3.1110 flying laptops, cont. (67)

Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca)
Tue, 27 Feb 90 19:35:11 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 1110. Tuesday, 27 Feb 1990.


(1) Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 10:52 PST (29 lines)
From: <YOUNGC@CLARGRAD>
Subject: Re: Laptops and airlines

(2) Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 09:57:02 EST (19 lines)
From: Tom Thomson <tom@nw.stl.stc.co.uk>
Subject: re: Laptops and airlines

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 90 10:52 PST
From: <YOUNGC@CLARGRAD>
Subject: Re: Laptops and airlines



Niko Besnier asks about laptops and airport security systems.

This is an issue that comes up fairly regularly on Compuserve's
IBM Hardware Forum. When it does come up, consensus seems quickly
to be reached on 3 points:

Letting the laptop and disks go through the scanner
is better than handing it through, where it may get
oo close not to xrays but the machine that produces
them.

2. There's no reason to think that floppy disks or hard
disks get damaged by the scanner.

3. You'll almost certainly be asked to fire the machine
up to prove that it's a 'pute.

Best wishes,

Charles Young
Department of Philosophy
Claremont Graduate School

(2) --------------------------------------------------------------29----
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 90 09:57:02 EST
From: Tom Thomson <tom@nw.stl.stc.co.uk>
Subject: re: Laptops and airlines

I guess Niko Besnier shouldn't worry too much. I buzz about Europe lugging
an Amstrad portable and have no problems with airport security.

The X-Ray machines are not going to hurt hard discs or floppy discs; but there
are some airport security guys that think they will and will ask you whether
there's anything vital on the discs before you put it through the machine - if
you say "yes" they bypass the machine but demand you boot it up and ask for a
demo of something [carry a simple game for that].

Mostly my machine just goes through the X-ray gadget and no demo is wanted. I
think I do well because I don't have any batteries in the machine, just carry
a mains adaptor (batteries look like packed explosive on the x-ray, I'm told;
colleagues who carry batteries in the machine get asked for demos almost
always).