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Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

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Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#391

Post by lb1lf »

mikeash wrote: post #380
lb1lf wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure it does. To the cellphone networks. (Unless the aircraft carries its own picocell). The big problem with cellphones on planes is that they overwhelm the signalling networks on the ground - when the carrier tries to determine which cell is best suited to handle your call, it basically polls the neighbouring cells for the received signal strength from that particular phone. When you're on a plane, your phone is se…

I'm skeptical that it really causes trouble for phone networks. In my experience flying small airplanes, getting a signal is easy below about 4,000ft, starts getting spotty up to 6,000ft, and is basically impossible above that. Which makes sense: antennas at the cell will be aimed sideways, not up, so the only cells you might be able to talk to would be really far away. And this is in a fiberglass airplane that's bas…

-You're quite possibly right - I cannot recall having heard cell phones go off while at cruise, but during approaches it happens if not all the time, then at least every once in a while when I fly somewhere. (Me being a good boy, I've never tried to satisfy my curiosity by keeping the phone on during flights. :))

There's enough radio transparent openings in an aircraft fuselage for it to be a reasonably inefficient faraday cage - say, windows, for instance. (Or are those portholes on an aircraft, too?)

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#392

Post by mikeash »

lb1lf wrote: post #391
mikeash wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm skeptical that it really causes trouble for phone networks. In my experience flying small airplanes, getting a signal is easy below about 4,000ft, starts getting spotty up to 6,000ft, and is basically impossible above that. Which makes sense: antennas at the cell will be aimed sideways, not up, so the only cells you might be able to talk to would be really far away. And this is in a fiberglass airplane that's bas…

-You're quite possibly right - I cannot recall having heard cell phones go off while at cruise, but during approaches it happens if not all the time, then at least every once in a while when I fly somewhere. (Me being a good boy, I've never tried to satisfy my curiosity by keeping the phone on during flights. :)) There's enough radio transparent openings in an aircraft fuselage for it to be a reasonably inefficient f…

As far as I know they are still called windows. And yes, you'll be able to connect when close to the ground in many cases. The metal body will greatly attenuate signals, but won't block them completely, especially if you're near a window. The lower and slower you are, the more an airborne cell phone will look and act like a normal ground-bound one, so the less of a problem it'll cause for the network.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#393

Post by JBerlinsky »

I have a feeling that sales of glitter nail polish are going to go up a bit[1].

This is a good time to make sure that you have full-disk encryption enabled, and to brush up on what few rights remain yours at a US border.

1: http://lifehacker.com/use-glitter-nail-polish-to-make-your-l...

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#394

Post by theandrewbailey »

madengr wrote: post #343
joshgel wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe people will have to read books?!

True, it some like myself can't read on a plane due to motion sickness. Watching a video is fine, but not focusing on text.

I've never finished reading more than a page in a moving car without feeling nauseous.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#395

Post by cat199 »

mgbmtl wrote: post #366
emanreus wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to admit some border crossing incidents[1] are what I would imagine entering North Korea would be like, not the US. [1][10min audio] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDYMw1p8s9M

As someone from Canada, that guy was being a total dick, very aggressive, mansplaining the agent, which isn't surprising that it would trigger the customs agent. He would have had the same response from an agent at the border in Canada. Ex: "what shops are you planning to go to". It's fine to answer "I don't know yet". They're just testing behaviour. If you start being defensive or aggressive, pretend to know their j…

> "I completely got away with it"

No, because you didn't do anything wrong.

Border crossing is not a crime, last I checked, despite the best efforts of some to make it feel that way.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#396

Post by samirillian »

hysan wrote: post #388
GuiA wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. And also people not having devices on their person means they can't quickly text friends/family if they get detained/mistreated/etc. It seems like we're getting closer and closer to being in a situation where people who can should avoid going to the US at all, and make their reasoning known. Ie, refuse to give talks, attend conferences, etc. in the US.

Closer and closer? How about it's already happened. I just visited some of my friends in Japan, many of whom wanted to visit me in the US once their children got a bit older, and they all said they are straight up frightened of simply trying to enter the US. These are some of the most upstanding people you can meet with jobs like being teachers, government employees, etc. They are the last people who should be afraid…

Here's the thing about leaving Japan: it's always way more dangerous than staying in Japan. US homicide rate is like 10x higher. I'd bet your "upstanding" friends have layers of reservations about visiting.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#397

Post by deckiedan »

madengr wrote: post #343
joshgel wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe people will have to read books?!

True, it some like myself can't read on a plane due to motion sickness. Watching a video is fine, but not focusing on text.

My mum noticed that if she sets her kindle to 2 or so sizes larger text, she doesn't get motion sick any more.

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#398

Post by jerf »

X-Istence wrote: post #186
jerf wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, there's just not enough time for that, with the timing as tight as it is. A particular target with a focused scan, sure. Mass surveillance dragnet? No way. Not unless the NSACIAFBI have a way of dumping a hard drive without turning on the machine at speeds faster than a disk can even dump itself. (Try pouring out your​ biggest spinning rust drive out over any port that can…

Keep you busy at CBP, keep the bag from the belt when you first land... plenty of opportunities to physically attack the device when the person can't keep it on them and keep an eye on it.

To both of your who replied, yes, there are various other attacks, but that's a different issue that what I was replying to.

And, still, at bulk these things aren't feasible, or even necessary. You're not taking your cynicism far enough. Why does the government need to sorta kinda hope that you might maybe take a flight with your gear someday when they're already capturing all your email and web browsing anyhow? It's a ridiculous theory that you're only entertaining because our trust has decayed to the point that the mere fact that something is an accusation against our government is all but proof that it must be true, no matter how silly it is.

No, the government is not going to set out to physically attack every laptop passing through an airport, because what would that give them that they don't already have, except huge operational costs and risk of detection?

Re: Most Electronics Being Banned on Certain US-Bound Flights

#400

Post by ihsw2 »

PietdeVries wrote: post #276
virtuabhi wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For now. According to the article.

interestingly, you see airlines moving away from in-flight entertainment screens in the seat in front of you, in favor of BYOD. A logical move: let the clients bring their equipment (they bring it anyway) so you don't have to (install, maintain, spend fuel on, etc.). Now with airlines actually removing in flight entertainment, flying from the Middle East to New York can be quite a long trip: no laptop to watch a movi…

That would be great if airlines provided standard power outlets and/or USB ports.
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