TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones • Hacker News Board

Re: TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones

#41

Post by Svip » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 6:58 AM UTC

reitanqild wrote: post #34

angersock wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've also done a remarkably good job of pissing off a lot of their neighbors.

Historic background: * they have done so since they were created by UN in 1948 * all neighbouring countries declared war on them then. As far as I know only one of them has since retracted their declaration of war. Edit: Is it downvoted because of factual inaccuracies, tone, relevance or something else? Honest question, I have noe clue.

Probably factual inaccuracies, since Israel was not created by the UN (it was supposed to, but the Israelis declared Israel themselves because the UN was sitting on their hands, and took a larger area than UN had designated to Israel) and I don't recall Lebanon declaring war on Israel.

Re: TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones

#42

Post by WildUtah » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 6:58 AM UTC

pigDisgusting wrote: post #18

Except last time I checked, possession of a mobile device is not required by law? So, what the fuck. Not to mention: [ "the battery's dead and the proprietary charger is stuck in checked baggage", "whoops i lost the battery", "whoops i dropped the phone and now it is broken", "whoops cannot power on without password for encryption", "aw shucks my phone is keister stashed so come get it big boy", "hello look at this c…

Airports that are operated competently will provide μUSB and Lightning power tables at security. Mercenary airports will provide for-pay stations.

Lots of international airports are competently run. Most US airports, unfortunately, are neither competent nor even competently mercenary so there will be trouble when the TSA imports this plan to the USA.

Re: TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones

#43

Post by VolatileVoid » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 6:59 AM UTC

darklajid wrote: post #35

tommoor wrote: post #6

They do this at Ben Gurion Airport too - make you turn on all your electronics, the Israeli airports are praised for their security procedures - right? eg: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/23/airport-security_n_...

Whenever that model is considered nice I try to paint a different picture. Example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3283768#up_3285789 I've lived there for a year and travelled to Ben Gurion before and after that time. It's never pleasant and often downright insane.

It's interesting the different experiences people have.

I've found LLBG to be downright pleasant. I get there at most 90 minutes prior to an international flight, breeze through security in about 15-30 minutes depending on queues and often have time to spare to get a coffee and browse through the duty free shops at my leisure.

Full disclosure: I am an Israeli citizen, but I've had this experience even prior to becoming a citizen, when I was only a US citizen.

Re: TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones

#44

Post by CaptainZapp » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 7:16 AM UTC

ninguem2 wrote: post #22

jonjenk wrote: post #11

Would someone please start a religion that denies the authority of the TSA so we can opt out of this security theater on religious grounds?

If you are an Orthodox Jew, I don't think you can turn on a cellphone on the Sabbath.

In all likeliness an orthodox Jew will fly the national carrier (El-Al), which does not fly on Sabbath.

If you consider this insane from an economic perspective I think you're right.

Re: TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones

#45

Post by prescindor » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 7:48 AM UTC

ivanca wrote: post #40

You also have to press all the possible combination of numbers on your device, just to make sure there isn't one to activate a bomb. You also have to open all the apps in your smartphone, just in case one of them is "open to blow the bomb".

So you've got 17 apps on your phone. And all you need to do to see Allah is to open 5 of them in sequence. 17x16x15x14x13 = 742560.

Or maybe all you have to do is get your unlock password wrong a certain way.

Fact is, the fact your phone boots makes it more of a threat, not less. LOL!

Fact is, this is not about security. It is an exercise in security theater.

Re: TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones

#46

Post by chrismcb » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 8:23 AM UTC

krisgee wrote: post #23

Another on the long list of reasons I don't every fly to, from or through the USA even though it sometimes makes my routes longer and more expensive.

Right, because only USA airports (or flying to US) has stupid rules? I've gone through the same inane things in other countries. In fact the only time I've ever had to turn on my computer was outside of US flying to another country outside the US.

Re: TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones

#47

Post by darklajid » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 9:44 AM UTC

VolatileVoid wrote: post #43

darklajid wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whenever that model is considered nice I try to paint a different picture. Example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3283768#up_3285789 I've lived there for a year and travelled to Ben Gurion before and after that time. It's never pleasant and often downright insane.

It's interesting the different experiences people have. I've found LLBG to be downright pleasant. I get there at most 90 minutes prior to an international flight, breeze through security in about 15-30 minutes depending on queues and often have time to spare to get a coffee and browse through the duty free shops at my leisure. Full disclosure: I am an Israeli citizen, but I've had this experience even prior to becomi…

Regarding your last sentence: May I ask whether you

a) speak Hebrew

b) are jewish?

Both seems to help a lot (got some friends from DE and the US that had less trouble than I did and .. well, that might make a difference).

I'd certainly even agree that I'd prefer the treatment in IL to any body scanner/groping experience "elsewhere", but I don't like the experience one bit and get singled out more or less every time.

Re: TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones

#48

Post by phazmatis » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 10:14 AM UTC

tlrobinson wrote: post #38

Because it's impossible to build a cell phone bomb that also functions?

To be extra cautious, they should profile people with older blockier phones. Oh no, now I said it, the TSA will likely do it. xD

Re: TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones

#49

Post by reuven » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 12:51 PM UTC

CaptainZapp wrote: post #44

ninguem2 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are an Orthodox Jew, I don't think you can turn on a cellphone on the Sabbath.

In all likeliness an orthodox Jew will fly the national carrier (El-Al), which does not fly on Sabbath. If you consider this insane from an economic perspective I think you're right.

It's unlikely that an Orthodox Jew will fly an El Al plane. Possible, but unlikely.

As for the fact that El Al doesn't fly on the Sabbath: It used to, and stopped doing so thanks to a combination of coalition politics (since it was a state-owned airline) and business reasons. True, El Al would make lots of money if it also flew on the Sabbath -- but it would lose the business of many observant Jews, who fly because of its adherence to these rules.

However, El Al has a subsidiary called Sandor that does fly on Saturdays. I'm not sure about its recently launched low-cost subsidiary, called Up.

I wouldn't mind it if El Al were to fly on the Sabbath, despite the fact that I observe Jewish law. However, I've taken El Al flights on several occasions because they were the only ones who gave me enough time to get from my house to the airport on Saturday night, after the Sabbath ended.

Re: TSA: Some on US-bound flights must turn on phones

#50

Post by CaptainZapp » Mon, Jul 07, 2014, 1:29 PM UTC

reuven wrote: post #49

CaptainZapp wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In all likeliness an orthodox Jew will fly the national carrier (El-Al), which does not fly on Sabbath. If you consider this insane from an economic perspective I think you're right.

It's unlikely that an Orthodox Jew will fly an El Al plane. Possible, but unlikely. As for the fact that El Al doesn't fly on the Sabbath: It used to, and stopped doing so thanks to a combination of coalition politics (since it was a state-owned airline) and business reasons. True, El Al would make lots of money if it also flew on the Sabbath -- but it would lose the business of many observant Jews, who fly because o…

  It's unlikely that an Orthodox Jew will fly an El Al plane. Possible, but unlikely.

Why do you think so? I have to admit that I was just guessing, but it seemed logical (most notably the fact that only kosher food is available). What alternatives does an orthodox Jew really have? Since it's just a guess and I certainly don't have any hard data, I could be wrong, of course.

  True, El Al would make lots of money if it also flew on the Sabbath -- but it would lose the business of many observant Jews, who fly because of its adherence to these rules.

I was not even thinking about lost revenue, but about the fact that the planes just lie idle for a minimum of 24 hours every week. A plane, which is not in the air is a very, very expensive entity.

In any case: thanks for the insights.