Ruh-roh, Casio watches on TSA ...uh, "watch" list...(just on local news)

[karlrschneider]

they make watches with altimeters "which might be used to detonate bombs at a certain altitude"...guess they forgot about pressurized cabins...and others with built-in "cigarette lighters" that "could be used to ignite shoe bombs"...guess they forgot it's legal to have REGULAR lighters (2, even).....

jeezusfuckingchrist, either the whole damn country has gone fucking berserk, or I have...
:eyes:

[tuvor]

1. This I don't get at all.

I can't recall whether they finally banned cigarette lighters on flights, but they were allowed onboard LONG after the attack on the World Trade Center.

And in how many hijackings did lighters play a crucial role?

[purduejake]

2. Okay, put GPS on the watch list as well.

That would be a hell of a lot more accurate and is not dependent on pressure inside the cabin.

[AndrewJacksonFaction]

13. GPS needs line of sight to Satellite.

[karlrschneider]

14. which is one reason they work so well in airplanes...

Maybe I misunderstood your point...?

[jmowreader]

15. The GPS antenna for the plane's nav system isn't in the cabin

It's somewhere on the roof of the plane, which has line of sight to the GPS constellation.

The GPS in your watch, OTOH, is in the cabin--which places a piece of signal-blocking sheet metal between the GPS receiver and the constellation.

[karlrschneider]

3. You can have 2 lighters and 3 books of matches on your person.

At least that was the case 2 months ago when my partner flew to Tampa...
maybe it's changed.
I don't ride in airliners, I fly a privately owned plane...

[Warpy]

7. consider that if Richard Reid had paid a buck for a Bic

he would have succeeded in detonating the bombs and blown up a whole plane full of people. The only thing that tipped his fellow passengers off was the smell of the matches.

Lighters should be banned. Nobody needs to set fire to anything in the cabin of an airplane.

[tuvor]

16. Of course, lighters should be banned. Which begs the question:

Why haven't they???

And why are they concerned about lighters NOW, hidden or otherwise?

Like I said, me no get.

[Sal Minella]

20. Tobacco companies lobbied against banning lighters.....

Heard this on NPR or read it somewhere weeks ago (cannot remember where) -- when the Great Tobacco Lobby learned that lighters were to be on the banned list, the Great Tobacco Lobbyists fixed it so the addicts and the terrorists can carry a primary and a back-up.

The tobacco people don't want smokers to get the idea that giving up smoking altogether might be possible.

[LizW]

4. Uh

Couldn't ANY digital watch be used to set off a bomb AT A GIVEN TIME?

Did Casio do something to piss off Bushco?

[Taxloss]

5. The safest thing would be to ban people on flights.

Or they could find out why people were doing that sort of thing. Or they could use intelligence to head off bad guys.

Why not ban shoes? They could contain shoe-bombs ...

Hold on a sec - all-naked flights! Not only terror-safe, but a guaranteed commercial hit!!

[Ian David]

6. Maybe next they'll ban Furby?

Maybe they should ban Furby and other "virtual pets" from all airline flights.



"Furby has a light sensor in the eyes, a motion sensor somewhere inside it, touch sensors on the front and back, an active base and an infrared wireless port above the eyes for communication with other Furbies."



"In regards to the sensors, Furby can respond to being petted, moved or its eyes covered. Furby can play a few games, and those instructions are included in the manual that comes with it."

"Furby has an infrared communications port on its head that it can use to communicate with other Furbies. "

"the electric motor that runs the base portion generates enough radio frequency interference that it puts noise into my audio system and computers."
http://www.studio42.com/vidgame/Furby/index.shtml

---

See also:
Posted by CmdrTaco on Sun Jan 03, '99 02:50 PM
from the advanced-technology dept.
devin writes "We've seen the Furby Autopsy but that was just the beginning. Now there's a project to hack Furby's internals, including the IR protocol. "

Furby Autopsy
http://slashdot.org/articles/98/12/11/2338244.shtml

Hacking Furby
http://www.homestead.com/hackfurby/

http://slashdot.org/articles/99/01/03/1950227.shtml



Ok, did you catch that. Motion sensor. Touch sensor. Infrarared receiver (like on your TV remote). This article doesn't mention Furby's ACOUSTIC sensor that responds when you clap your hands.

[Must_B_Free]

11. ah.. ah.. ah... Yuuuuuuuum

Furbie gets hungry sometimes.

[xultar]

8. What about a Fart, some Farts can be deadly in a closed cabin are

they banning Farting too?

[anarchy1999]

9. Note to the wise, don't fly. Rent a car instead and take an extra couple

of days. Bring the airlines to their knees. I'll never go through another search again. I will not be asked what my occupation is or why am I going where I'm going and for how long. Courtesy Love Field, Dallas, Texas.

PS/they searched through my bags and found a little tiny phillips head screwdriver, I could keep it if I wanted them to find the bag I had checked for cargo. Not, the piece of junk was worth nothing more than $2. But hey guys, they let me fly with my diamond steel nail file that was in my purse, went right through. Many bad words come to mind.

We just came back from Christmas vacation, it was cheaper and more pleasant to rent a Cadillac from Avis than to fly.

The airlines will be the death of themselves.

[amazona]

18. yeah I drive to Amsterdam all the time

Come on, people can't drive everywhere, there are oceans. :-)

I prefer to drive where I can but most destinations there is no way to do it. Americans don't get enough vacation time, you'd spend it all driving just to get to and from.

[anarchy1999]

22. Take a couple of extra days and take a boat!

n/t

on edit:
as in ocean liner, you know, don't you? There are several reputable companies, don't you know. Check with your nearest travel agent.

[Must_B_Free]

10. never mind you cell phone, either

which is what insurgents in Iraq are using to detonate the road bombs...

[Ian David]

12. They've been searching people getting onto BUSSES in New York!

A little over a year ago, I caught a bus from Boston to New York (hey, I was broke).

In Boston, they just checked my ID before letting me get on the bus.

On my way home, I had to run to catch the bus back to Boston from Port Authority in New York.

They actually ran me through a metal detector and made me open my bags!

Meanwhile, not expecting to be searched, I had a pocket full of change. (I always leave my change at home when I go to the airport). So I had to empty my pockets, etc.

I had one of those credit card-sized pocket tools with me, and they made me leave it behind.

And, of course, I had to show my ID.

As I opened my wallet, the security guy noticed my minister's credentials card, and decided he didn't need to inspect my second, REALLY BIG suitcase.

Which is VERY fortunate for me!

See, I had to leave home in a hurry on a family emergency, and I hadn't had time to charge my cell phone before I left.

So, in my suitcase I had a big combination air compressor / car jumpstarter, so I could plug my cell phone into it during the trip.

Do you think they would have let me onto the bus if they knew I had this big air compressor apparatus in my bag?

But because he saw I was a MINISTER and not an IMAM, he waved me right through with it.

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. Ever try to tap into the works of a casio watch to get to the altimeter

circuit? Better luck with do it yourself open heart surgery.

More knucklehead schemes courtesy of the screen writer terror scenario volunteers?

[amazona]

19. do they literally mean Casio watches...

...or is the BOLO for all "nerd watches" regardless of brand?

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. Is this 'banned in the hold'?

because there's no point in banning them in the passenger space - anyone wearing one there could just set the bomb off manually.

So are they saying that they'll search all hold luggage for altimeter watches? As someone says above, you can set timers on bombs far more easily (though I suppose you might be worried that the plane gets delayed, and it goes off while it's still on the ground).