New TSA rule aims to improve security and cut down on hassle

by Meg Massie on

Up until now, airline passengers have only been required to provide as much as their first initial and last name to get a plane ticket. However, due to the high rate of false matches to names on the government’s terrorist watch list, passengers will soon be required to provide their full name and birth date before they can fly.

If your name resembles a name on the watch list, you might get held up at security. It has happened to Senator Edward Kennedy as well as to numerous children, but the TSA says that if they have a full name and birth date for every passenger, they won’t get all the false matches they get with the current first initial and last name system.

Airlines have resisted because of the cost and hassle of updating their computer systems, but as of July 2009, full names will be mandatory. Travelers who book flights without giving all the required information will be unable to print or receive boarding passes until they confirm the missing information with an airline ticket agent.

While the TSA is confident that the new procedure will greatly reduce false matches, it’s not clear that it will actually improve security. Security expert Bruce Schneier says terrorists could get around the rule by buying a ticket using someone else’s name.

Terrorist themed restaurant in Lebanon

by Abha Malpani on

Who said terrorism and violence couldn’t be laughed at, or to that matter, even eaten!? Fast food restaurant “Buns and Guns” in Beirut allows you to do both.

In a space decorated as if a military post (with weapons, ammunition and camouflage netting hanging from the ceiling), this eatery serves “rocket propelled grenade” (chicken on a skewer), “terrorist bread” and other dishes called Kalashnikov, Dragunov, Viper and B52.

This concept is unique and the owner says that it’s successful as people laugh before they ask any questions. I guess the second meaning of “buns” is out of context for people who speak English as a second language, so with that in mind, the name is smart and the motto is even smarter: “A sandwich can kill you”. The image is the menu. Apparently, people eat to the sound of guns rather than elevator music — perhaps the only disturbing element of the diner.

When I lived in Dubai, I worked with and encountered many Lebanese people and one thing that stood out about most of them was their great sense of humor. When such a war torn country can take a serious issue and knock some giggles into it tastefully (in this case, literally!), it’s refreshing.

In-flight system might find terrorists on passenger planes

by Jamie Rhein on

Years ago, a good friend of mine once worked for a company in Albuquerque, New Mexico that created computer programs to simulate flight patterns of airplanes so that they could be used in military training. The programs were to help people to tell the difference between friendly airplanes and foe airplanes. I think there was a neutral category as well. The company gave an open house once so I learned a bit about how the system was supposed to work. The details are a bit fuzzy. I don’t know if the efforts were successful, but there were months spent on the project.

Spring forward to 2008. These days, the technology for tracking threats is narrowing down to the inside of an airplane. According to this article in New Scientist Tech, the Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment (SAFEE) project is one that combines surveillance cameras with “Big Brother” software in order to see all activities in an airplane. Is that person sitting next to you a friend or a foe? One aspect of the system is that each seat has a camera focused on it.

Things like: Just how long has that person been standing next to the cockpit door? What’s with the person lounging around between the galley and the bathroom? Are they looking to join the Mile High Club, or something else? That person in the left aisle seat of row J looks suspicious and is sweating buckets. Is that person just extremely hot or a terrorist?

The idea of SAFEE is that a surveillance camera system can alert personnel about a potential threat before the threat takes action. Because the system has the capability of seeing all parts of the aircraft’s inside, a terrorist can’t hide out behind a drink cart. (Except with peanuts not being served as cost saving, I’d say drinks will be the next to go. Then it will be, what cart?)

Critics of this system say that it will need to be tested on thousands of passengers before it is declared reliable.

I’m thinking that if the system doesn’t work after cameras are installed in planes, there is potential for a reality TV show. It doesn’t take more than belongings spilling out of an overhead bin and bonking people in the head for people to laugh from the comfort of their living room. Showing what happens in people’s seats with the right commentary to go along with the footage might be entertaining indeed.

Deadly toxin found in Las Vegas motel room

by Jamie Rhein on

Here’s a weird, scary motel hazard story. It goes way, way, way beyond contaminated water glasses. How about the presence of a toxin that is so powerful even a speck can kill you? That’s what was found in an Extended Stay America motel room in Las Vegas yesterday, two weeks after a man who was staying in the room was rushed to the hospital in respiratory distress.

Vials of the toxin ricin, made from castor beans, were found in the man’s room by a friend who went to pick up his stuff. The room had not been rented out since the man left. Once it was discovered what the substance was, the hotel was cordoned off and guests had to stay in their rooms until there was an all clear. Other people–the manager, police officers and the person who brought the vials of ricin to the manager’s office were treated for contamination, but all of them are fine and the motel has been cleaned.

Not much is known about the man, the friend or how the ricin came to be in the room. There were castor beans as well, and it’s illegal to make ricin. This is the stuff of spy thrillers and assassination–back in the 1970s in London, a Bulgarian dissident was assassinated when someone injected a ricin pellet in his leg with an umbrella.

This story sounds like one that could get more and more curious. It’s a page turner with the last pages missing. Hopefully, the man will be able to answer questions one day. And if you’re wondering, officials don’t think this is a terrorist plot. [via AP]

New American passports can (maybe) trigger bombs

by Neil Woodburn on

The new American passports are supposed to be state of the art, but there is some danger that lurks within: the RFID chip.

We reported a few months ago about the “radio frequency identification” chips which are embedded within the new passports and loaded with digital information about the passport holder–mainly the same information found on the identification page. The concern with this chip is that it can broadcast this information to the wrong person.

According to an LA Times article by Jane Engle, the government claims the chip can only be read at a distance of 4 inches when the passport is opened. Others, however, claim that this range can be greatly increased with the proper equipment, thus turning American tourists into a walking radio station broadcasting personal information. One expert even claims that the signal can be used to detect an American passing by and set off a bomb, as illustrated by a YouTube video found here (although this is apparently a very improbable scenario).

Scared? You can always disable the chip using a very simple and primitive method described here. But of course, we here at Gadling would never condone such an action.