Viral Video About Body Scanners • Hacker News Board

Re: Viral Video About Body Scanners

#151

Post by beagle3 » Thu, Mar 08, 2012, 4:49 PM UTC

grepherder wrote: post #60

OK, I will play the devil's advocate. Yes, he does not deny or dispute whether the method works as claimed. The otherwise hip language is not helping nor does it sound sincere, I agree. But, if we want to stay objective: 1) He describes the demonstration in the video as a "crude attempt", which is in certain ways true. Neither is the attempt too sophisticated, nor the documentation of it, or should I say especially t…

What you wrote is true. So is e.g. the statement that there is an infinite number of numbers. And they are almost equally relevant to the discussion here.

> You can argue the body scanner is an economical disaster, dispute it on the basis of privacy or bring up health concerns, but I like to stay objective. There is nothing wrong with this post, as a response to the demonstration in the video, beyond the silly language.

The post does not address the main criticism in the video, which is that the body scanner does not actually help with security.

> It was known publicly for a very long time, and it is reasonable to assume people who developed and approved the system were well aware of it.

That is true. And a reasonable conclusion, advocated by the video as well, is that the people who developed and approved the system don't actually care if it offers any security advantage.

The TSA's post only makes sense if you live in a world where the TSA's job is to grow, expand, gain more power, influence and budgets. And so does your analysis of it.

Re: Viral Video About Body Scanners

#152

Post by beagle3 » Thu, Mar 08, 2012, 4:52 PM UTC

marcamillion wrote: post #63

This definitely looks like the beginning of the end for at least the body scanners. If that video brought on so much heat that they had to respond like this and drop the ball so much, queue more public outrage and major back-pedalling in 3.....2.....1....

If only that were true.

Can you think of a case in history where continued government incompetence (or outright malice, depending on your point of view) that was demonstrated and gained a lot of valid criticism and public outrage, actually resulted in a change?

Re: Viral Video About Body Scanners

#153

Post by endersshadow » Thu, Mar 08, 2012, 4:55 PM UTC

gaius wrote: post #45

Stand back people, TSA Blog Team is on the case! More seriously, these jokers let terrorists waltz on board planes (e.g. The Shoebomber) and only the passengers, treated like criminals by TSA, stop them. Time to send the rentacops back to the mall.

The Shoe Bomber took a flight from France, which is not under TSA jurisdiction [1]. It's important to note that the TSA only operates in US airports.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reid_(shoe_bomber)#Bomb...

Re: Viral Video About Body Scanners

#154

Post by dlss » Thu, Mar 08, 2012, 4:56 PM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #150

CWuestefeld wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your explanation would suggest that the writer's cognitive abilities (whatever they might be) don't carry over into chaotic or stressful situations (i.e., he falls apart under pressure). I would submit that this in itself ought to disqualify him from an important position in an agency as putatively critical as the TSA. People working there, especially those in positions of responsibility, ought to be able to work eff…

Why would a TSA blogger need to be able to work effectively under pressure?

This. Also, anyone that thinks they don't fall apart under pressure is strongly encouraged to look up choking in the psychology literature and/or talk to attractive members of the opposite gender :p

Re: Viral Video About Body Scanners

#155

Post by drivebyacct2 » Thu, Mar 08, 2012, 5:02 PM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #148

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #10

> It is completely safe and the vast majority use a generic image that completely addresses privacy concerns. Well that makes me feel great. Guess they decided they been caught blatantly lying on that point before so they decided to reiterate it, just with sufficiently vague qualifiers.

"Vast majority", eh? Yeah, I guess the "vast majority" aren't the young, attractive women you always hear about them disproportionately scanning.

Is this the case? It's not terribly surprising, I just hadn't seen stats for that.

Re: Viral Video About Body Scanners

#156

Post by Sthorpe » Thu, Mar 08, 2012, 5:03 PM UTC

corin_ wrote: post #77

temphn wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The spelling and grammatical errors tell you within 5 seconds that this person is not very intelligent. For obvious security reasons, we can’t discuss our technology's detection capability in detail, however TSA conducts extensive testing of all screening technologies in the laboratory and at airports prior to rolling them out to the entire field. This is a run-on sentence. Imaging technology has been extremely effec…

Thinking that you can judge someone's intelligence by their spelling and grammar is so incredibly wrong. And I don't mean wrong in a moral "don't be that guy" way (though that too), I mean wrong as in technically inaccurate.

I personally struggle when writing. However, when I write something important, I make sure to have someone proof read it. The message shouldn't be lost by simple grammar errors. And so,...I would say its a intelligence problem.

Re: Viral Video About Body Scanners

#157

Post by erode » Thu, Mar 08, 2012, 5:15 PM UTC

I've never believed something less than the words in this blog post.

Re: Viral Video About Body Scanners

#158

Post by philwelch » Thu, Mar 08, 2012, 5:16 PM UTC

reader5000 wrote: post #122

Just astounding. As soon as I read "interwebs" I had to check to make sure this was an official communications channel of a Federal agency. Mind is blown. Is this the same level of people running the CIA/FBI? What is going on?

The TSA are clowns, but the CIA/FBI are deadly serious by all accounts I've heard. They're far more dangerous to be on the wrong side of.

Re: Viral Video About Body Scanners

#159

Post by hub_ » Thu, Mar 08, 2012, 5:16 PM UTC

rythie wrote: post #41

In any case, surely the weakest link is airports in less developed countries, which always seem to be much less secure to me.

You work for TSA? 'cause that the kind of reasoning coming from TSA.

Re: Viral Video About Body Scanners

#160

Post by RealAmerican » Thu, Mar 08, 2012, 5:16 PM UTC

The really funny thing is that this guy is probably making between $93,00 - $142,000 (paid by us). Look at this job listing for a TSA program analyst: http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/311287200

...with tasks like "You will develop and approve solutions to current and anticipated problems"

I think Blogger Bob is writing some of these job descriptions, too.

Makes me sick.

Here are the benefits Blogger Bob gets: DHS offers competitive salaries and an attractive benefits package, including: health, dental, vision, life, and long-term care insurance; retirement plan; Thrift Savings Plan [similar to a 401(k)]; Flexible Spending Account; Employee Assistance Program; personal leave days; and paid federal holidays. Other benefits may include: flexible work schedules; telework; tuition reimbursement; transportation subsidies; uniform allowance; health and wellness programs; and fitness centers. DHS is committed to employee development and offers a variety of employee training and developmental opportunities. For more information, go to www.dhs.gov/careers and select "benefits."