Geeks Blog » Security

Of Airports and Laptops

Nick — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:34:02 +0000

The battle has long been raging since that fateful day when security became the scourge of all travelers may it be for business or pleasure. Business travelers hate to have to go through the good ole’ laptop bag they just spent half an hour packing cramming all those cables, power adapters, gadgets and gizmos into one neat package only to take them out once again as they go through airport security tangling the mess into something resembling a jungle landscape. Not anymore, according to the Washington Post with luggage manufacturers taking up the call talking to airport security experts on advice to come up with airport security friendly baggage that has all the gadgets and gizmos lined up neatly you won’t have to take them out of their short-lived places in your laptop bag.
Laptops and most other electronic gadgets and gizmos have to go through security equipment such as x-ray machines that have been finding it hard to see through all the cluttered wires and stuff crammed into laptop bags airport authorities had no choice but to require people to take them out so they can be scanned properly. Why all the fuss, laptops are sizable enough to conceal explosives and other banned electronic goods onto airplane. Imagine a laptop battery made out of C-4 plastic explosive with all the required electronics and control stuff built into a simulated battery (which is one of the most likely suspect part of a laptop) now that would cause quite a bang.
There never seems to be any cease to the amount of delays that we all have to go through each and every time we have to get onto a plane that is complicated more by the several gadgets and gizmos we lug around in our bags that may soon even need to have to be inspected electronically for contraband (pirated music and other copyrighted stuff), thank GOD that still has to go through deliberations or we may have to contend with a few more hours of delay as they not only scan through you, your luggage and other effects but check each and every gadget or gizmos for copyright violations

Iron Man – For Real

Nick — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:23:26 +0000

Research into suits of armor that can be worn by soldiers to provide protection form the rigors of war and other battlefield threats have been in development by the US Military for quite sometime. Ceramic armor that is better at dissipating the energy of bullets, made into armor plates that protects the vital organs as well as house the various computer systems that are needed to make the future warrior as wired as an Ethernet desktop connected to the military network sending real-time data to their commanders for up-to date information and tactical information.
The information captured by the soldier on the battlefield is combined with information from satellites, unmanned sensors, UAV’s flying overhead and information from other soldiers from other units, along with intelligence information that is collated and analyzed by the commanders for target acquisition and designation. Current developments has weapon’s systems that are capable of steering themselves to their target without the need for line of sight trajectories. Various sensors that can be laid out on the battlefield that can determine friend or foe sending information and even recognizing enemy vehicles and infantry sending all information back to the soldiers and commanders for swift response. The military of today has become more and more reliant on information which is power and power is the key to winning wars. Advanced sensors, smart munitions, smart reactive body armor and milestones in UAV research and development has allowed the development of smarter weapons systems that lessens the risks for our soldiers while lessening the impact on non-combatants on the future battlefield.

LAX Airport Scanners

Nick — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:20:43 +0000

The move to get the best scanners that will allow faster processing of people to shorten the delays that airport security checks are taxing on the ever shortening nerves of airline passengers. True the airline industry is in full swing and true the business is a time sensitive one but the area of security is one that the US does not want to gamble with in a post 9-11 world. The scanner which is undergoing trials at LAX is said to be “TOO REVEALING” by some passengers and bridges the gap that metal detectors cannot scan for and find, ceramic materials such as weapons and other items that can be considered a threat. While the scanner may be faster than traditional manuals hand scanning and it avoids physical contact, it may reveal more than just your hidden items. Surveys of the scanner are not looking good for it may provide images that are too detailed enough to invade personal privacy showing all the stuff you have hidden under your clothes. This move is being endorsed by Homeland security but it does not bode well with passengers who say they do understand the need for security yet this may be too far.
Security checks are already causing repetitive delays which come in many stages, form initial metal detectors, x-ray machines and other scanners that go through both passenger and baggage alike. The new scanner allows the scanning of people to become easier which would signal a more thorough manual search sparing many the inconvenient task of security searches that are now in place. The release of the British of another form of scanner that detects the energy emitted by all objects in the universe may better for it scans only for the variation of the expected human’s scanned image. The imaging technology works similar to CT scanning technology and can also raise radiation exposure safety issues on the future but for this wonderful scanner, it may be too early to tell if it would be replacing all the bothersome technologies Homeland security has come up with. All this for your travel safety and leisure?

Ray Gun’s for real

Nick — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:29:25 +0000

Ever been in battle, say in war and wanted a way to drive out all enemies from a specific cave? Or have you seen mobs causing all kinds of problems such as looting, vandalizing property and other such heinous acts? Well then all you need is a ray gun and all your foes go scurrying away. Yep, the fictional ray gun has come of age though it does not vaporize your enemy or bore holes in them rather they offer the latest technology in crowd control and combat security systems. They can come in two forms, Long Range Acoustic Device(LRAD) has been in use in Iraq as a way of getting people out of an area you want to secure, say a cave of house or the front of the gate to your base. Acoustic systems that are designed to emit deafening sound waves that even render ear plugs useless that is directional and non-lethal. The sound is so painful it sends you out of the area immediately with your ears ringing from the experience that reassures you avoid them in the future.
Still not afraid, focused energy weapons are the way to go which emit a form of radio waves that causes a painful reaction that tells you to get out of the way. The good thing, it doesn’t cause your brains to blow up or your arm to fall. The efforts have been under development as new and non-lethal technologies that would offer better solutions for crowd clearing and control. These systems have no lasting effects and are non-lethal meaning they hurt less than rubber bullets or teargas. You simply point and send them running, even chasing them if you want to. The active denial system is so powerful, experts are saying they can rival the effectivity of rifles and can be used to sweep for snipers if needed so.

R.O.V. – Programmable Soldiers

Nick — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 06:47:01 +0000

Got a war to fight? Want to fight the enemy and not get complaints about the lousy food or inadequate air and ground support? Then, send in the ROV’s with drones that could spread out, each with its own propulsion and surveillance equipment that can cover a larger area, sending information to the mother ROV, and then back to the command center for interpretation. You can even arm them with active systems to take out all threats that are designated by their human controllers automatically(choose from the arsenal of pistols, sub-machineguns, sniper rifles, grenade launchers, rocket launchers and all the stuff you could think of they’ve tested it).
The US military has a lot of autonomous vehicles that can be armed with handguns, rifles and even rocket launchers for doing jobs which could be too risky to send in people. These robots will be cheaper and they can operate indefinitely or as long as their batteries last which they can re-charge through solar panels as they switch to low activity modes, shifting to reconnaissance mode in long-period missions as they charge up. Once they get powered up to continue their mission, they get back up and go rolling away to complete the mission. Patrolling borders may be easier this way, with autonomous robots that do not get hungry or are designed not to bee too affected by the temperature extremes. Clearing mines in hostile waters is easier and faster without the risk to human life.The future of “Terminator” may not be too far fetched as it seems, for there is no boundaries to the technological wonders we are seeing now (not to count the ones that are for military use only, for the ones you might be seeing are already old-tech and they are sure to have better more improved versions way in the deep recesses of those converted missile silos deep underground which have been converted into top-secret development laboratories) and will be seeing in the near future.

New Camera Peers through clothes but not skin.

Nick — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:23:49 +0000

In a twist that brings the most unlikely technology more suitable for use in studying space and its structures, finds it’s way into the world of security. The system uses T-Ray Technology which is a passive receiver system which does not emit any form of harmful radiation. This is the best news ever for security systems for it erases questions of harmful radiation and privacy issues. The system is based on the fact that all atoms emit a form of very low-power energy. If one has encountered the pictures of so-called aura which all things emit, that would be it. It has long been known that everything in the universe emits a signature energy pattern which varies with the composition of a material. The nice thing about the technology is that it can be used from quite some distance eliminating the need for the person to stand still in a booth while being scanned.
Previous technology relied on x-rays and even ultrasound technology which are all known to expose people to harmful radiation. CT-Scanning technology has also been hailed as highly invasive due to the fact that as you peel away the layers, the skin and all of it’s features can be revealed after the software has processed the scan data. The system can show a person carrying a gun or other concealed weapon which would show up as a blip on a person’s normal aura (a person if scanned without any concealed devices/weapons is said to glow like a light bulb) which can have an officer request for further investigation and inspection.
The systems is also set for use by astronomers to look past clouds and dust which normally interferes with regular optical systems giving them the ability to see further and better from ground level. Such features that would be detected would be more of a distortion of the normal glow a person emits thus is supposed to be a deterrent rather than a total security measure for detection. Law enforcement can scan people at fixed points eliminating the bottlenecks created by individual scans instead have them pass through a narrow aisle as they are scanned without them even knowing about it. The image is an outline rather than a detailed feature loaded one x-ray and ct scans produce.