Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports • Hacker News Board

Re: Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports

#91

Post by School-Cotton » Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 4:12 AM UTC

warent wrote: post #44

seandougall wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's always up to the whims of the underpaid TSA agent who happens to be there that day. Back when iPads were new, I got scolded for taking it out of my bag, and scolded for leaving it in my bag, by agents at the same airport on two trips a few weeks apart.

It's always so strange to me that people seem to consistently have bad experiences with TSA. I've travelled more than the average person and have never had a bad experience with TSA. Maybe because I'm a young white male? Once I even accidentally packed a small toolkit in my carry-on rather than my checked luggage and they let me keep it!

How do you react to petty authority figures in general? How much did it bother you when, for example, elementary school playground monitors enforced arbitrary rules capriciously?

It bothered me a lot, to the extent that I still have vivid memories of it, and I also hate the TSA with every fiber of my being.

So I think it might just be a personality thing.

Re: Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports

#92

Post by seleniumBubbles » Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 4:12 AM UTC

finaliteration wrote: post #22

lordleft wrote: post #2

The moment I pull out my ipad and macbook and entrust the fate of around 3000 dollars worth of electronics to the competence and benevolence of government officials who barely give a shit is my least favorite part of the travel experience

I don’t know why, but for me it’s the shoes. My laptop bag makes it fairly easy to take my laptop out and put it back in, but dealing with taking my shoes on and off really fucking bugs me. It’s totally irrational, I know.

I would love to see a comparison of the probability of contracting a foot fungus or other contagious disease in a security line vs. being a victim in a terrorist attack.

Seeing as the TSA has never caught a terrorist (and has missed several) I’d bet a statistical case could be made that their security lines are more dangerous to the public than any terrorist attacks they may have prevented.

Re: Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports

#93

Post by monocasa » Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 4:13 AM UTC

valleyjo wrote: post #71

btbuildem wrote: post #55

It's fascinating how the security theatre has gotten so big that now it basically just rolls forward under its own momentum. It's been around long enough that people accept it as normal, it serves no other purpose than to employ the unemployable and fill contractors' coffers, and it seems that no entity is able to stop or dismantle it.

This is a pretty cynical viewpoint but I agree. It’s clear that TSA doesn’t do much. Someone I know has acidentially brought a pocketknife through security multiple times without it being found. They keep it in my backpack as a regular item and just forgot to take it out.

I've literally brought a pickaxe by accident.

But one time I was trying to bring a fish, and had a next to impossible time trying to get them to agree that water was a "life sustaining liquid" as defined by their exemptions on the 3oz rule wrt to fish.

Re: Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports

#94

Post by mindslight » Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 4:14 AM UTC

finaliteration wrote: post #22

lordleft wrote: post #2

The moment I pull out my ipad and macbook and entrust the fate of around 3000 dollars worth of electronics to the competence and benevolence of government officials who barely give a shit is my least favorite part of the travel experience

I don’t know why, but for me it’s the shoes. My laptop bag makes it fairly easy to take my laptop out and put it back in, but dealing with taking my shoes on and off really fucking bugs me. It’s totally irrational, I know.

No, it's not irrational. It's because you are being made less secure. When traveling, one generally packs their stuff well and keeps it together to maintain control of it. The TSA makes you do the exact opposite - unpack it all and splay it out in many unmanageable bins so they can carry out their their charade. You're then plainly vulnerable to easy theft, never mind if something happened where you actually had to hoof it and you're just standing there like an idiot struggling to get to your shoes!

Re: Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports

#95

Post by issa » Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 4:14 AM UTC

robertAngst wrote: post #89

btbuildem wrote: post #55

It's fascinating how the security theatre has gotten so big that now it basically just rolls forward under its own momentum. It's been around long enough that people accept it as normal, it serves no other purpose than to employ the unemployable and fill contractors' coffers, and it seems that no entity is able to stop or dismantle it.

The moment we experience government, we see the inefficiencies, yet some people want to see government get larger. I just cannot understand the logic.

Government is great at some things. Unfortunately one of those things isn't dealing with fears rationally.

Re: Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports

#96

Post by marz0 » Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 4:15 AM UTC

T-hawk wrote: post #40

narrator wrote: post #20

Just get TSA pre-check. It's so freaking easy and it makes airport security checkpoints not a big deal at all.

I refuse to pay TSA for "solving" a problem that they created. More customers paying for pre-check incentivizes TSA to make the regular experience comparatively worse .

There are a few credit cards that will cover the cost for you. I believe both the Capital One Venture card and Chase Sapphire Reserved card will do this for you.

Re: Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports

#97

Post by scruple » Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 4:15 AM UTC

jkqwzsoo wrote: post #57

jcims wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the last 8 days: CMH->MCO ‘remove your belts please’ MCO->SEA ‘keep your belts on’ SEA->CMH ‘i’d recommend you take your belt off’

At one point, I was travelling with my dad when the "shoes off" policy was relaxed (I think the shoes-off policy was relaxed a couple of weeks/months after the shoe bomber plot, but I can't recall exactly when -- and then it was put back permanently). "Agent": Sir, I recommend you take your shoes off. Dad: That's okay. I don't need to take my shoes off. "Agent": Sir, I'm going to need you to take your shoes off NOW!…

My father has stopped flying entirely. He's got a pacemaker and sometimes needs a cane and has a small list of medications that he legitimately needs to have with him at all times. He's diabetic, as well. Though he's not very overweight, he just doesn't move as well as he once did.

TSA has made flying for him and people like him so incredibly difficult. He's just opted out. I don't blame him, either, though it does make visits more challenging now.

I mean honestly.... Why do people like this have to take their shoes off and manage all of their carry-ons and personals into bins and onto belts and ... The entire farce of the TSA is all so callous and genuinely stupid.

Re: Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports

#98

Post by DoreenMichele » Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 4:15 AM UTC

chrischen wrote: post #81

seandougall wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's always up to the whims of the underpaid TSA agent who happens to be there that day. Back when iPads were new, I got scolded for taking it out of my bag, and scolded for leaving it in my bag, by agents at the same airport on two trips a few weeks apart.

They just love to scold. It's the only time in their life they are an authority figure.

Scolding is the essential foundational mentality of the job. They get paid to actively look for bad behavior. This makes it very easy to find all things to be suspicious at a minimum.

It actually makes it quite hard to not start seeing everything and everyone through a suspicious lens. The odds are good that there are additional structural reinforcements. They probably don't get rewarded for anything else. They may even get actively penalized for not behaving that way.

At my corporate job, I was instructed to a. Look for a reason to pay a claim rather than looking for a reason to deny it and b. Look out for the customer rather than cover my own ass.

Then I had a claim for a benefit that was only paid once a year. I knew the six week period it occurred in, but not the actual date. I got dinged by Quality for paying it.

My ultimate solution: I no longer work there. But most people just do what they need to do to get their damn paycheck. Fighting the good fight is usually not what they get rewarded for.

Office Space:

"I have 7 bosses. If I do something right, no one cares. If I do something wrong, everyone comes down on me like a ton of bricks. I spend all my time trying to not get yelled at."

(Or words to that effect.)

Re: Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports

#99

Post by orblivion » Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 4:17 AM UTC

bitreality wrote: post #70

btbuildem wrote: post #55

It's fascinating how the security theatre has gotten so big that now it basically just rolls forward under its own momentum. It's been around long enough that people accept it as normal, it serves no other purpose than to employ the unemployable and fill contractors' coffers, and it seems that no entity is able to stop or dismantle it.

I'd say the last 15+ years of air travel has been pretty safe in the US. To say the security has accomplished nothing is a stretch.

Cockpits are locked. Passengers are more vigilant. Bruce Schneier argues that this made all the difference. I don't know if it's right but it seems like not a stretch.

Re: Laptops to Stay in Bags as TSA Brings New Technology to Airports

#100

Post by mindslight » Sun, Mar 31, 2019, 4:17 AM UTC

seleniumBubbles wrote: post #92

finaliteration wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know why, but for me it’s the shoes. My laptop bag makes it fairly easy to take my laptop out and put it back in, but dealing with taking my shoes on and off really fucking bugs me. It’s totally irrational, I know.

I would love to see a comparison of the probability of contracting a foot fungus or other contagious disease in a security line vs. being a victim in a terrorist attack. Seeing as the TSA has never caught a terrorist (and has missed several) I’d bet a statistical case could be made that their security lines are more dangerous to the public than any terrorist attacks they may have prevented.

The real comparison is with the number of human lifetimes wasted getting to the scareport extra early and waiting in line. It is on the order of one thousand per year.