Possible ban on 'large electronics' on planes might help sell Pyras


In my view, the average politician is shallow, petty, selfish, thoughtless, trigger-happy and has delusions of grandeur.
They aren't, however, actually malicious.

Nobody's sitting in a high-backed chair, stroking a hairless cat, and cackling in the palace of Westminster. But there are a lot of 'representatives' who assume that laws are something that only apply to the bad guys. The bad guys are terrists, because the newspapers say so. Clearly, the answer is to write some laws that make life difficult for terrists.

These same politicians see themselves, their fellow electees, the police force, and so-on, as the good guys. Since they are the good guys, and would never do bad things (because that's what bad guys do), they don't see a problem with awarding themselves ever increasing power and authority.

The problem is not malice, but a lack of empathy, social awareness, and an inability to assess the consequences of action.

On top of that, we - the computing community - see web censorship as a major problem, because we spend so much time using the internet, and often feel like cultural outsiders. Most politicians see the 'net as relatively new and alien, and are more socially inclined. They see the death of individuals as worse than the decay of a system, where engineers (and others) might well regard the systems of freedom, justice and democracy as transcending any individual citizen.

This is all rounded off with a lack of technical knowledge, a lack of curiosity, and that overblown sense of self-importance that leads our leaders to make sweeping statements about things they don't understand.

Even people you disagree with have reasons for their opinions - and Hanlon's Razor applies.

P.S. This post could equally well go in any of the off-topic/politics threads around here. It might even be better placed in one of the others - but I'll leave it here for the moment, as it was an indirect reply to Stan, above.
 
Unless you're in business class, you don't really have space to really use a laptop anyway, right?
 
Unless you're in business class, you don't really have space to really use a laptop anyway, right?

10 years ago we likened air travel to being on a flying bus.

These days air travel has become something considerably less comfortable than a modern travel bus. But, less comfort for a shorter time span can still be better.
 
We have all been pretty willing so far to give up a pretty long list of freedoms for an enhanced feeling of security. Even in the unlikely event of world peace, I doubt that those in power will be as willing to give freedoms back as they were to request that they be surrendered. Powers likes power after all.
Regardless of the security theatre, there are many things I have been fighting since I was old enough to understand how much I disagreed with. In adulthood that list has grown huge. I am pretty sure you are right that those things that were given up or accepted are permanent, and can only get worse for citizens. Since I am not super rich there is no fix for my frustration, just more "told you so" than I can feel comfortable pointing out.

We can try to fight, but that is pretty worthless for fixing things.

Well, they recently started asking you to boot your computer in airports - not only for international flights, but all of them. (at least in where I live)
Because that proves anything? It isn't even worth my time to point out the holes in that colander.
 
I'd rather take the bus, honestly. I'm all for sensible security procedures, but I think they're getting really too far now.
[doublepost=1495489931,1495489880][/doublepost]
Because that proves anything? It isn't even worth my time to point out the holes in that colander.
I think because if the battery was a bomb, it wouldn't be a battery and wouldn't turn on.
 
We can try to fight, but that is pretty worthless for fixing things.

Not really. Anyone who fights gets classified as a terrorist.

The best way to oppose the stupidity of it is to run for office. Unfortunately, victory in that would require an intelligent and informed electorate and far more money than the positions pay.
 
There is enough potential energy in even a cell phone battery to blow a small hole in an airplane.

A small hole would do nothing. It isn't like in the movies where a small hole rips an airplane apart..... Also terrorists will simply move to a softer target like trains that dont have metal detectors, or buses or ferries.
 
A small hole would do nothing. It isn't like in the movies where a small hole rips an airplane apart..... Also terrorists will simply move to a softer target like trains that dont have metal detectors, or buses or ferries.

Or, as has been seen recently, simply running motor vehicles into crowds. So - I'm predicting that either vehicles will be taken away or crowds banned. More likely crowds get banned outside of vehicle exclusion zones.
 
The Pyra will eventually be banned and you will be searched for owning one as this was not manufactured by a big american corporation.
[doublepost=1495518030,1495517878][/doublepost]
A bomb on the plane is a bomb on the plane, in coach or cargo, right? I don't get it.
As long as the majority of the people is scared and satisfied that the president is taking steps to "protect" them, Trump is achieving its goals. Logic is an afterthought.
 
I'd rather take the bus, honestly. I'm all for sensible security procedures, but I think they're getting really too far now.
[doublepost=1495489931,1495489880][/doublepost]
I think because if the battery was a bomb, it wouldn't be a battery and wouldn't turn on.


Install a battery in the original shell, that gives off the same current so it will boot perfectly, but half of the cells inside of it have been replaced with explosive material. There, here's a battery that will allow for the laptop to boot and still pose a deadly threat.

There surely are many ways that safety measures hinder terrorist acts, but this one specific procedure seems to address a very specific attack, and even then it seems that the approach is not comprehensive.

This looks like a farce to give people the illusion that they're safe, so airlines don't lose traffic and therefore aiports don't have to be closed down and look like a fiasco of government agencies and local authorities. Then again there are some people in uniform and out of it hard at work, under a lot of stress, and I can only pity them that they have basically an impossible job of providing total security with limited time per screening, manpower and money, so they have to take compromises.
 
Not really. Anyone who fights gets classified as a terrorist.
That and other ways of messing up your life are what I was hinting at in the end of what you quoted. Becoming a politician is included in "messing up your life" imo.
[doublepost=1495572250,1495571832][/doublepost]
This entire forum will be banned if people continues proposing ideas to bypass (absurd) security measures
Well, since anyone using Linux is a terrorist, it is better for governments to let us keep the forum* and monitor our communication, then snag us in the middle of the night or other times we don't expect it.


*Except where politicians have made other promises. Oops, wrong thread. Or is it? ;)
 
A small hole would do nothing.
It doesn't have to, that's the point. It may not take down the plane but it's still a "threat" to be abused for more power. I can guarantee the only reason they're saying "large electronics" and leaving cell phones alone is because people would flip their collective shits if "the government" tried to take away their phones. As soon as there's a "credible" threat, even if it was ineffective, it'll just get rubber stamped through. That's why you need to take off your shoes when you fly, that's why liquids above a certain volume are banned, that's why you need to walk through a cancer causing privacy remover.
 
This entire forum will be banned if people continues proposing ideas to bypass (absurd) security measures
Yah... the amount of white to gray-hats... however, it IS concerning that a Pyra could be used for evil. Otoh, will the Pyra be there BEFORE the end of the world? Maybe not.
 
There is already a ban on 200Wh+ batteries. If anything it would bring efficiency up.

I don't think a device you possibly have to explain is how to get expedited quickly through security.

If someone is going to blow me up with their laptop, i sure want to enjoy my Pyra till it happens.
 
more like "tinfoil"hats..lol
Oh, if we are tinfoil hatting: The central bank is forcing Greece to raise the taxes AGAIN. And they are rolling out new tricks to take away undeclared possesions like safes and land....

Will this affect FORM-ACTION? (the guys that make the cases)... certainly.Greece needs to raise 8 Billion dollars by July...



 
Last edited:
I hope Form Action don't heed the call to strike. What they've shown us via ED today looks incredible, and I take back any sniping I may have been making about them in the weekly stats thread.
 
Back
Top