Filed under: Odds and ends, Apple
TSA makes good: X-rays MacBook Air and posts video
As you'll recall the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) was hard at work, hoping to avoid making another MacBook Air owner miss their flight (the security people didn't know what to make of the x-ray images of the MacBook Air). The TSA got their hands on a MacBook Air for some testing, and ran it through one of their test x-rays machines. Lo and behold, the solid state drive made the MacBook Air look different than traditional notebooks (though in what way, the TSA can't say).
The long and the short of it is that the TSA is distributing printouts of the MacBook Air's x-ray to screeners across the country so they know what to look for. I feel more secure already.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
davidmcgookin said 2:37PM on 3-24-2008
Hmm the internals of the Air are top secret! Glad no one has opened an air or shown very large images of its internals on a large projector screen at a large public media event then!
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jpa said 2:59PM on 3-24-2008
Let me guess no visible HDD platters and a tight grouping of IC chips? hope they don't come after me for ruining the big secret.
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Brad Adams said 3:11PM on 3-24-2008
If you check further down the blog you'll see where they have a Delete-O-Meter to track how many comments they delete. I understand the need to remove spam and inappropriate comments. I find it hilarious that the government is bragging about how many comments they are deleting.
http://www.crumbsinthebutter.com/blog
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Edsel said 3:16PM on 3-24-2008
Before everyone jumps down TSA's throat, consider this.
The AIR 64Gb has a relatively small circuit board with a couple wires leading to a very large self-contained dense mass (the battery). That's it. No moving parts to speak of, certainly nothing that screams "hard drive" or an array of ports to speak of.
It's all about pattern recognition - be happy the TSA has taken interest in this.
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serenity said 3:34PM on 3-24-2008
I do find it odd that they haven't seen a laptop with an SSD before. It's not like the Air is the first one, even though it's probably the most popular one by now.
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artifex said 4:30PM on 3-24-2008
All the other computers with SSDs at least had optical drives, right?
Mike said 4:06PM on 3-24-2008
Remember the famous words of Senator Tom Daschle - "To Professionalize, you must Federalize".
Thank g-d for those professional TSA employees and their professionalized management structure. Its only a shame that the unprofessional folks at Apple Computers dared to produce such a device that might compromise our nation's interests. If only the government would take over the design and manufacturing of our computers. Until then, Apple really should rename the Mac Book Pro to the Mac Book Civilian.
We got the last laugh on Daschle though: No Apple stores in South Dakota!
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Furies said 4:29PM on 3-24-2008
I'd feel safer if Gorillas were checking me for bananas. It is a shame though that the MacBook Air wasn't actually an I.E.D...would have given the government an excuse to search and confiscate even more of our belongings; g-d knows they need them more than we do ;)
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Manuel Martensen said 4:36PM on 3-24-2008
When will custom made MBA’s with solid state C4 harddrives hit the markets?
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Startled Gnu said 5:27PM on 3-24-2008
"Thank g-d", "g-d knows"? When did 'god' become a four-letter word?
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thethirdmoose said 6:22PM on 3-24-2008
gawd?
Dan Oblak - MacBigot.com said 8:39AM on 3-25-2008
"When did 'god' become a four-letter word?"
About the same year we stopped capitalizing it.
Dan S. said 9:42AM on 3-25-2008
In the hebrew tradition, it's forbidden to use the name of God in a frivolous manner or in a location that may later be destroyed or defaced, so most jews and a number of christians write "G-d" as a precaution.
Mike M said 7:48PM on 3-24-2008
I have had the MBA since about 2 weeks after it was launched. I can say that I have flown internationally, in and around NYC, Washington DC, and more and have never had an issue with my MBA. I have the SSD option and not sure if that makes any difference or not.
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Kevin said 8:21PM on 3-24-2008
Damn. The only reason I clicked that link was to see what the x-ray looked like.
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Shawn said 8:46PM on 3-24-2008
I'm with Kevin. Someone x-ray an air and post a picture on their blog or something. Thanks in advance!
Tom said 9:45PM on 3-24-2008
Quick, hide the XRay images! They are a security threat!!!
Seriously, why do they think this is a security threat, when 10 seconds of google use pulled up these two images:
http://www.powerbook-fr.com/IMG/jpg/PowerBook17.jpg
http://stuff.ratjed.com/powerbook_xray.jpg
Sure, neither of those aren't the Air, but they prove that *gasp*, people out there have access to Xray machines. Or screwdrivers for that matter.
*sigh*
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Louie Mantia said 11:19PM on 3-24-2008
He said backslash, but clearly, it's just a slash. :P
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cs said 7:05AM on 3-25-2008
Come on people. It isn't that it is a secrety what the xRays look like. What they don't want to release is *what* got their attention, how it differes from what they consider a normal laptop, etc. Pointing out what they look for tells the *bad guys* what not to make theirs real bombs to look like. And pointing out what passes the quick glance sanity check shows them how to make it look legit. It isn't about what an xRay look like to you and me. Stop reading into things thinking they just don't want to show an xRay.
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Jeremy Brooks said 11:58AM on 3-25-2008
The TSA is a joke. Every time I fly, I am stunned by the amount of cash being wasted by the government to construct this elaborate security theatre. Isn't it nice that they provide Magic Terrorist Prevention Bags for travelers to put their Dangerous Liquids into? I was shocked that our flight didn't spontaneously explode when I realized that my lens cleaning fluid was in my backpack the whole time and not in a Magic Terrorist Prevention Bag!
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