New technology to scan shoes, (save time?) at airport

by Grant Martin on

If you’ve ever been irritated by the whole process of taking your shoes off in the airport security line, this news may give you some solace. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently announced that they would be purchasing new technology to scan shoes while passengers wear them. Depending on the technology, machines could use electromagnetic fields, chemical detectors or spurts of air to search for explosives or weapons in the shoes, and would be able to do so without removal.

Could this save time at the airport? Potentially. Without the need to remove and x-ray shoes the lines may move faster, but passengers will also have to queue for the shoe scan as well, right?

My big qualm with the whole shoe scanning exercise is in the uneven enforcement. At many airports around the world, shoe removal, unlike metal detection, is optional. It seems silly that we need complicated shoe scanning technology here in the states when someone could easily forgo the test in Hong Kong, fly across the ocean and still cause problems.

I suppose until an optimal solution is found we’ve always got Velcro.

Government department in charge of airport security can’t stop losing their own stuff

by Scott Carmichael on

How upset would you be if you lost your laptop computer? How upset do you think your boss would be if your company lost not one, but one thousand of them?

The loss of 1000 computers within a single government department is apparently not much of an issue, because that is how many went missing at the Department of Homeland Security in 2008.

The department is in charge of the TSA as well as Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (the old INS).

During an audit, a total of 1,975 pieces of equipment could not be located, at a total valuation of $7.5 million. Included in the list of missing items are 235 night vision goggles, a $116,000 truck and 13 other vehicles.

The departments claim the number of missing items is perfectly normal and that they are “well within loss rates deemed acceptable by industry for asset accounting“. I’ll be sure to use that excuse next time I lose something.

Remember, these losses are on top of the thousands of items that mysteriously go missing from luggage of passengers entrusting their belongings to the TSA. Shipping your luggage suddenly doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. US Senator Tom Coburn has more about the embarrassing losses on his personal site.

Chicago O’Hare and Boston Logan first airports to get full body scanners

by Grant Martin on

Hide the women and children, those full body scanners that have been causing all of the ruckus in the EU and Canada are on their way to the United States. Starting in early March, the technology that some claim gives a “voyeuristic” view of air travelers to the TSA will be installed in two of the nation’s busiest airports: Chicago’s O’Hare and Boston’s Logan.

Throughout the rest of the summer 150 more scanners will appear around the country.

Why the consternation? Critics claim that the new scanners violate privacy, while some even worry that the TSA can see specific body parts.

For their part, the Department of Homeland Security wants to use the tools for enhanced security screening; such technology, for example, could have potentially caught last year’s underwear bomber. Regardless, it looks like the scanners are here to stay, so be prepared to go through one at some point in your travels.

Gadling TV’s Travel Talk 002: Google goes Trans-Siberian, BA Strike, Aircruises, S.F. in 24 hrs and more!

by Stephen Greenwood on


Gadling TV’s Travel Talk, episode 2 – Click above to watch video after the jump

Travel Talk is Gadling’s version of a travel show. In each episode, we’ll discuss hot travel news; share fun, useful tips for both traveling and bringing your travel experiences back home; spotlight exciting travel destinations; and much more.

In this week’s episode – we discuss Google’s new project on the Trans-Siberian Express, break down the latest looming British Airways strike, discuss Seymourpowell’s lofty Aircruise concept, and discuss the latest blunders from Ryanair and the TSA.

Bruce is back for another travel tip; we’ll also show you the best spots in San Francisco in a new segment called 24 hour turnaround and show you what it’s like to rock climb in the California Wilderness.

If you have any questions or comments about Travel Talk, you can email us at talk AT gadling DOT com.

Be sure to tune in next week, for Episode 3 of Gadling TV’s Travel Talk with special coverage of Virgin America’s Fly Girls Premiere!

Download the Show: Travel Talk – 002 (HD!!) // Travel Talk – 002 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted)

Subscribe via iTunes:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Travel Talk feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.

Links:
Moscow to Vladivostok on Google
Seymourpowell’s Aircruises (+video)

Hosts: Stephen Greenwood, Aaron Murphy-Crews, Drew Mylrea
Special guest: Bruce!
Travel Hero: Mark Beaumont

Produced, Edited, and Directed by: Stephen Greenwood, Aaron Murphy-Crews, Drew Mylrea

Music by:
Ben Rector
“Associated”
myspace.com/benrector

The Pacific
“Live In A Dream”
myspace.com/thebixbyknolls


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