[Re: [rays and media]]

[Matt Graham]

Ben Pfaff <pfaffben@msu.edu> wrote:
> > Quoted from Ben Pfaff on Tue, Jul 31, 2001 at 03:44:40PM -0400:
> > > Matt Graham <danceswithcrows@usa.net> writes:
> > > 
>>>> Yes.  Actually, if you put a laptop through the X-ray machine, 
>>>>don't be surprised if they expect you to turn it on.  Laptops are 
>>>>pretty densely packed, they show up as thick black blocks potentially 
>>>>containing @FUNSTUFF on X-ray machines.
>>> 
>>> If I were a terrorist then I'd design a bomb to fit in the
>>> multibay of my laptop.
> 
> Here, have some more, Ed:
[snip]

Of course, there's not that much space in a multi-bay.  The real
terrorists are working on strange mishmashes of parts, like a screen and
keyboard from a modern laptop hooked to a QNX build on a CompactFlash card
and a hacked-together video adapter.  Jam the whole thing into a laptop
shell from ~1996 (big and bulky, plenty of extra space to fill with
explosives, and don't forget the wall-wart could be filled with stuff
too...)  Said QNX build could simulate booting Win9x enough to fool a
security guard.  With a setup like this, you could fit much more boom into
a similar space, with the same likelihood of detection.

Of course, kids, don't try this at home.  If *I* were a terrorist, I'd do
something like release loads of Anthrax at a U of M football game.  It'd
hit many more people, thus sending a more powerful message, and it'd
probably be less risky, and it's easier to find the raw materials than it
is to find plutonium, and... hang on, there's someone knocking really
loudly on my d@#(!xDxD_{
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