Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!ukc!edcastle!edcogsci!cogsci!ht From: ht@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Henry Thompson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops Subject: Re: Using laptops on airplanes Message-ID: Date: 10 Dec 90 15:21:59 GMT References: <160670@kean.ucs.mun.ca> <36620@cup.portal.com> Sender: ht@cogsci.ed.ac.uk Organization: HCRC, University of Edinburgh Lines: 50 In-reply-to: Renee@cup.portal.com's message of 6 Dec 90 17:17:41 GMT In article <36620@cup.portal.com> Renee@cup.portal.com (Renee Linda Roberts) writes: > ... > I have it hand checked (One guy wanted to run the wand on it. Glad I caught > ... > I have suggested to San Jose Airport that they modify their approch to the > one used at LAX, but in 4 months, I have not received a reply. With respect, and I realise you probably have no reason to know about this, you don't know how lucky you are. Hand checked only? Impossible in any European airport I've been through in two years. Frankly, airport security in the US is a joke. If anybody ever manages to get some Semtex into the US, they could knock down planes at will. You can certainly fit enough Semtex into a modem to do fatal damage to an aircraft. On this side of the atlantic, you have to put your machine through the X-ray, AND turn it on, AND usually plug in and if possible demonstrate any peripherals. And the idea that any security personnel over here would pay any attention at all to the size of the queue behind you is laughable. Furthermore, all you have to do is watch the rejection rate on the personal scanner and you'll realise how different security is in the US from anywhere else. In the UK, I usually remove floppies, keys, asthma inhaler and pocket knife from my pocket and hand them around the frame. This USUALLY means I don't set off the alarm, but at times of high tension it's clear the sensitivity is cranked way out, and you end up being patted down. I never bother with anything but the floppies in the US, because I have NEVER had the alarm go off. It's all a pain in the neck, it means that you have to allow up to half-an-hour for security clearance at Heathrow or Frankfurt at busy times, and even more at small airports for big flights, but NOBODY I know complains. Everybody knows the rules, and nobody wants to be dusted over Lockerbie for Christmas. On a related point comparing US with European security, I note that Pan Am is being slugged in the media and the courts over here for putting transfer bags on planes without checking that the owner was on board. I've never seen any evidence that this stringent a test is applied in the US, particular with bags which have missed a connection (where presumably the test would be whether the passenger travelled on an earlier flight), but I'd be interested to hear if anybody knows details (follow-up to where?). -- Henry Thompson, Human Communication Research Centre, University of Edinburgh 2 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH8 9LW, SCOTLAND -- (44) 31 667-1011 x6517 Fax: (44) 31 662-4912 ARPA: ht@cogsci.ed.ac.uk JANET: ht@uk.ac.ed.cogsci UUCP: ...!uunet!mcvax!ukc!its63b!cogsci!ht