Soon Laptops not allowed as carry-on

[Sunset]

I've run Windows 7 inside a VM on my Mac, but have never tried to run MacOS inside a VM on Windows. I'm doing software development on MacOS (among other things) - one of the more demanding applications. Nevertheless, your idea is worth keeping in mind - thanks for the heads-up.

You might like Ubuntu as it is linux/unix based like MacOS.

I run Ubuntu as a development environment inside a VM, and I run that VM on my Ubuntu machine and on a Mac at work, I've also run the same VM on my Windows laptop when I needed to go on vacation (and still have the dev environment in an emergency).

Of course one great thing about Ubuntu is it is free and so are a ton of dev tools and other software, the only downside is there is no tax software available.

 

[socca]

Another concern is security. Whether the loaner laptop comes from the gov't or a private company, the installation of spyware on the machine would be practically irresistible. But then, maybe I'm just paranoid.

 

[sengsational]

I quit bringing a laptop on air and even driving vacations a long while ago.

But for those of you "addicted", how about a see-through computer (example below is a Rasberry Pi) with a blue tooth keyboard and phone or google glass as a display.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71JNtwT30rL._SL1500_.jpg

 

[H2ODude]

I'm surprised it's taken this long. There's plenty of volume in a laptop for explosives (if you can fit it in your shoe it'll go in a laptop) and I have no doubt it could be disguised as the battery or other innards. Hard to imagine enough in a phone though, although they are getting bigger.

 

[Alan]

I'm surprised it's taken this long. There's plenty of volume in a laptop for explosives (if you can fit it in your shoe it'll go in a laptop) and I have no doubt it could be disguised as the battery or other innards. Hard to imagine enough in a phone though, although they are getting bigger.

I wonder why they don't ban laptops on internal US flights or flights leaving the US? Maybe they think they can detect explosives in laptops at US airports or that terrorists can't ship an explosive filled laptop to a US domestic based terrorist to then board an internal flight.

 

[Fedup]

I think it's about time I get back to basic reading. A book would be nice.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I wonder why they don't ban laptops on internal US flights or flights leaving the US? Maybe they think they can detect explosives in laptops at US airports or that terrorists can't ship an explosive filled laptop to a US domestic based terrorist to then board an internal flight.

+1. And the ban is against laptops from flights originating from only certain countries--because crazy people would fly from only those countries and not be smart enough to fly from a "safe" country? And what, the US has jurisdiction to screen for exploding laptops at all other countries? If there is a known danger, ban them all.

DS occasionally flies overseas on business; his mega has offices practically everywhere so there could be a system to use those laptops once he arrived. Smaller companies or individual entrepreneurs will have a much harder time.

 

[meierlde]

+1. And the ban is against laptops from flights originating from only certain countries--because crazy people would fly from only those countries and not be smart enough to fly from a "safe" country? And what, the US has jurisdiction to screen for exploding laptops at all other countries? If there is a known danger, ban them all.

DS occasionally flies overseas on business; his mega has offices practically everywhere so there could be a system to use those laptops once he arrived. Smaller companies or individual entrepreneurs will have a much harder time.

Actually for larger outfits you could install windows terminal services at the central server farm and use the remote laptop as merely a terminal, with no state kept on the laptop. This of course also eliminates the chance of the data kept on the laptop of getting up and walking away as happens every so often. (actually its now called remote desktop services)

 

[audreyh1]

This still seems quite surreal to me, as the security inspection we've been subjected to in European airports have been far more rigorous, detailed, and time consuming, than security screening at the US airports.

 

[W2R]

This still seems quite surreal to me, as the security inspection we've been subjected to in European airports have been far more rigorous, detailed, and time consuming, than security screening at the US airports.

I just have to tell this story.

The last European airport I went through was leaving Athens in the summer of 1972. I was traveling alone and was very completely searched by some of the very numerous armed military guards on site, but they did not search me as thoroughly as they did a nun in front of me. They strip searched that poor nun behind a sheet just a few feet away from me. They found nothing on either of us but gosh, I'd bet that was quite a deterrent to those with bad intent.

Yeah, I'd say sometimes security inspections over there were pretty rigorous! I doubt it is like that now but IIRC there was some political instability at the time.

On the other hand, my memory is that those not being strip searched were allowed to keep their shoes on.

 

[imoldernu]

As long as the thread continues...
As the worry grows about laptops...
How about the little suitcase that was checked in as luggage, with the pressure switch that goes off @ 20,000 ft.
Or...
The newly hired baggage handler who slips his lunch bag on board as he closes the hatch.
Undetectable by Xray, gas, weight, sniffer, or even opening up to check. Tiny and more powerful compared to plastique, and flexible or moldable to any form.
Cheap to produce, and easy to distribute to whomever.

And the effect on air travel, after the first incident... ?

 

[Ronstar]

I wonder why they don't ban laptops on internal US flights or flights leaving the US? Maybe they think they can detect explosives in laptops at US airports or that terrorists can't ship an explosive filled laptop to a US domestic based terrorist to then board an internal flight.

Several years ago my work laptop tested positive for explosives in a random laptop check. I was taken to a small room and interviewed (interrogated) for 10-20 minutes. All kinds of questions centered on why I was involved with explosives. They swabbed the laptop a few times - it passed the test on the final try. They asked if I used hand cream. I didn't but my assistant did. Turned out that hand cream yielded a false positive. They let me on with the laptop, but I almost missed the flight.

 

[check6]

Laptop explosion from one of your fellow terrorist passengers on an Airbus A320.

 

[Alan]

Several years ago my work laptop tested positive for explosives in a random laptop check. I was taken to a small room and interviewed (interrogated) for 10-20 minutes. All kinds of questions centered on why I was involved with explosives. They swabbed the laptop a few times - it passed the test on the final try. They asked if I used hand cream. I didn't but my assistant did. Turned out that hand cream yielded a false positive. They let me on with the laptop, but I almost missed the flight.

I'd heard about false positives but you are the first person I know that got pulled aside. I've had my laptop swabbed a number of times while traveling on business but always passed fortunately.

I think that the new threat must escape this test.

 

[Moemg]

I'd heard about false positives but you are the first person I know that got pulled aside. I've had my laptop swabbed a number of times while traveling on business but always passed fortunately.

I think that the new threat must escape this test.

Well I am the second my tablet checked positive in Germany . I was pulled aside and searched . It was powder from my inhaler.

 

[Alan]

Well I am the second my tablet checked positive in Germany . I was pulled aside and searched . It was powder from my inhaler.

Plenty of issues with that test it seems.

 

[kombat]

I do think phones will be banned as well, after all with a cell phone a person could phone the bad laptop in the cargo hold, in the same way as is done for IED's and boom...

Doubtful. Ever try to get a signal at 38,000 feet? 0 bars.

 

[kombat]

I'd be up for it if it was pressurized and climate controlled.

The cargo holds ARE pressurized, but not climate-controlled.

 

[kombat]

How about the little suitcase that was checked in as luggage, with the pressure switch that goes off @ 20,000 ft.

Not an issue, airplanes are pressurized to 8,000 ft.

 

[kombat]

I'm surprised it's taken this long. There's plenty of volume in a laptop for explosives (if you can fit it in your shoe it'll go in a laptop) and I have no doubt it could be disguised as the battery or other innards.

True. However, banning them from carry-ons, while still permitting them in checked bags, is a far worse idea than just banning them from planes altogether.

When a laptop is brought aboard in a carry-on, it must pass through security. You're required to remove it from its bag so the security agents can visually inspect it and swab it for explosive residue. It gets X-rayed separately from all your other belongings and scrutinized. Heck, you're frequently required to even boot it up and prove it's an actual, working laptop. And even if you manage to get it on board through all of that, there's still the issue of killing yourself along with everyone else.

Pretty hard to sneak a bomb through that way.

A laptop in checked baggage, however, doesn't go through any of that. It *might* go through an X-ray, but even then, it's mixed in with all your other belongings. You could easily replace the battery with some explosive, and detonate it with a simple makeshift short-range wireless detonator (like from a garage door opener). Heck, you could set it up with a timer, and the bomber wouldn't even have to be on the plane with it.

If anything, laptops should be banned in CHECKED baggage, not carry-on.

 

[easysurfer]

My understanding is that the x-ray machines are more sensitive for checked bags than carry ons.

Plus, I'd think in a checked bag, there's not finger pressing an activate button like that possibility with carry on.

 

[imoldernu]

Re: Security: Other ways that security could be breached to detonate a bomb. FWIW.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21790-how-was-airline-bomb-made-to-be-undetectable/

 

[IMATERP]

Re: Security: Other ways that security could be breached to detonate a bomb. FWIW.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21790-how-was-airline-bomb-made-to-be-undetectable/

Without Cellphones - who is going to be able to Video United's next blunder ?

Fly the unfriendly skies of United...

M

 

[check6]

The cargo holds ARE pressurized, but not climate-controlled.

Overhead A-320 cockpit panel:

 

[audreyh1]

No ban yet, apparently. No change after meeting with EU officials. BBC says no ban but other sources say US may still decide to go ahead unilaterally. US and EU reject expanding laptop ban to flights from Europe - BBC News