Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

TSA To Ban Printer Cartridges Next Week : SD 1554-10-05

boardingarea.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 29 posts

Re: TSA To Ban Printer Cartridges Next Week : SD 1554-10-05

#11

Post by cosmicray »

dododo wrote: post #6

why are they overfitting the data? wouldn't it be better to have expected volumes and masses for various items, and where items defer from these expectations, they get inspected fully? many customs sheets include a declaration of the package contents.

Volume isn't really the issue, but mass might be. In the case of the toner cartridge (which appears to have been a sub-assembly of an actual printer) a truly devious individual might have removed the correct amount of toner, and then offset it with an equal amount of explosive material. The mass doesn't change (mostly due to the fact that the toner cartridge had excess space in it to begin with).

What does change is the chemical signature of the contents. That would require inspection of each item as it is presented for shipment. Hence the problem.

Re: TSA To Ban Printer Cartridges Next Week : SD 1554-10-05

#12

Post by anon_for_this_1 »

petrilli wrote: post #7

I believe a summary is best stated as "See, we're doing something!" Doing something, and doing the right thing, are very different things, but one is simple, and the other requires thought and risk management. You can imagine which is rewarded and which is punished. Not just by politicians and bureaucrats, but by the public as well. The general public is also responsible for this absurdity by not being willing to acc…

You just described the reason my father-in-law (and now I) believe that the best outcome is no movement. Thus we both vote (in the US) to try and create a stalemate in house vs Senate - both parties are so screwed up they damage everything they touch.

Re: TSA To Ban Printer Cartridges Next Week : SD 1554-10-05

#13

Post by rick_2047 »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #5

If one was a clever terrorist, you might eventually come to the conclusion that you could do more economic and psychological harm by examining the things people want and need to be able to fly with and then running terror plots that use those items. Things like shoes, underwear, liquids, and electronics come to mind. But of course, we'd never be so stupid as to play into the terrorists hands this way. I'm sure they d…

Things like shoes, underwear, liquids, and electronics come to mind.

Umm.. just as a thinking exercise what can one do with this?

My take, make a bomb which is deployed in the shoe and is triggered by your urine with some electronics in your underwear. You can have some liquids which will help you piss (normal drinks do help but make it specialized).

Re: TSA To Ban Printer Cartridges Next Week : SD 1554-10-05

#14

Post by rwmj »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #5

If one was a clever terrorist, you might eventually come to the conclusion that you could do more economic and psychological harm by examining the things people want and need to be able to fly with and then running terror plots that use those items. Things like shoes, underwear, liquids, and electronics come to mind. But of course, we'd never be so stupid as to play into the terrorists hands this way. I'm sure they d…

http://wondermark.com/220/

Re: TSA To Ban Printer Cartridges Next Week : SD 1554-10-05

#17

Post by tome »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #5

If one was a clever terrorist, you might eventually come to the conclusion that you could do more economic and psychological harm by examining the things people want and need to be able to fly with and then running terror plots that use those items. Things like shoes, underwear, liquids, and electronics come to mind. But of course, we'd never be so stupid as to play into the terrorists hands this way. I'm sure they d…

I'm sure they don't laugh at us running around like idiots throwing away toiletries, getting strip-searched, and shuffling through security barefoot while someone ogles our naked bodies in another room.

I don't entirely understand the individual psychology behind terrorism, but I'm absolutely certain that it isn't so they can laugh at us when we're in the security queue.

Re: TSA To Ban Printer Cartridges Next Week : SD 1554-10-05

#18

Post by raganwald »

petrilli wrote: post #7

I believe a summary is best stated as "See, we're doing something!" Doing something, and doing the right thing, are very different things, but one is simple, and the other requires thought and risk management. You can imagine which is rewarded and which is punished. Not just by politicians and bureaucrats, but by the public as well. The general public is also responsible for this absurdity by not being willing to acc…

"The Politician's Fallacy: We must do something. This is something. Therfore, we must do it. But doing the wrong thing is worse than doing nothing at all." --Sir Humphrey Appleby, "Yes, Prime Minister."

Re: TSA To Ban Printer Cartridges Next Week : SD 1554-10-05

#19

Post by ErrantX »

tome wrote: post #17
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #5

If one was a clever terrorist, you might eventually come to the conclusion that you could do more economic and psychological harm by examining the things people want and need to be able to fly with and then running terror plots that use those items. Things like shoes, underwear, liquids, and electronics come to mind. But of course, we'd never be so stupid as to play into the terrorists hands this way. I'm sure they d…

I'm sure they don't laugh at us running around like idiots throwing away toiletries, getting strip-searched, and shuffling through security barefoot while someone ogles our naked bodies in another room. I don't entirely understand the individual psychology behind terrorism, but I'm absolutely certain that it isn't so they can laugh at us when we're in the security queue.

You've missed his point slightly. It is not that they are literally laughing..

But the point was - terrorists aim to provoke fear and discord; blowing up a passenger aircraft is pretty terrifying, but causing anger, fear frustration and discord on an international scale can be just as good. And all they have to do is get a bomb (even a useless, utterly ineffective one) onto a plane every few months.

Bureaucracy does the rest :)

Re: TSA To Ban Printer Cartridges Next Week : SD 1554-10-05

#20

Post by rdtsc »

rick_2047 wrote: post #13
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #5

If one was a clever terrorist, you might eventually come to the conclusion that you could do more economic and psychological harm by examining the things people want and need to be able to fly with and then running terror plots that use those items. Things like shoes, underwear, liquids, and electronics come to mind. But of course, we'd never be so stupid as to play into the terrorists hands this way. I'm sure they d…

Things like shoes, underwear, liquids, and electronics come to mind. Umm.. just as a thinking exercise what can one do with this? My take, make a bomb which is deployed in the shoe and is triggered by your urine with some electronics in your underwear. You can have some liquids which will help you piss (normal drinks do help but make it specialized).

Just a word of warning, be careful about making such comments.

I know someone who was visited by FBI at their workplace, and at home, because of what they said on a message board. They speculated about how a terrorist attack _could_ happen.

Then there is the recent case of Yasir Afifi. FBI were tracking him because his friend made a post that caught their attention.

Unfortunately our law enforcement and other government agencies don't interpret "freedom of speech" like most regular citizens do. And it certainly doesn't guarantee protections against harassment and embarrassing bullying that accompanies such "investigations"

Post reply on HN