYI, I don't have a single problem with my VoIP (Vonage) over Comcast. And I just moved from the East Coast to the West Coast, so I've now used it in two different regions.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Comcast fan... I use their service because it's the only thing I can get at my house and I've had no end of problems with their network out East (It seems better managed out here). But VoIP works fine.
many Wiis are not getting used because there is very little on them worth playing for more than about 10 minutes at a time
Er, yeah... which is one of the reasons they're popular (it's why I bought mine).
Instead of needing to block off 3 hours of time, I can play a quick game when I get home from work, or before I hit the sack. And my wife will actually play the games on the Wii. It feels like I'm getting more use out of this console than any other one I've had, even if the "hours" don't directly compare.
There's a lot more "casual gamers" out there than hard-core ones. Up until this particular cycle I've always bought pretty much all the consoles, or close to it. I think the only one I didn't pick up in the last 15 years was a Gamecube for some reason. This time around... just the Wii. At some point I *might* pick up a 360, but so far between the PC and the Wii I've been pretty satisfied and haven't had an urge to go get one.
I stopped going to big shows (arenas, civic centers, etc) years ago... I don't really care for them. I go to small - medium clubs to see live music, and many times that means local music, indie acts, or newer bands on the major labels. If I like the band, I'll buy the CD after the show at the venue.
If they ask questions that don't reflect the real life >i?actual requirements tobe able to perform the job then clearly the questions have some other purpose
Sorry... again, A) all the OP had to do was google "Google interview process" and they would have known exactly what they were in for. The fact that they didn't even have to foresight to do that... speaks volumes. The process is apparently the same for everyone they interview, and it's easy to "look up" that information.
It has *nothing to do with age*. I've met (and know) plenty of "typical 20 year olds" that would blow that interview as well. I am not exactly young , and *I* would fail that interview cold. Of course... I would have googled before I walked in the door blind, then memorized what I needed to and not had a problem. Much like any other interview, I'd have come as prepared as possible. The OP did not.
Welcome to the real world. Life isn't fair. Sometimes you have to answer "stupid" questions that you feel aren't relevant. I've been doing so my entire life in various capacities, so I'm amazed that people here seem to think the world works like it doesn't.
I'm not 40, but I'm much closer to that than 20. I would not be able to pass that interview cold if I took it today. Most people I know wouldn't be able to without refreshing their memory a bit. Therefore, it's not "Age Discrimination", is it? Unless your "protected class" is.. what? 2 weeks out of college to dead? How about folks that didn't go to college? Should that be a "protected class" as well because they never learned it in the first place?
It seems there's lots of folks who say that what they (google) are asking for in their interviews is "stupid" and "isn't what they should be asking". Well, that may well be but it's their process. If you want to work at Google, you'll need to cram a bit before the interview.
Perhaps they are looking for people who bother to take the time to bone up a bit before showing up to an interview instead of saying "I know how to look that up".
Or is this too far out a solution for all of you pointy-haired Human Resources types out there who can only grok questionaires and checklists?
Psst. I'm a Software Engineer. We do group interviews at my company so that everyone on the team has a say in who is hired.
See my other reply regarding the fact that a simple google of "Google interview process" (Oh, the irony) would pretty much have solved the problem. He came unprepared. Anyone of any age could have done the same.
High school is free, social, and runs for 4 years. Even if the classes are "boring" it's not a big deal. I use boring in quotes because that's what kids say when they don't even open their minds to something. Basically, use this line on kids "if it's boring than you should be getting straight A's." Because otherwise, you're there to learn so pay attention.
While that's somewhat valid... I can say from experience that I did not get A's in high school. I was bored silly, and found that continuing my self-education in programing (and really, everything else) was far more valuable than reading "Fahrenheit 451" for the 3rd time in 4 years. (Seriously... senior English... I stopped showing up after that). I literally learned *nothing* in high school that I didn't already know.
Now... that being said, I didn't drop out. I showed up for tests, aced those, and aced the finals. The resulting average was flying Cs for basically showing up once a week. 20 years later I don't really regret that much as it hasn't ever hurt me and my career as a Software Engineer is very rewarding (I love my work). But I'm not the norm - I love learning and have always been a self-starter.
Again, you may not like how they are doing things, and that is a very valid opinion... but what does it have to do with "age discrimination" ?
I don't know if you interview anyone for your company or have done so lately, but I do and have to tell you... this sort of process really helps more in the opposite direction than the one being described in terms of filtering.
There are a LOT of folks who were employed during the boom who really don't have a solid foundation and have no clue about sorting, hashing, etc. Stuff that I consider pretty basic knowledge if you're interviewing to be an engineer. While we don't look for hard code examples from memory, but we do expect that the concepts are there, readily available in memory, and able to be drawn out on a whiteboard. You'd be amazed at how many people can't do that.
I agree on principle that knowing how something works and where to go to get the specifics is every bit if not more important than being a walking textbook, but that's not what they've decided (right or wrong). It's their company, they can do that.
But saying that it's "age discrimination" is silly IMO.
The kids of today use high-tech much like they use a microwave oven. They don't really understand how either works.. and aren't supposed to - that's the point in us making all this stuff easy to use. Trying to tie that into education really is a stretch.
If you're exceptionally bright, public school is boring. It caters to the lowest common denominator (which is pretty low these days, I admit). But that's always been the case. Having met a number of high-school drop-outs at Walmart, 7-11, etc... I can't say that any of them struck me as highly-motivated, self-starters who were simply "bored" in school.
I have met maybe one or two in the last 20 years that really were... and they went on to do just fine as most self-educated people will.
I don't work for google, so please don't try and say that I do.
Your argument is that of a strawman. You claim they are discriminating based on age because... you can't recite from memory what others could. You may not like that they want you to do so, but that's their choice and criteria.
I know quite a few folks who have interviewed at google, and a couple who were offered jobs. The interview is the same for everyone. It's very similar at Amazon.com as well, BTW, if you're interviewing for a senior position. One of my friends made sure to cram for about 2 weeks prior to his Amazon interview for this reason. He actually said it was the hardest interview process he ever went through.
And I'm not talking about 20-somethings straight out of school - I'm past the half-way point myself and so are most of the people I associate with (Well, except for some of the "kids" I work with these days, LOL).
It's harder to keep up with every new tech and some of the buzzwords of today are really annoying
The buzzwords have always been annoying.
As for the former part of your statement, er, no, it's not... and that may be why there's no tech life for you after 50.
(While this reply is somewhat tongue and cheek... keeping up with the tech really is part of the job. You don't have to be proficient in everything, but having at least a familiarity with what's going on in your industry is essential IMHO. And I'm not a young whippersnapper by any means.)
Yep, and I jail-broke (Jailbreaked?) mine for one reason - ring tones.
I'm not saying that it wasn't cool to be able to do things with the phone that weren't advertised and/or supported. It was. I'm also not saying that there's some features that I wouldn't mind having that currently aren't on the iPhone.
However... when I bought it, Iknew what fetures it had, and I knew that putting my own ringtones on it wasn't one of them. I assumed that Apple would be selling them at some point because of iTunes, and even though I wasn't thrilled about that I accepted either not having custom ringtones or buying them. If a hack appeared... also cool, but not something I felt "entitled" to in any way.
It seems that the vocal minority that is whining about 1.1.1 bought an iPhone based on what they thought it should/could do rather than what it was advertised as doing and does. It really isn't Apple's fault that they made a mistake.
I bought my iPhone because the features it had the day I bought it were acceptable - I wouldn't have bought it otherwise. I don't get why people would buy it and then complain that it doesn't do or things that Apple explicitly said it wouldn't.
I have an iPhone. I love it. and you know what? It does exactly what they said it would do when I bought it . Imagine that?
It's like there's a bunch of little kids that figured out that their new toy could do something it wasn't supposed to be able to do, then got upset when Mommy took it away / made it so they couldn't use it that way.
It would be one thing if Apple hadn't said from the start that there wouldn't be 3rd party apps or an SDK. They also said 1.1.1 would do exactly what it does.
And also... you don't have to install 1.1.1. If you don't want Apple support (Which is what the upgrade is - support), you don't have to use it. If you want to use the device in the state Apple sold it to you, you are well within your rights to do so. It does everything they advertised it doing when you purchased it.
Comparing it to other phones or other products is moot - this phone wasn't advertised or sold as having or supporting a development platform for 3rd party apps. If you bought the phone wanting that as a feature, you made a mistake. You bought the wrong product.
This is also ignoring the fact that with Safari on the iPhone supporting AJAX, you can do some pretty slick apps via the web.
You can put the turbo on the car, and they *still* have to honor the warranty on the engine unless they can prove that the turbo (or the installation of) was the direct cause of the failure you are trying to get repaired.
Now... if you have a blown head gasket? Yeah... you're pretty much on your own.:D
Apple is not bound to provide warranty coverage on an altered product any more than one would expect a car manufacturer to warranty a car engine if it were altered under its warranty period
Pssst. You might want to read Magnuson-Moss. Because that's exactly what it talks about.
They DO have to honor the warranty, unless the modification leads directly to the failure in question and can be proved as such.
This is why a car manufacturer can not void a warranty because you put after-market parts on/in your car (and some car/motorcycle dealers will STILL try and tell you that they can void the warranty if you do).
For example... you can put an after-market exhaust or air intake on your car, and they can't not honor your warranty when you take the car in for an oil leak.
Any time they see someone walking by them carrying something that "looks like it could have been a bomb" they should probably not get to worried. The people they should be worried about are the people holding inconspicuous objects, possibly looking really nervous.
They have a duty to investigate the thing "that looks like it could be a bomb". And I'm all for that. Walk over to the girl and ask what it is. Inspect it. Ask her to disconnect the battery. Hell, if you want to really be paranoid, do what they do with the 6oz toothpaste - offer to check it or ship it to her (Yeah, I know... Check it... that makes sense when something is "suspicious"). Confiscate it and let her go on her merry way.
None of these actions would have resulted in anything worse than the over-reacting and pointing of automatic weapons at her. If it were a bomb, and she was going to detonate it, she would have in either case (and actually much more likely in the second, actual reaction).
Instead, they're calling it a "Hoax device" and arresting / prosecuting her. Sorry, but the stupidity that has led to this disgusts me. Every day when I think that America can't get any more ludicrous, something reminds me that I am indeed delusional.
I don't like the security restrictions we are faced with these days, but given that the current threat to our airports (in the UK we had a carbomb attack on Glasgow airport at the start of the Summer) we must be prepared to make some sacrifices.
No, we don't. And it's folks like you that are making it so the rest of us are forced to.
What would have happened if after 9/11 we didn't change a *single* thing in regard to airport security? (Except, oh, a lock on the cabin door)
Answer: Nothing. Zippo. Nada.
9/11 had nothing to do with overcoming existing security. It had everything to do with exploiting people's apathy.
The hijackers all had valid passports. They had valid tickets. They had box cutters for christ sakes. Not guns, not 6" knives, not bombs, light lightbrights attached to their shirts.
They exploited people's apathy. No one thought anything more than a detour and sitting on a runway somewhere was in their future, so they didn't bother to beat the crap out of the folks holding razor blades even with overwhelming numbers somewhere around 15:1.
It would have never happened again. Period. I can now take my leatherman on a plane (its blade length is under the limit). I could do far more damage to someone with my leatherman than with a box cutter. The difference is that if I stood up and pulled it out, the Apathy that used to exist would not be in place and I would instantly have the crap beat out of me.
I know there will be lots of folks here says something like..
"Well, she's stupid for going to an airport wearing that".
And in today's ridiculous climate of fear and over-reaction in the US, they'd be right.
And that's what's wrong.
If the police/authorities think that this is what a bomb looks like (You know... something with lots of blinking lights and a battery), they need to stop watching TV and actually get some training.
I'm really not worried about someone with a lightbright attached to their shirt bringing down my plane.
I'm not really* worried about a terrorist that loads up ten 3oz tubes with whatever he/she would like, replaces the innards of a portable video game with the things necessary to detonate it, and walks through security without a problem.
But the latter is a LOT more likely to happen when passing through Security Theater at the airport.
* - I have a better chance of getting struck by lightening than by being killed by a "terrorist". I don't stay inside when it rains, nor change my behavior other than perhaps using an umbrella... which is rather Ironic if you think about it.
Slashdot Mirror
They clearly state in their TOS that they do this (Section 14)
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html
Don't like it? Don't play the game. Very simple.
And in fact, when you first sign up for an account, Blizzard gives you 30 days to return the game for a *full refund* if you don't agree to the TOS and don't wish to play. That seems pretty fair IMHO, and far more than most game companies will do.
- Roach
'We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides,' Stringer said.
If they were trying to win on "the merits", then why would that have any bearing? The blu-ray technology did not change when a content provider stopped using it.
Unless, of course, you define "the merit" as "having more content providers".
- Roach
Walk into Target.
Buy "Unrated" versions of Horror/Slasher movies on DVD.
Because, you know
- Roach
Oh, I completely agree. I was just pointing out the non-newsworthiness of the article.
... I've owned sportscars, and sportbikes.
... I just don't have the interest anymore. Mid 90s? I HAD to have the latest and greatest.
I have to say though
Practical? No, not really.
Fun, on the other hand? Absolutely.
A high-end gaming rig falls into that category
- Roach
Newsflash: If you buy the last generation of hardware, and not the top-of-the-line video card, you'll save money!
I've been keeping my PC about one or two cycles behind the bleeding edge for this reason, and it plays games just fine
- Roach
I would wager you were / are experiencing the usual lousy network performance found with Comcast in many areas, and that it's not VOIP specific.
In the DC Metro area they over-sell and mis-manage their networks so badly that 10% - 15% sustained packet loss and random drop-outs are fairly common conditions when trying to use your connection. You won't notice it unless you're actually trying to do something other than surf the web or send email (SSH/telnet sessions, VOIP, or games for example).
- Roach
Just an FYI, I don't have a single problem with my VoIP (Vonage) over Comcast. And I just moved from the East Coast to the West Coast, so I've now used it in two different regions.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Comcast fan
- Roach
many Wiis are not getting used because there is very little on them worth playing for more than about 10 minutes at a time
... which is one of the reasons they're popular (it's why I bought mine).
... just the Wii. At some point I *might* pick up a 360, but so far between the PC and the Wii I've been pretty satisfied and haven't had an urge to go get one.
Er, yeah
Instead of needing to block off 3 hours of time, I can play a quick game when I get home from work, or before I hit the sack. And my wife will actually play the games on the Wii. It feels like I'm getting more use out of this console than any other one I've had, even if the "hours" don't directly compare.
There's a lot more "casual gamers" out there than hard-core ones. Up until this particular cycle I've always bought pretty much all the consoles, or close to it. I think the only one I didn't pick up in the last 15 years was a Gamecube for some reason. This time around
- Roach
::raises hand::
... I don't really care for them. I go to small - medium clubs to see live music, and many times that means local music, indie acts, or newer bands on the major labels. If I like the band, I'll buy the CD after the show at the venue.
I stopped going to big shows (arenas, civic centers, etc) years ago
- Roach
If they ask questions that don't reflect the real life >i?actual requirements tobe able to perform the job then clearly the questions have some other purpose
... again, A) all the OP had to do was google "Google interview process" and they would have known exactly what they were in for. The fact that they didn't even have to foresight to do that ... speaks volumes. The process is apparently the same for everyone they interview, and it's easy to "look up" that information.
... I would have googled before I walked in the door blind, then memorized what I needed to and not had a problem. Much like any other interview, I'd have come as prepared as possible. The OP did not.
Sorry
It has *nothing to do with age*. I've met (and know) plenty of "typical 20 year olds" that would blow that interview as well. I am not exactly young , and *I* would fail that interview cold. Of course
Welcome to the real world. Life isn't fair. Sometimes you have to answer "stupid" questions that you feel aren't relevant. I've been doing so my entire life in various capacities, so I'm amazed that people here seem to think the world works like it doesn't.
- Roach
What you bring up would be valid
I'm not 40, but I'm much closer to that than 20. I would not be able to pass that interview cold if I took it today. Most people I know wouldn't be able to without refreshing their memory a bit. Therefore, it's not "Age Discrimination", is it? Unless your "protected class" is
It seems there's lots of folks who say that what they (google) are asking for in their interviews is "stupid" and "isn't what they should be asking". Well, that may well be but it's their process. If you want to work at Google, you'll need to cram a bit before the interview.
Perhaps they are looking for people who bother to take the time to bone up a bit before showing up to an interview instead of saying "I know how to look that up".
- Roach
Or is this too far out a solution for all of you pointy-haired Human Resources types out there who can only grok questionaires and checklists?
Psst. I'm a Software Engineer. We do group interviews at my company so that everyone on the team has a say in who is hired.
See my other reply regarding the fact that a simple google of "Google interview process" (Oh, the irony) would pretty much have solved the problem. He came unprepared. Anyone of any age could have done the same.
- Roach
He's not saying they are necessarily intentionally filtering out based on age, but rather the specific criteria is *inherently* biased against age.
That would be true
I'm willing to bet that if you googled, you could find some details about how google interviews
http://www.google.com/search?q=google+interview+process&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
(How ironic, really)
I know if *I* were going to interview for google (or any huge internet operation), I would have done so.
"Be prepared". It's not just for Boy Scouts anymore!
- Roach
High school is free, social, and runs for 4 years. Even if the classes are "boring" it's not a big deal. I use boring in quotes because that's what kids say when they don't even open their minds to something. Basically, use this line on kids "if it's boring than you should be getting straight A's." Because otherwise, you're there to learn so pay attention.
... I can say from experience that I did not get A's in high school. I was bored silly, and found that continuing my self-education in programing (and really, everything else) was far more valuable than reading "Fahrenheit 451" for the 3rd time in 4 years. (Seriously ... senior English ... I stopped showing up after that). I literally learned *nothing* in high school that I didn't already know.
... that being said, I didn't drop out. I showed up for tests, aced those, and aced the finals. The resulting average was flying Cs for basically showing up once a week. 20 years later I don't really regret that much as it hasn't ever hurt me and my career as a Software Engineer is very rewarding (I love my work). But I'm not the norm - I love learning and have always been a self-starter.
While that's somewhat valid
Now
- Roach
Again, you may not like how they are doing things, and that is a very valid opinion
I don't know if you interview anyone for your company or have done so lately, but I do and have to tell you
There are a LOT of folks who were employed during the boom who really don't have a solid foundation and have no clue about sorting, hashing, etc. Stuff that I consider pretty basic knowledge if you're interviewing to be an engineer. While we don't look for hard code examples from memory, but we do expect that the concepts are there, readily available in memory, and able to be drawn out on a whiteboard. You'd be amazed at how many people can't do that.
I agree on principle that knowing how something works and where to go to get the specifics is every bit if not more important than being a walking textbook, but that's not what they've decided (right or wrong). It's their company, they can do that.
But saying that it's "age discrimination" is silly IMO.
- Roach
If I had mod points, I'd mod you up for this one.
.. and aren't supposed to - that's the point in us making all this stuff easy to use. Trying to tie that into education really is a stretch.
... I can't say that any of them struck me as highly-motivated, self-starters who were simply "bored" in school.
... and they went on to do just fine as most self-educated people will.
The kids of today use high-tech much like they use a microwave oven. They don't really understand how either works
If you're exceptionally bright, public school is boring. It caters to the lowest common denominator (which is pretty low these days, I admit). But that's always been the case. Having met a number of high-school drop-outs at Walmart, 7-11, etc
I have met maybe one or two in the last 20 years that really were
- Roach
I don't work for google, so please don't try and say that I do.
... you can't recite from memory what others could. You may not like that they want you to do so, but that's their choice and criteria.
Your argument is that of a strawman. You claim they are discriminating based on age because
I know quite a few folks who have interviewed at google, and a couple who were offered jobs. The interview is the same for everyone. It's very similar at Amazon.com as well, BTW, if you're interviewing for a senior position. One of my friends made sure to cram for about 2 weeks prior to his Amazon interview for this reason. He actually said it was the hardest interview process he ever went through.
And I'm not talking about 20-somethings straight out of school - I'm past the half-way point myself and so are most of the people I associate with (Well, except for some of the "kids" I work with these days, LOL).
- Roach
It's harder to keep up with every new tech and some of the buzzwords of today are really annoying
... and that may be why there's no tech life for you after 50.
... keeping up with the tech really is part of the job. You don't have to be proficient in everything, but having at least a familiarity with what's going on in your industry is essential IMHO. And I'm not a young whippersnapper by any means.)
The buzzwords have always been annoying.
As for the former part of your statement, er, no, it's not
(While this reply is somewhat tongue and cheek
- Roach
I hacked my iphone for 1 reason.. swaptunes.
... when I bought it, Iknew what fetures it had, and I knew that putting my own ringtones on it wasn't one of them. I assumed that Apple would be selling them at some point because of iTunes, and even though I wasn't thrilled about that I accepted either not having custom ringtones or buying them. If a hack appeared ... also cool, but not something I felt "entitled" to in any way.
Yep, and I jail-broke (Jailbreaked?) mine for one reason - ring tones.
I'm not saying that it wasn't cool to be able to do things with the phone that weren't advertised and/or supported. It was. I'm also not saying that there's some features that I wouldn't mind having that currently aren't on the iPhone.
However
It seems that the vocal minority that is whining about 1.1.1 bought an iPhone based on what they thought it should/could do rather than what it was advertised as doing and does. It really isn't Apple's fault that they made a mistake.
I bought my iPhone because the features it had the day I bought it were acceptable - I wouldn't have bought it otherwise. I don't get why people would buy it and then complain that it doesn't do or things that Apple explicitly said it wouldn't.
- Roach
I really don't get it.
... you don't have to install 1.1.1. If you don't want Apple support (Which is what the upgrade is - support), you don't have to use it. If you want to use the device in the state Apple sold it to you, you are well within your rights to do so. It does everything they advertised it doing when you purchased it.
I have an iPhone. I love it. and you know what? It does exactly what they said it would do when I bought it . Imagine that?
It's like there's a bunch of little kids that figured out that their new toy could do something it wasn't supposed to be able to do, then got upset when Mommy took it away / made it so they couldn't use it that way.
It would be one thing if Apple hadn't said from the start that there wouldn't be 3rd party apps or an SDK. They also said 1.1.1 would do exactly what it does.
And also
Comparing it to other phones or other products is moot - this phone wasn't advertised or sold as having or supporting a development platform for 3rd party apps. If you bought the phone wanting that as a feature, you made a mistake. You bought the wrong product.
This is also ignoring the fact that with Safari on the iPhone supporting AJAX, you can do some pretty slick apps via the web.
- Roach
It goes farther than that.
... if you have a blown head gasket? Yeah ... you're pretty much on your own. :D
You can put the turbo on the car, and they *still* have to honor the warranty on the engine unless they can prove that the turbo (or the installation of) was the direct cause of the failure you are trying to get repaired.
Now
- Roach
Apple is not bound to provide warranty coverage on an altered product any more than one would expect a car manufacturer to warranty a car engine if it were altered under its warranty period
... you can put an after-market exhaust or air intake on your car, and they can't not honor your warranty when you take the car in for an oil leak.
Pssst. You might want to read Magnuson-Moss. Because that's exactly what it talks about.
They DO have to honor the warranty, unless the modification leads directly to the failure in question and can be proved as such.
This is why a car manufacturer can not void a warranty because you put after-market parts on/in your car (and some car/motorcycle dealers will STILL try and tell you that they can void the warranty if you do).
For example
- Roach
Any time they see someone walking by them carrying something that "looks like it could have been a bomb" they should probably not get to worried. The people they should be worried about are the people holding inconspicuous objects, possibly looking really nervous.
... Check it ... that makes sense when something is "suspicious"). Confiscate it and let her go on her merry way.
They have a duty to investigate the thing "that looks like it could be a bomb". And I'm all for that. Walk over to the girl and ask what it is. Inspect it. Ask her to disconnect the battery. Hell, if you want to really be paranoid, do what they do with the 6oz toothpaste - offer to check it or ship it to her (Yeah, I know
None of these actions would have resulted in anything worse than the over-reacting and pointing of automatic weapons at her. If it were a bomb, and she was going to detonate it, she would have in either case (and actually much more likely in the second, actual reaction).
Instead, they're calling it a "Hoax device" and arresting / prosecuting her. Sorry, but the stupidity that has led to this disgusts me. Every day when I think that America can't get any more ludicrous, something reminds me that I am indeed delusional.
- Roach
I don't like the security restrictions we are faced with these days, but given that the current threat to our airports (in the UK we had a carbomb attack on Glasgow airport at the start of the Summer) we must be prepared to make some sacrifices.
No, we don't. And it's folks like you that are making it so the rest of us are forced to.
What would have happened if after 9/11 we didn't change a *single* thing in regard to airport security? (Except, oh, a lock on the cabin door)
Answer: Nothing. Zippo. Nada.
9/11 had nothing to do with overcoming existing security. It had everything to do with exploiting people's apathy.
The hijackers all had valid passports. They had valid tickets. They had box cutters for christ sakes. Not guns, not 6" knives, not bombs, light lightbrights attached to their shirts.
They exploited people's apathy. No one thought anything more than a detour and sitting on a runway somewhere was in their future, so they didn't bother to beat the crap out of the folks holding razor blades even with overwhelming numbers somewhere around 15:1.
It would have never happened again. Period. I can now take my leatherman on a plane (its blade length is under the limit). I could do far more damage to someone with my leatherman than with a box cutter. The difference is that if I stood up and pulled it out, the Apathy that used to exist would not be in place and I would instantly have the crap beat out of me.
- Roach
I know there will be lots of folks here says something like
"Well, she's stupid for going to an airport wearing that".
And in today's ridiculous climate of fear and over-reaction in the US, they'd be right.
And that's what's wrong.
If the police/authorities think that this is what a bomb looks like (You know
I'm really not worried about someone with a lightbright attached to their shirt bringing down my plane.
I'm not really* worried about a terrorist that loads up ten 3oz tubes with whatever he/she would like, replaces the innards of a portable video game with the things necessary to detonate it, and walks through security without a problem.
But the latter is a LOT more likely to happen when passing through Security Theater at the airport.
* - I have a better chance of getting struck by lightening than by being killed by a "terrorist". I don't stay inside when it rains, nor change my behavior other than perhaps using an umbrella
- Roach