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Comment by busterarm | Hacker News Reader

The last time I took my 2015 rMBP on a flight with me, TSA saw my laptop on the scanner and the guy at the machine's eyes bugged out while he did a double take. They swabbed the crap out of my laptop, detected nothing and then let me through.

I was confused and didn't understand why, but I wonder if maybe battery swelling is why.

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I'd be surprised if they could detect battery swelling on a scanner. The battery's horizontal area doesn't really change, it just kind of bulges. The scanners are two dimensional and they make you lay your computer flat in a separate bin so it's not like they could detect vertical swelling.

I also had a similar reaction to my 2014 rMBP once (and only once, over a few dozen flights). I figured MBPs just look scary from the wrong angle, or maybe new scanner employees who haven't figured out what all the common laptops look like yet.

Maybe it's all the little "terraced" sections the battery cells are cut into. If it's your first time seeing that as a scanner employee, it doesn't really look much like any other "battery."

The number of MBPs that go through the TSA lines at Newark can't be small.

One time at LGA, there were 4, 15" MBPs going through the X-ray in a row. Mine was #3, and it got pulled for additional screening. When I asked why mine, they're all the same laptop and the guy just shrugged.

Random spot check?

Leaving KEF a few weeks ago, my bags were pulled for a random check. But, at least the Icelandic security guy was nice enough to tell me as much...

"Your bag was selected at random for an inspection." "Now, I'm going to carry it over to that table. Please follow me. "Now, I'm going to unzip it." "Now, I'm swabbing for residue."

Quick, professional, and not at all stressful. Unlike similar experiences at IAD and FCO.

The system puts in random fake images to make sure the techs are paying attention.

I always wondered how airport X-ray machine operators stayed focused on what's going through. This seems like a simple yet effective solution.

It's not working. They missed 67 out of 70: http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/01/politics/tsa-failed-undercover...

In the end it's all "security theater", huh.

Yes but don't follow the money, it is depressing.

So if a fake bomb picture comes through, do they go tackle the guy who's bag was next in line? I never got how that worked..

No, they always press a button if they want to screen an item again. If it was just a test image, it will disappear. If it wasn't, they'll be notified and it will either be screened again or the employee at the scanner informs his colleagues.

Before 2001, I toyed with the idea of making metal cutouts that looked like cartoon versions of bombs or weapons (ball bomb, dagger).

I guess I'll never be able to do that.

wouldnt a metal cutout of a dagger be a dagger?

Maybe he's making negative-space cut-outs to fuck with TSA.

I was thinking about just the contour of the blade with a solid handle but, still, it could be used as a very bad dagger. Netcraft made a good point.

I once got my bag searched by a friendly TSA agent who explained that having more than one or two books stacked in a bag would probably get it pulled, because the machines don't see through that much organic matter very well.

A neatly stacked supply of energy bars will also earn you a complimentary bag unpacking.

No, the problem was it was the TSA. That's all.

Aren't you supposed to put laptops "alone in its own tray"?

Sure. Where did he say he didn't do that?

I've had some TSA folks tell me to do that and some say I can leave it in my bag.

US: Rule is non-thin laptops go in a separate tray. Tablets and super-thin laptops can stay in the bag. But, this is enforced inconsistently.

Europe (UK, Ireland, Italy, and Iceland): Separate tray every time I've passed through in the last 4 years.

I have a backpack where the sleeve for the laptop pulls out completely from the backpack itself but stays attached with "rails" to prevent theft. I've never had an issue with this and never needed to place the laptop in a new tray. I fly once a month round trip in the US.

True enough, I forgot about the TSA bags with flip-out sleeves.

Not necessarily. My backpack, for example, has a laptop compartment that folds out flat. I don't have to remove my laptop, just send my backpack through.

It was.

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