Charge Your Electronics Before Boarding

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,601
If you have not heard this by now, consider this your final warning. With TSA's new laptop/smartphone/mobile devices screening procedure in place at large overseas airports for flights coming into the USA, a dead battery in your mobile electronics device could get you bumped off your flight.

Powerless devices will not be permitted onboard the aircraft. The traveler may also undergo additional screening.
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What possible safety excuse could they have for knowing whats on your device? And you are statistically more likely to die from a brain parasite than of a terrorist attack (google it, its true). We don't need, or should tolerate, this level of security.
 
Funny, They're about to find out how many people run around with dead batteries.
 
I remember YEARS ago.... they used to make people power up their laptops before getting on planes. This isn't anything new is it?
 
Ducman69 said:
What possible safety excuse could they have for knowing whats on your device? And you are statistically more likely to die from a brain parasite than of a terrorist attack (google it, its true). We don't need, or should tolerate, this level of security.
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As someone who frequently flies, I hate the TSA as much as the next guy..but I think you might be overreacting to this. The way I understand it, they just want to see the device powered up and working. If that is all it is, I don't think that is too terribly unreasonable as it is an easy catch to eliminate dummy devices. I could be wrong here, but I believe I am right. I have had my electronics inspected more than a few times and it was nothing more than a once over to see that it was indeed a functional device a Fast power up, they see a familar OS and thanks sir on my way I go.
 
Ducman69 said:
What possible safety excuse could they have for knowing whats on your device? And you are statistically more likely to die from a brain parasite than of a terrorist attack (google it, its true). We don't need, or should tolerate, this level of security.
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How bout a brick of C4 for a battery in your laptop.
 
I wonder if this is a precursor to expanding TSA Precheck overseas ... since they used to make us power on laptops even before 9-11 (and other usual electronics as well) I don't think it is too unusual ... whether it would be inconvenient would depend on how often they need to do it (since security lanes sometimes get very congested overseas) ... I suspect they will only do it when you have lots of electronics in a bag or something is blocking the scan so they aren't confident of the device ... since airplanes have been targets for mischief and mayhem since the 1970's I don't begrudge a little extra security at the airport
 
werent there some terrorists a few years ago shipping explosives in printers or something? Think they were catching that in Europe...all in all, not a big deal to just turn it on and keep it moving.
 
so they think that someone smart enough to build a bomb that can bypass most detection methods... will NOT be smart enough to make it with a small battery and some dummy form of interactive screen?
 
Also, since they specifically said this is for "overseas" flights to the USA, those flights are all pretty long (8+ hours from Europe and 12+ from Asia) ... I can't even imagine getting on one of those flights with a dead battery ;)
 
McFry said:
How bout a brick of C4 for a battery in your laptop.
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And how would the ability to power on affect that? You would simply have slightly less C4 around a much smaller battery that has enough juice to power on the device for 15 mins.
 
collegeboy69us said:
so they think that someone smart enough to build a bomb that can bypass most detection methods... will NOT be smart enough to make it with a small battery and some dummy form of interactive screen?
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Well, since this inspection might entail more than just the power on they would need to construct something that can pass an X-ray, pass the power one, pass a visual check, and pass the chemical sensors, as well as use a person who can pass the interview process that usually occurs when you trigger additional security (sometimes the overseas folks are more diligent than ours ... I had a lot of bag inspections in Singapore through the years)

One does have to wonder though whether certain groups leak plans just to see how we will react so they can gauge our response level and actions
 
Dekoth-E- said:
As someone who frequently flies, I hate the TSA as much as the next guy..but I think you might be overreacting to this. The way I understand it, they just want to see the device powered up and working. If that is all it is, I don't think that is too terribly unreasonable as it is an easy catch to eliminate dummy devices. I could be wrong here, but I believe I am right. I have had my electronics inspected more than a few times and it was nothing more than a once over to see that it was indeed a functional device a Fast power up, they see a familar OS and thanks sir on my way I go.
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What does the device powering up have to do with whether or not it is a bomb? Does some idiot at the TSA really think a working laptop can't have a bomb in it?
 
Koolthulu said:
What does the device powering up have to do with whether or not it is a bomb? Does some idiot at the TSA really think a working laptop can't have a bomb in it?
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The problem with the TSA is, if you point out their stupidity to them, they place you under arrest or send the FBI to your house.
 
Ducman69 said:
And how would the ability to power on affect that? You would simply have slightly less C4 around a much smaller battery that has enough juice to power on the device for 15 mins.
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A person can replace the battery with no skill or tools to speak of . Fabricating a smaller compatible battery shrinks the pool.
 
Ducman69 said:
The problem with the TSA is, if you point out their stupidity to them, they place you under arrest or send the FBI to your house.
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I think they look at it in a way that if the laptop has all the working parts of a laptop in it, it will not have much room for explosives/contraband inside. Like most things it wont catch everything, but it would allow them to weed out the blatantly obvious attempts.
 
This reminds me I need to get a replacement battery for my laptop. Battery died a few weeks ago and an only power it on while plugged in.
 
I wouldn't really care about having to do this but it doesn't sound like an exact science to me (test if electronic devices can be powered on).
 
McFry said:
How bout a brick of C4 for a battery in your laptop.
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You realize how little plastique is needed to fuck up the thin walls in an airplane?

It's as ez as placing it in a spare hard drive bay.

The machine will still boot up showing it's 'normal'.

Forget the fact that a powered up battery is the perfect electronic ignition device already inside said laptop.

This is just another bullshit excuse to take away people's liberty.

Don't you DARE use your laptop while traveling, because if you drain it's battery you will be stuck in the airport? rofl what a joke

Like they don't have chemical sniffers designed to find explosives anyways
 
Term-X said:
I wouldn't really care about having to do this but it doesn't sound like an exact science to me (test if electronic devices can be powered on).
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Of course it's not foolproof, but it is a long standing security measure that's implemented around the world by various organizations.
 
jpm100 said:
A person can replace the battery with no skill or tools to speak of . Fabricating a smaller compatible battery shrinks the pool.
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Because Al Qaeda aren't sophisticated enough or have enough experience when it comes to making improvised explosive devices...

I have a much easier screening process.

TSA: "Repeat after me; Allah sucks."
A) Person repeats, wave them on.
B) Person doesn't repeat, give canine assisted cavity check.

Foolproof.
 
what happened to the good ol' days when they'd simply swab your shit with a little round pad, stick it in a machine, press a button and it'd basically test for any sort of explosive residue? Now we need to fucking taking our shoes off, our jackets off, raise our arms and get an up close and naked view to strangers, can't have more than 3.6 ounces of liquid, need to power on our laptops, phones, etc because there might be explosives in it. But yeah that swabbing thing was so much more intrusive...
 
Ducman69 said:
Because Al Qaeda aren't sophisticated enough or have enough experience when it comes to making improvised explosive devices...

I have a much easier screening process.

TSA: "Repeat after me; Allah sucks."
A) Person repeats, wave them on.
B) Person doesn't repeat, give canine assisted cavity check.

Foolproof.
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Shoot ... make it easy ... give them a plate of bacon ... I wouldn't trust anyone who doesn't like bacon :p
 
sfsuphysics said:
what happened to the good ol' days when they'd simply swab your shit with a little round pad, stick it in a machine, press a button and it'd basically test for any sort of explosive residue? Now we need to fucking taking our shoes off, our jackets off, raise our arms and get an up close and naked view to strangers, can't have more than 3.6 ounces of liquid, need to power on our laptops, phones, etc because there might be explosives in it. But yeah that swabbing thing was so much more intrusive...
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If you're willing to pay a small fee and let the government fingerprint you then you can skip most of that (except for the 3.5 ounce liquids) ... TSA Precheck :cool:
 
sfsuphysics said:
what happened to the good ol' days when they'd simply swab your shit with a little round pad, stick it in a machine, press a button and it'd basically test for any sort of explosive residue? Now we need to fucking taking our shoes off, our jackets off, raise our arms and get an up close and naked view to strangers, can't have more than 3.6 ounces of liquid, need to power on our laptops, phones, etc because there might be explosives in it. But yeah that swabbing thing was so much more intrusive...
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9/11, that's what happened.

Turning on your device really isn't a great hardship - if they have a credible threat that perhaps some sort of digital device using the battery compartment is going to be used as an explosive, I'd rather show the TSA my Iron Man homescreen on my iPhone than get blown to pieces at 30,000 feet.
 
Ducman69 said:
Because Al-CIA-da aren't sophisticated enough or have enough experience when it comes to making improvised explosive devices...

I have a much easier screening process.

TSA: "Repeat after me; Allah sucks."
A) Person repeats, wave them on.
B) Person doesn't repeat, give canine assisted cavity check.

Foolproof.
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Fixed. :p
 
The Donut said:
9/11, that's what happened.

Turning on your device really isn't a great hardship - if they have a credible threat that perhaps some sort of digital device using the battery compartment is going to be used as an explosive, I'd rather show the TSA my Iron Man homescreen on my iPhone than get blown to pieces at 30,000 feet.
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I understand that there's a lot of angst against government these days, but does anyone seriously think that no one should be responsible for who and want gets on planes? It's a tough and thankless job but someone has to do it, there is no choice.
 
heatlesssun said:
Considering the enormous amount of damage that just one plan can do to the general welfare, doesn't someone have to be responsible for who and what gets on an airplane?
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That's just the thing, there isn't an enormous amount of damage done. The perceived threat of terrorism to the general welfare of our populace is completely divorced from the real danger presented, especially now that precautionary measures have been put in place making aircraft an unlikely future target to be used as missles.

In the last 34 years, we've lost 3,100 Americans to terrorist attacks related to aircraft. In the same period of time, there have been 1,020,028 cases of suicide reported in the US.

So if the government wants the TSA to save the maximum number of lives, instead of being rude aholes making us miserable and hate flying, they should hire attractive people to give us a hug, complement us, and offer complementary handjobs. That could easily avert 3,100 suicides in a 34 year period... at least!
 
I think they have done a good job trying to balance the needs of travelers with security concerns ... if we could, we should implement the same level of security that El Al uses (since we are an even bigger target than Israel), but it would be too disruptive given the size of some of our airports ... I also liked the security levels they had at Singapore, Thailand, and Japan after 9-11 where they required a hand search of all bags in addition to the X-rays (wouldn't work in our high volume airports though)

Hopefully, the US carriers will resolve part of this anyway as I expect all the major carriers to implement carry on bag fees next year (if they are smart) ... reducing the number of carry on bags will speed up the security process (as well as the boarding process) and the additional fees for carry on and checked bags will help airline profitability ... win-win in my book (as a frequent business traveler) :cool:
 
heatlesssun said:
And some are going to hijack, blow up and weaponize planes. Unless you can guarantee that this will NEVER happen, then yes, statists are gonna state.
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The TSA doesn't do shit as it is. The whole thing is just to spend money. Same thing with the F-35. A plane that does nothing well and costs a ton of money to do that as well.
 
The Donut said:
9/11, that's what happened.
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9/11 happened and the terrorists won. They created terror and now people get to live with inordinate and unnecessary security.

But yeah, this is annoying. While it is an easy check to see if someone has replaced the battery, it's a bit of a pain in the arse. My first thought was if I've been travelling around for a long period there's a chance (maybe small, but it's bound to happen a few times) that by the time you get to the airport, your battery will be flat.

People saying that if you're going on a long flight you should check the battery before you leave... what if you're on your way home though?

Granted, I don't think it's a big issue. But it's far more likely to piss people off who accidentally let their devices go flat (or might have a device with a busted battery that they intended to run off a cable anyway).
 
collegeboy69us said:
so they think that someone smart enough to build a bomb that can bypass most detection methods... will NOT be smart enough to make it with a small battery and some dummy form of interactive screen?
Click to expand...


Just modify the battery pack with smaller batteries, leaving room for the C4, or pack the CD rom drive bay, replace the hard drive with a msata drive and pack the hard drive bay, etc.

Does anyone really think that the TSA would notice any of the above, since the laptop would still boot?
 
Ducman69 said:
The problem with the TSA is, if you point out their stupidity to them, they place you under arrest or send the FBI to your house.
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I don't think that disagreeing with TSA policies will result in an arrest or criminal charges. If that were true (and I wish it was) you'd be in the hoosegow already.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
I don't think that disagreeing with TSA policies will result in an arrest or criminal charges. If that were true (and I wish it was) you'd be in the hoosegow already.
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They really only have to worry about fantail enthusiasts. When you complain, the NSA looks up your fish purchasing history and you get red flagged if you've purchased an inordinate number of fantails.
 
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