Oh, dear. The TSA will expand the use of those body scanners we’ve talked about time and time again. This will no doubt freak out a certain segment of the population, but I have something even more terrifying for y’all: adjustable rate mortgages! → Read More
Although not the first of its kind (in fact there are similar programs operating at 29 other U.S. airports, and in Europe), the newly announced paperless boarding pass system at San Francisco International Airport allows passengers to download their “ticket” onto their mobile device, be it a cell phone or PDA, by visiting a secure link that is e-mailed to them after booking a flight. → Read More
You’d think a professional blogger like myself who travels a lot would have a TSA friendly bag, but you’re wrong. I still pull my laptop out every time and curse to the high heavens about it. A sane person would have invested in a bag like the Aerovation CPF Laptop Bag by now and I’m thinking real hard about it. → Read More
Gather ’round for the time-honored American tradition of pretending to be outraged by something. (If we’re to believe that outlet of populist outrage monger, the Drudge Report.) It’s one of those airport security body scanning devices, this time going on trial at the Salt Lake City airport. The left two images show a woman, while the right two are a man. → Read More
These fancy, $100 bags are part of the ScanFast for Her Collection, Mobile Edge’s line of lady-minded laptop bags. (I guess generic, dark-colored bags are too aggressive and masculine for women. Wait, what?) As with other Mobile Edge bags, these are Transportation Security Administration’s Checkpoint Friendly. That means, theoretically, that you’re not required to remove your… → Read More
What is it about airports that bring out the worst in humanity? Is it waiting in long, arbitrary lines? Is it being forced to reveal to everyone the holes in your socks? Is it the $100 beers at the airport bar? I try pretty hard to be a “good citizen” when I travel: my carry-on luggage doesn’t exceed the maximum dimensions permitted by the airline; I make sure I put all of… → Read More
I don’t have too much of a problem sliding my laptop out of my bag whenever I travel, but to be honest every second that’s taken out of that whole security situation is one more second I could be sitting at the gate playing SNES, so I might invest in one of these special bags. But what makes them so special exactly? → Read More
The latest TSA security protocol allows laptop-touting travelers to keep their junk in their bag, but only pre-approved ones. Case Logic’s first batch offers up both a laptop case and sleeve options. Personally, if you already have a well-loved case, I would pick up the sleeve and all you would have to do is pull out the sleeve and not reveal your MacBook Pro to thieving eyes. Whatever… → Read More
Starting just last week if you have a TSA-approved laptop bag, you can slide that puppy* (*please to not x-ray the puppy) right on through their scanning machines. Of course that means a whole bunch new products to choose from. Travelon has created six new bags ready to start hitting the shelves in September. Ya got yourself a backpack version, a wheely thing and a briefcase style. For the lady in… → Read More
As you know, the Transportation Safety Administration has decided to allow laptop-carrying airline passengers keep their laptops in specially approved bags at security checkpoints. It’s actually the most revolutionary decision in United States bureaucracy history. To that end, the TSA has finally posted details on its Web site how all this is going to work. That handy graphic shows the type… → Read More
Imagine if you will: you’re walking through a checkpointcustoms and if you’re like me, your passport picture makes you look like the Unabomber, so you get “randomly” selected for “secondary screening.” And they say, “Sir, turn on your laptop, we’re going to snoop through all your files and search for anything we feel, as practically untrained… → Read More
Targus announced today a new line of laptop cases designed to speed travelers through airport security. The first installment is the Zip-Thru 15.4″ Corporate Traveler Laptop Case that speeds up the process by eliminating the need for removing your laptop from its case. Anybody who’s ever done that has surely felt some degree of separation anxiety as they have seen their laptop go… → Read More
In response to the announcement made by the TSA earlier in the year that would allow travelers to keep their laptops in bags while going through security; a couple gear companies have put forth “Checkpoint Friendly” bags and that latest comes from Mobile Edge. The ScanFast collection meets the criteria laid out by the TSA and will be available late summer. No word on pricing. → Read More
Here are some actual product shots of the TSA-friendly MobileEdge cases that we covered about a week ago. I’m still not 100% convinced that TSA bags, in general, can live up to the promise of substantially increasing airport security lines. It’ll only take one screening agent to throw a fit when someone hasn’t removed their laptop, only to find out that it was in a TSA-approved bag all… → Read More
Just got word last night that Mobile Edge, fine purveyor of notebook-friendly bags and backpacks, has created three new cases that meet all TSA requirements for checkpoint-friendliness. The company is currently testing the bags at the Ontario Airport in California and will make final changes before going into full production soon. We’ve got the three designs here. Actual photos of the products… → Read More
More news on the approaching possibility of keeping your laptop in a case while breezing through airport security. Along with bag-maker Skooba Design’s “beautiful prototypes, patents and trademarks pending,” they also posted a photo of a new security-friendly laptop case prototype for the new line, and they expect to have models available in time for the back to school/fall/holiday season. → Read More
The Transportation Security Administration has reportedlybeen working with luggage manufacturers to create checkpoint safe laptop cases. No longer will you have to take your laptop our of your case, while you remove your shoes, jacket, any metal, lighters, and chapstick from your pockets, as well as all the water, shampoo and aftershave from your carry-on. Wow, thanks TSA, that’s gonna be a big… → Read More
Anyone that’s traveled with their laptop knows what a pain in the ass security is because you’re required to take out your laptop when going through the x-ray machine. I despise it and I travel quite often and it’s slowly becoming the bane of my existence. Maybe I’m being dramatic, but I think we can all agree that it’s an annoying process. Targus and Skooba, among… → Read More
Thanks to the wisdom of Homeland Security and customs, travellers may now be asked to allow screeners access to your laptops when you fly. While this is pretty shitty for obvious reasons, CNET is offering some advice on how to stop the lads from finding all your homemade tentacle anime. 1. Before going on any international trip, back up all of your important and potentially embarrassing… → Read More
In another huge victory for paperless enthusiasts everywhere, it appears that using your cell phone as a boarding pass is on the horizon. Since December, Continental has been testing a paperless option for flights out of Houston. The boarding pass “is an image of an encrypted bar code displayed on the phone’s screen, which can be scanned by gate agents and security personnel,”… → Read More
Bob at the TSA Evolution Blog Team (the kindly gnomish face of the TSA that actually makes me think these morons are listening) responded to the intimation that MacBook Airs are weapons of mass destruction. Screeners are trained to look for certain things in laptops and other devices and when they saw an anomaly, they reacted. Good on them. They’ll also be scanning a MacBook Air to show… → Read More
Care of the Onion Here, friends, is the danger of depending too much on X-ray searches — there is a valley between the dangerous and the benign and most items fit in it but if you make something dangerous that looks utterly benign or make something benign that looks, to the trained TSA agent, dangerous, you’re in trouble. Long story short, Michael Nygard was held up at the airport… → Read More
So it seems that you can carry batteries, extra batteries, spare batteries, and other, presumably, Leyden jars on flights. The TSA warnings only mention banning “large, palletized shipments” of lithium-ion batteries on flights whereas other batteries are fine. They recommend covering the battery terminals, however. On the other hand, the Department of Transportation says you are… → Read More
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