Stop that Man! He's too Advanced!

Who is In Charge Here?


The suspiciously thin, port-free laptop sends airport security into a tizzy, until cooler heads prevail.

Maybe it's time for some tech briefings at the TSA, no?On his blog, programmer Michael Nygard (by way of the Unofficial Apple Weblog) writes that during a recent trip through the airport, his solid-state MacBook Air stopped TSA agents—puzzled by its lack of rear-facing ports or a standard hard drive—in their tracks.

Nygard said the agents put him and his suspicious "device" in a holding cubicle as security staffers huddled nearby, looking at X-ray printouts of the sinister-looking Air and scratching their heads.

A younger TSA agent—who, apparently, was aware of Apple's newest laptop—tried explaining to the group that the Air uses solid-state memory in place of a traditional hard drive.

The senior staffer, however, was still reluctant to let it go: "New products on the market? They haven't been TSA approved. Probably shouldn't be permitted," Nygard writes.Finally, after booting up the Air and running a program, the agents let Nygard go, he said—but only after he'd missed his flight.

I've been hearing stories like these all too often, which leads to the question: how exactly are TSA agents being trained, anyway? How about, I dunno, some regular briefings on the latest gadgets that might be making their way through security checkpoints? And while TSA agents are wasting time fussing with laptops, undercover investigators with bomb parts in their bags have been sailing though security checkpoints. Anyone else out there get stopped by airport security because of a "suspicious" gadget in their luggage? Feel free to vent right here.

This story amazed me too. The spots on TV for these ultra thin notebooks have been splattered all over TV for months now. I suppose these particular security agents were acting with the best intention, I think this may have been a case of profiling, however.

A couple months back I sent a friend who works in a nearby library a list of the expected technical skills that a librarian should have. She was stunned by a long list of knowledge in operations, networking, hardware and trouble shooting, software, programming and markup languages, social software, the universe of gaming, and oh, yes, how to download on every piece of the latest cellphone or IPhone that every kid walks in with.

No trouble? Then your ahead of me. I cannot afford most of the toys out there today. And because we live in this seemingly beta mode of life, what was hot two months ago is as old as microfische. Or so it seems that way. As fast as it seems to be moving it also has a saturation point. At a certain point fascination with the new toy is given over to buyers remorse. Consider Windows Vista, and the IPhone. Both were pushed on a busy market and people lined up to get their's. Then all the nasty bugs, the unpleasant surprise when, for example, travelers using their IPhone got a nasty shock on reaching home. A bill for hundreds of dollars for surfing the Net on their new toy. The point is that human folly has a price. Error in programing, hidden fees, and a general disregard for the old axiom "Caveat emptor" will lead to misunderstanding. If you want to lead the pack it may you cost you more than you think.

If I could, I would live blissfully in the printed age. With my copy of the Golden Bough or sermons by John Donne I have the sweet and familiar footing and no roaming charges or threat of hackers. Nor do I have to worry about phishers, cookies, viruses, or my mother board blowing (the last having happened to me). Its just there.

But I am linked to computers because I live in the 21st century. I have a social need for them and they have come to represent in my consciousness a vital part of my link to the world around me. I could unplug them and go and live on an Island, but according to recent ads on TV you can get Internet access even on Gilligan's Island.

So what's the point of this? Well, I suppose to turn the damn thing off once and awhile, and go for a walk. Go to a cafe, or a bookstore. Go and see a movie or call someone up and invite them over for a home cooked meal or go out to dinner. Remember that they are here to serve us.

We should not become slaves to our technology. That is the old lesson that even tech savvy Jones' can learn. In some small way we are part of something else. Someone else is leading us around when we spend hours hammering away at a keyboard or shrieking when are hard drives crash. Who is the master is the question. Or:

Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal Highness

I am his Highness' dog at Kew;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?

--Alexander Pope

Any thoughts?

Here is a link to the story above:

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/14047