MacBook Air Confuses Airport Security

Ant writes "MacNN reports that the thin design of Apple's MacBook Air is causing some confusion for the technically ignorant, according to one blogger who says that the ultra-portable caused him to miss his flight. When going through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport security checkpoint, blogger Michael Nygard was held up as security staff gathered around his MacBook Air, trying to make sense of the slender laptop/notebook. One of the less technically knowledgeable staff points out the lack of standard features as cause for alarm..."

Re:Idiots...(Protected)

[Anonymous Coward]

Good thing the Dems federalized them so they are protected under civil service rules. Otherwise they would be fired.

Re:Idiots...

[houstonbofh]

From https://tsacarrers.taleo.net/ [taleo.net] Read to the end... I was not scared before I read this, but now...

1802-Transportation Security Officer (TSO) (Screener) - SUN107

Job Description

Apply Online

Description
As a Transportation Security Officer (TSO) (Screener):

You will perform a variety of duties related to providing security and protection of air travelers, airports and aircraft. You will be responsible for identifying dangerous objects in baggage, cargo and/or on passengers; and preventing those objects from being transported onto aircraft. You are required to perform various tasks such as: wanding, pat down searches, operation of x-ray machines, lift and carry baggage (weighing up to 70 pounds), and screening and ticket review using electronic and imaging equipment. As a TSO, you may perform passenger screening, baggage screening or both. You are expected to perform these duties in a courteous and professional manner.

* Communicate with the public, giving directions and responding to inquiries in a professional and courteous manner.
* Maintain focus and awareness within an environment containing numerous distractions, people, and noise.
* Stand and remain standing for periods up to 4 hours without sitting.
* Repeatedly lift and carry an object weighing up to 70 pounds.
* Work within a stressful environment, which includes noise from alarms, machinery, and people, distractions, time pressure, disruptive and angry passengers, and the requirement to identify and locate potentially life-threatening devices and devices intended on creating massive destruction.
* Make effective decisions in both crisis and routine situations.

Work Schedule: Full-time Split-Shift (40 hours per week). A Split Shift schedule is defined as any two shifts, lasting at least two (2) hours each, in one 24-hour period with a break of at least two (2) hours between shifts. Full-time work hours for this position consists of shift-work on any day from Sunday through Saturday, which may include irregular hours, nights, holidays, overtime, extended shifts and weekend shifts, changing shifts, and split shifts. Exceptions include additional shifts to support morning, midday, and afternoon or evening operations. Specific work shifts and schedules will be determined by the airport.

TSA will not pay any pre-employment travel expenses (e.g., travel to and from testing, medical examination facilities and assessment sites). As part of the evaluation process you will be required to travel to a TSA specified medical facility within commuting area of the airport for which you applied.

Qualifications

1. You must be a U.S.Citizen or U.S. National; AND
2. You must have a high school diploma, GED or equivalent; OR at least one year of full-time work experience in security work, aviation screener work, or x-ray technician work.

Possess the following job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities:

* English Proficiency (e.g., reading, writing, speaking, listening)
* Mental Abilities (e.g., visual observation and identification, mental rotation)
* Interpersonal Skills (e.g., customer service, dependability)
* Work Values (e.g., responsibility, honesty, integrity)
* Physical Abilities(e.g. repeatedly lifting and carrying baggage weighing up to 70 lbs, bending, reaching, stooping, squatting, standing, and walking and identifying objects by touch).

All TSOs must meet the following standards:

* Distant vision correctable to 20/30 or better in the best eye and 20/100 or better in the worse eye
* Near vision correctable to 20/40 or better binocular
* Color perception (e.g., red, green, blue, yellow, orange, purple, brown, black, white, gray) note: color filters (e.g., contact lenses) for enhancing color discrimination are prohibited.
* Hearing as measured by audiometry cannot exceed:

Re:Not always true

[calebt3]

I had a trip to Virginia and back last year. I got flagged for the expanded screening every single time (4/4). And I am a white male.

Private Pilot License

[Suzuran]

Don't bother. End of this year the government has a new tax package and special user fees that will increase the costs by over 400% (proceeds going to fund tax breaks for the airlines, of course) and "increase security" for private airfields as well. It was nice while it lasted but the party's over.

Not a laptop, but a boom box brought down a 747

[The Breeze]

The fear of a laptop carrying explosives is valid, seeing as how a radio-cassette stereo player - a medium size boom box - with a pound of plastic explosive in it - brought down a 747 - pan am 103 - over Scotland.

Re:Ok - this is just getting silly!

[mfnickster]

> I don't think they were referring to the fact that it won't run 99% of software out there

I know you're joking, but you are aware that Intel Macs can run Windows, Mac and Unix software these days... right?

In fact, I can't think of a single machine ever marketed that runs as much software as an Intel Mac. :)

The term is "astroturfing"

[transiit]

Note that the article reads like a press release, with the exception of playing into everyone's dislike of the TSA.

Note that the "linux to mac" section of the blog has one article, not once mentioning linux.

Read through it, and ask yourself, who the f*#@ is Michael Nygard, and why should I care?

Re:slashvertisement

[Skreems]

It doesn't even succeed against known threats. They have regular security screenings where a TSA agent sneaks through a fake bomb disguised as a back brace or something innocuous. Less than a 50% success rate at stopping it. If "the terrorists" actually get to that point, it's more likely than not that TSA will let them through.

Re:Question about missed flight

[Eivind]

Atleast in Europe they would. Conditions say, you check in atleast 30 (45 for abroad) minutes prior to your scheduled departure-time. Assuming you make -that- time-limit, the airplane is liable if you still miss your plane.

Which is logical, the security-check-people are (indirectly) hired by them afterall, if they want to they can hire more people and handle more people in parallell to make the lines shorter.

Slashdot, Reddit, and Digg... Congrats Apple.

[pQueue]

Apple got this same fake story to the front page of reddit [reddit.com] and digg [digg.com] also. Steve Jobs should rejoice at his marketing teams success. I wonder if they used companies like Subvert and Profit [subvertandprofit.com] to get this promoted to front page news?

Re:slashvertisement

[ancient_kings]

My guess is the TSA agent knew exactl what is was, a very expensive, sleek, thin, notebook, and was probably planning to steal it, BUT
other TSA agents somehow got involved and that TSA agent probably changed his mind. Trust me on this, I know alot of security guards who routinely steal...

Re:slashvertisement

[Alioth]

No one flies light planes because it's economical. They do it because they love it.

It doesn't take an hour to get going in a light plane, even if you need to file IFR. In my situation, the typical IFR trip was: drive to the local GA airport (5 minutes) and park. Walk to the hangar, pull the club's Beech Bonanza out. Pre-flight would take around 15 minutes. If the weather looked shitty, I'd probably have already filed the IFR flight plan the evening before. The airport line man would have already fuelled it, because I'd have made a quick phone call to ask for the plane to be topped off, and it's common for fuel to be on your account at your own airfield.

Then off you go. No security lines. No one rifling through your luggage. Your luggage will actually arrive with you.

Going to the airline airport was a 45 minute drive through Houston traffic to arrive an hour early and fight the crowds.
Driving meant going through Houston traffic then the dumbass drivers on the interstate on the way to Austin.

Flying privately was just far more fun, far more pleasant, and I could beat the airlines door-to-door on any trip less than 600 miles in a 160 knot Beech Bonanza: 90% of the airports in the United States have no airline service, and generally I could go to an airport that was close to my intended destination instead of one 45 minutes away through city traffic.

Re:Question about missed flight

[grassy_knoll]

Frankly, I am surprized one of those guys/gals doesn't pull a gun and go postal.

The TSA screeners at my local airport appear to be unarmed. There are armed airport police, but they're not Federal employees.

Re:slashvertisement

[falsified]

All of the airports I've ever been to, the security screening area is an open room with several galley-style lines that all of the guards are standing along. You put your laptop, separately, into the x-ray machine, and you're standing at the other end of the x-ray machine waiting for it to come out.

If you're able to get your laptop stolen in that environment, you shouldn't have been using a computer.

But they can tax them all!

[Suzuran]

The taxes are built into the fuel costs (That's the base 400% increase) and in the form of fees for air traffic control services. If you want to talk to a controller, you pay. Want a weather briefing? You pay. Want traffic advisories? You pay. Just like the Europeans. (Ever seen a private airplane in England or Germany? No? There's a reason for that.) The airports will die out as their customers die out.

Re:irony

[ArsenneLupin]

That's not irony, that's just gaming the slashdot first-post delayer (tm). If an otherwise first post contains the word first or post, Slashdot delays it until a second post is available, and posts it afterwards. This is meant to protect against overzealous frist psot hunting. Indeed, in the olden days, you had to first wade across some 20+ posts per story which all called out first post, and it became a distraction. They had to put the delayer in, in order to stop the madness. So nowadays trolls just mipsel.