Classic prank: going through security with a vibrator in your pants

by Jerry Guo on

I suppose everyone gets around to pondering this timeless question: what would happen if you stuffed a vibrator (turned on, for good measure) down your pants and then tried to go through security at the airport?

Well, here’s the answer you’ve been waiting for. John Hargrave, the cheeky trouble-maker who hacked the Super Bowl, found that it’s surprisingly easy to do. I won’t ruin the blow-by-blow account, which is here.

For an added bonus, if you’re a frequent driver on the Massachusetts Turnpike, John has found out that those toll-booths don’t really make you pay. This funny prank (in which at one point he tapes two pictures of the rapper 50 Cent to pay for a $1.00 toll) is here.

Americans advised not to fly Philippine Airlines

by Iva Skoch on

I didn’t realize the FAA officially rates airlines based on their security standards. Well, they do.

Just this week, Philippine Airlines got downgraded to a Category 2 airline requiring “heightened FAA surveillance.” They join countries likes Ghana, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Ivory Coast, all of which apparently have inadequate air safety standards.

Philippine Airlines will continue flying to the United States, but US citizens are advised to use carriers from countries whose civil aviation authorities meet international standards.

The X-Prize for reducing airport headaches

by Jerry Guo on

Clear Registered Traveler Program, which we wrote about in February and September, just announced a $500,000 prize for anyone who can help them reduce time spent waiting in their dedicated security lines by 15 percent. It’s also gotta be cheaper than 25 cents per passenger and win approval by the government.

This isn’t a contest to laugh about. We’ve seen how much of an impact these large-sum cash prizes (popularized by the X-Prize challenge to send a private plane into space) have had on innovation. Plus, it could give a boost to Clear’s reputation. So far, only 65,000 frequent fliers have signed up for their $100 per year program, which speeds up your visit through security checkpoint.

Top priorities for this contest seem to be finding a way to avoid making passengers take off their shoes and taking their laptops out of their bags. There’s also the whole 3 oz fluid thing. Come to think of it, I can rattle off … Well, never mind.

More ‘Big Brother’ from your neighborhood TSA

by Jerry Guo on

News is just out that there’s plans from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to record and track more passenger information, including full names, birthdates, and gender for background checks. Almost everyone is against this, including the major airlines, travel agencies, and of course, the general public.

A 2004 law was passed that required transferring the control of passenger info from the airlines to TSA, so passage of this plan (or some variation) seems inevitable.

Now, why should you care? It does seem like every week we hear of another zany plan by the TSA to do more snooping. Well, first keep in mind the more records the TSA has its hands on, the more mistakes they’ll make. There’s already hundreds of horror stories of innocent civilians who are blocked from traveling, because they were mistakenly added to the national terrorism watchlist for instance. Then, there’s the security risk – of our private information being stolen. Again, many cases to cite on this.

What can we do? Go voice our opinions at the polls next November!

Woman tries to open emergency exit — midflight

by Grant Martin on

Ever wonder what happens when you open the exit door while you’re in the air? I know that the thought has crossed my mind once or twice while I was sitting in the exit-row seat.

Well, you can’t. You’ll notice that emergency exit and cabin doors open inward, meaning the air pressure from inside of the plane is going to be pushing hard out on the door at 30,000 feet. Meaning it’s going to be near impossible for you to pull the door open. That and you’re going to make the crew really mad at you.

Apparently, a woman on an American Airlines flight headed for Dallas yesterday didn’t realize this and had to be subdued by the crew until they could divert to Houston. The Age reports that after landing in Houston, six passengers got off (because it was their final destination) and the rest of the plane went on their merry way to Dallas.

It’s nice to know that not any nutjob can open an emergency exit at altitude and suck us all out of the plane, isn’t it?