Airport Security vs. Cyborg Steve Mann 748
CompaniaHill writes: "The New York Times (free reg, etc.) has a story on University of Toronto engineering-professor-turned-cyborg Steve Mann's recent run-in with humorless airport security. Apparently his preplanning and documents were sufficient to get him through the Toronto airport security on his way to St. John's in Newfoundland, but not sufficient to get him through the St. John's airport security on his way home. Two days later, after strip-searches, forced removal of implants and x-raying and other ill-handling of delicate hardware, he returned home in a wheelchair. Mann's lawyer is attempting to recover the cost of the $56,800 in damaged hardware, while his doctors are studying his body's response to the removal of the implants, some of which he has had for over twenty years."
I always wondered what happened to that guy (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I always wondered what happened to that guy (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I always wondered what happened to that guy (Score:2)
Actually, I'd much prefer the full-body scan to the pat-down. Better security and less intrusive in that minimum-wage monkeys no longer have the opportunity to get their jollies by feeling you up.
Also consider that by typing "naked fuckk babes" into the AOL search bar, even an airline-security goon can get better pr0n than what the full-body-scanning gear provides. (Though I admit I may be overestimating the intellectual capacity of our minimum-wage goons here.)
Steve Mann, not "Dr." Warwick (Score:5, Informative)
It is Professor Steve Mann (http://eyetap.org/mann/), one of the first inventors of a *real* wearable, and a downright cool guy. I didn't know he had any implants- does anyone have any more information? I'd imagine his equipment would be a bit more advanced than the snake-oil Warwick's been showing around.
No Implants... (Score:5, Informative)
Despite the claims in the slashdot blurb, Mann does not have any implants. The NYTimes story mentions that electrodes were removed from his skin. These are the same as those sticky things they attach when someone gets an EKG or polygraph test, and are presumably used by Mann to measure physiological things like heart rate or skin conductance. Mann claims that when they were removed he bled -- kind of like ripping off a really sticky band-aid...
Re:Steve Mann, not "Dr." Warwick (Score:3, Insightful)
Reading the article Mann sounds to me like he was being a complete jerk. In the first place the prices he puts on his equipment sound rather inflated. Just because you spend $500,000 developing a prototype does not mean that the prototype is worth that amount.
Second, the ability to pass through airport security unmolested would appear to be a necessary boundary constraint his technology has to meet if it is going to be viable. The claim that his wearable computer is sensitive to X-ray sounds to be more of an ego thing than a reality thing.
I travel with quite a bit of expensive gear, but it all goes through the standard security.
Mann was having trouble in Canada, not exactly a country where cops have a reputation for habitually arrogant behavior.
Re:Steve Mann, not "Dr." Warwick (Score:3, Informative)
But then we're not talking professional police officers, are we? We're talking about the sort of people who, finding no better place in life, have chosen to become poorly-paid rent-a-cops. The sort of people who, just by virtue of the fact that they've chosen that job, shouldn't have that job.
These would be the same people who are man-handling the wheelchair-bound, insist on physically checking babies without first washing their hands, and who routinely confiscate nail clippers yet allow Bic pens onboard. Who confiscate nail clippers from the pilots, of all things!
These are people who are so stupid as to put a camera up to their face and press the button, to check whether it'll explode. Too stupid to live, too lucky to die!
Arrogant behaviour from an airport security guard? That's the only behaviour they know.
Finally, you'll note that he did pass through security unmolested: that's how he came to be on a returning flight.
Re:I always wondered what happened to that guy (Score:3, Funny)
"We are borg resistance is futile, you will be..."
Airport Security: "Allright buddy, we already went through this before, he didnt get through either, now lets get you to the back room, for a.. personal inspection, and we dont want any bitching if blood spurts out.
Re:The article is short. Registration is long. (Score:3, Funny)
...but not while the evil days come not.
Ira Howard, please phone home!
Welcome to Canada... (Score:3, Funny)
cyborg? bah! (Score:5, Funny)
darth vader would be ashamed!
Re:cyborg? bah! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh please. There are limits... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Oh please. There are limits... (Score:5, Funny)
Darth: [waving his hand] I'm not the Sith Lord you're looking for.
Guard 1: This isn't the Sith Lord we're looking for
Guard 2: Move along.... move along......
Steve Mann (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Steve Mann (Score:3, Interesting)
heres the little blorb about the film
Part man, part machine, Steve Mann is a self-professed cyborg. Mann suggests we can reclaim our space by turning technology outwards and builds wearable computers in an attempt to alter his perceptions of reality. Cyberman is a layered and engaging look at our over-mediated world and one man's resistance to it.
-Jon
Re:Steve Mann (Score:2)
Wages. (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously, though, next time, take another route home. Zeppelin or something.
--saint
ID papers for implants (Score:2, Interesting)
Anyway, if he's a cyborg, why not just strap on the optional jet pack and fly there yourself?
again airport security are idiots. (Score:5, Interesting)
me and my girlfriend had to wait for 2 minutes while they chemical tested all of luggage and carry ons, and shoes and purses for explosives. this was because her shoes (complete with metal shoe lace ends) set off the metal detector.
later in the trip tourists are posing with the reserve offices for pictures... i saw this many times. tourists have their arms inches away from machine guns carried by 5 foot tall women and all the airport cares about are my stinky shoes.
then the kicker is the woman on the airplane knitting with HUGE knitting needles.
this guys sensor that opens doors is going to do about as much damage as my stinky shoe. yes, when i fly i want to be safe, and that is why i defend the 'fly naked' campaign.
Re:again airport security are idiots. (Score:5, Interesting)
Conclusion: for the most part (except for the phish-head wannabe Richard Reid fiasco...), the European airports know what the fuck they are doing. They can kill a terrorist within seconds. The American airports are still run by a bunch of fucking amateurs.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:again airport security are idiots. (Score:4, Insightful)
Before 9/11 the US doctrine towards hijackings was to cooperate, get the plane on the ground, then negotiate. Needless to say, no one ever anticipated that particularly horrific use of airplanes (mainly most people felt that training a pilot for a one shot mission was silly).
Since then, airports and airplanes have been slowly attempting to adapt to this new "reality" and are trying to make it more difficult to get weapons on board to prevent a hijacking.
They are NOT trying to prevent a random/terrorist nut job who decides to walk into an airport and start shooting. (Just look at the Arrivals area of ANY airport and you see that there is little to no control of the entrance/exit.)
Rome and Istanbul *ARE* worried about terrorist/freedom fighters/seperatist groups that want to shoot a whole bunch of people. Because of this they have different doctrine.
Personally, I'd hate to see someone trying to use an M16 to stop a single individual. Automatic weapons are designed for filling a space with a lot of lead, not for target shooting. (Ask any Army person about "grazing fire".)
So, they're trying to adjust to the new threat and are slowly coming up with ideas that will work.
BTW - The possibility of another incident like 9/11 is almost nill. The whole operation depended completely on the element of surprise, the fact that the fourth plane failed once the passengers knew what has happening shows the difficulty of pulling off such an action.
Re:You mean magazine (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, that's not entirely true. You load some weapons this way (the SKS comes to mind, although there are plenty of others, including some removeable magazine-fed weapons, such as the M14), but the clip stayed in the M1. The M1 was loaded by putting all eight rounds into a clip and inserting the entire assembly into the receiver. The clip stayed in the receiver until the last round was fired, at which point it would eject upward and outward with a loud "sproing" noise. One could manually unload a partially spent clip, but simply firing all eight rounds and inserting a fresh clip was common from what I hear. The M1s I've handled have been nice to shoot, but loading left something to be desired. It's very easy to injure one's thumb/forefingers when loading an M1. I would also not wanted to carry one for any length of time. It's a heavy rifle.
A Google search lead me to a page with a picture [memorableplaces.com] of the parts in question.
BTW, I really liked your comment. If I hadn't used all my moderation points yeesterday (and hadn't been posting in this thread) I would have definitely modded up...
-B
Re:again airport security are idiots. (Score:3, Funny)
knitting an.... AFGHAN!
wow (Score:3, Insightful)
I hope all the facets of this incident are followed.
here's a good pic of steve (Score:2, Interesting)
Heh (Score:3, Funny)
Anyway, he's obviously a dangerous spy. Just look, in the first image, he's waring a t-shirt with a MAP OF CHINA what more evidence do you need!?
So... (Score:5, Funny)
In a related story, Britney Spears announced that she would never perform in Canada again.
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
Hot damn, I knew this thing would pay off someday! Airport security, here I come!
Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipment. (Score:5, Insightful)
That they destroyed his equipment and pulled off is electrodes was wrong, and they should be held accountable for this. No airport security agent should ever be unprofessional like that (which is why I support the federalization program currently in progress in the US). But the guy had to be inspected.
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:3, Insightful)
I understand them wanting to check him out, and maybe even a strip search is in order, but when they had documentation signed by his doctor stating everything he's said, and they were unwilling to accomodate his requests to speak in person to his doctor or colleagues, yet still will not make an exception... there is a problem. Furthermore, their disregard for sensitivity of his equipment is a travesty. He may very well be suffering serious problems now because some $10/hour monkey didn't know when to quit.
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:2, Insightful)
The question is, what could there be in a computer system that would be sensitive to X-rays...
Maybe flash memory is potentially vulnerable, but laptops contain that... can't think of much else...
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:3, Insightful)
Sheesh - I try to avoid things that might even remotely cause problems.
This seems like a reasonable request for expieremental 1-off equipment.
Cheers!
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:3, Interesting)
Based on this one comment I could claim Mann is a pretty lousy hardware designer.
What he did was the equivalent of soldering the keyboard to the motherboard. Couldn't he have at least forseen having to one-day disconnect and had instead used a micro molex connector or something?
Duh.
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah sure, he should have done that. Then they would have said "Whats that in your skin?"
RIP, out come the connectors. The point is, by reading the article, if they really don't have the authority to grant any exemptions then they sure as hell don't have the authority to strip search or harm anyone who hasn't put up any physical resistance. I mean, what reason could they have for detaining him without allowing him to speak with his doctor or colleuges?
Were they afraid he was going to goto the phone and blow someone up? Or shoot someone? If he was going todo that he would have blown up or shot the guards long before they strip searched him.
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:4, Insightful)
The only reason it's not a playground for fascist
butchers is that they're all acting like Doug and
Dave MacKenzie.
Now in the U.S., you'd get the twice the brutality,
but you would have the comfort of knowing that it
was illegal, although of course no court in the land
would give a flying wahoo about that.
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:4, Insightful)
With the possible exception of the X-ray issue, I point out that the bomb/drug-sniffing equipment is there for precisely that eventuality.
Let's give the drooling fucknozzle behind the counter the benefit of the doubt for a moment and think about what would have been reasonable.
At most, they should have stripped him to check where all the wires/electrodes went, and run the sniffer over each electrode to make sure nothing naughty was concealed beneath the electrode, nor anything else that didn't get X-Rayed.
Upon finding no explosives and no drugs, they should have let him put his clothes on and travel.
All of which is beside the point, which is that the goon should have started by reading the goddamn papers Prof. Mann was carrying, that authorized him to carry the gear on the flight.
(...and called his supervisor when he realized he couldn't understand the words with more than one syllable, and let the supervisor make the call.)
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:3, Insightful)
The airlines want cheap security. So, you get cheap workers. As long as the airlines are doing the work, and paying the wages, the pressure is to keep wages down. Low wages, poor workers, high turn-over (You know that turn-over was really high 100%+ for airline security staff last year don't you?)
See
[californiaaviation.org]
Pay is low, and turnover high-- 500% at one
airport-- and their training is often minimal. Federal inspectors have repeatedly been able to easily get weapons and potential bombs past them. (This is from a PBS study done before 9/11/2000)
The old security system was a race to the bottom. Airlines didn't really care about security. They just wanted us to feel better.
The new system might not be better, but for different reasons. Personally, I think it will be, but that's just my opinion.
The personnel they can command will be better, and the ability to fire workers that don't perform will be better. Generally, treat your workforce better - get better performance.
Re:Okay, they shouldn't have fucked up his equipme (Score:4, Funny)
It's a metal detector - not an x-ray machine.
Congratulations, you just qualified for a job as an airport security screener.
Re:I'd pay more for an unsecure flight. (Score:3, Insightful)
I would pay at least $10 more per ticket to fly on an airline that didn't have any airport "security" at all.
Me too. Hell, if there were no security - at least there'd be a few hunter-types packing guns on the flight. I'd trust a plane full of armed citizins over a $7 rent-a-cop any day.
Tidbit for you... (Score:3, Insightful)
Problem is, this was never the case to begin with and people have all been largely lucky up to this point. As it has always been, but people didn't realize it until the 11th was that the moment an agressor takes over a plane/ship/etc. and holds you hostage, your life is forfeit and you must win it back either by your actions or someone else must win it back for you. With this in mind, I do not believe that people will placidly sit still with agressors with knives or even handguns. They can nail a few but they're going to be beaten to a bloody pulp by the rest.
Martyr Not The Freak (Score:5, Insightful)
Dr. Mann is clearly trying to push some of these issues by going about like this daily. I suppose I'm a luddite in this regard, but I find the fact that he is _so_ reliant on his tech that he is unable to navigate as a human being (w/o all his electronica) a bit sad and tragic.
Re:Martyr Not The Freak (Score:3, Interesting)
The result?
Cellphones have no chance of actually causing RF interference in the operation of the plane.
BUT It's not likely that they'll change the rules any time soon. (The cell network couldn't handle it - they claim...? and there's lots of profit in AirPhone...)
Cheers!
Re:Martyr Not The Freak (Score:5, Informative)
>
> BUT It's not likely that they'll change the rules any time soon. (The cell network couldn't handle it - they claim...? and there's lots of profit in AirPhone...)
Actually, both statements are true.
At 5 miles high and 500 knots, you would be jumping from cell to cell, and/or talking to many towers at once. The phones only worked on 9/11 because the planes were low to the ground.
The AirPhone system involves phones hardwired to the back of the seat in front of you. There's no RF involved until the AirPhone system sends the signal via the plane's onboard antenna(s). This is worlds apart from having a bunch of individual cellphone transmitters trying to navigate cell tower within their transmission radius. Totally different system.
As a matter of personal opinion, I don't believe that non-transmitting personal electronics (cameras, CD players, laptops, as opposed to cellphones) leak enough RF to interfere with avionics. But my opinion doesn't matter here - their operation is still prohibited by FAA regs during takeoff and landing. (And devices designed to transmit RF are no-nos during all phases of the flight, IMHO wisely so.)
With that in mind, as much as I sympathize with Prof. Mann's abuse at the hands of morons, he should deactivate his cyborg-gear during takeoff/landing phases of the flight, and his wireless links for the entire duration of the flight. (Of course, he may very well have done so - on his way down, and as we all know by now, he never made it back.)
Removal of implants (Score:4, Funny)
What about other implants? (Score:4, Funny)
I'm sorry, you have to check the battery pack to your artifical heart.
I'm sorry your insulin infusion device must be checked.I'm sorry your breast implants must be removed before boarding.
Re:What about other implants? (Score:2, Informative)
Stevis
Re:What about other implants? (Score:3, Funny)
"Sorry Grandma, we're gonna hafta go lights out until ten thousand feet. I saw this in a movie once with Keifer Southerland once so it should work."
There were no implants (Score:2, Informative)
Stupid stupid stupid (Score:2)
I love the way the security guards seem to make a point out of stopping people who obviously ARE NOT threats. Remember the story about the Medal of Honor recipeient a few weeks ago? Why was he searched? How many other more credible threats stroll onto planes while the security guards are busy with Grampa and Grandma? Maybe the security guards "Atta" pay attention to who is walking by them, and not just pick every third person, eh?
Duh (Score:2, Funny)
The article (Score:4, Informative)
Steve Mann SEEKING COMPENSATION - Prof. Steve Mann, a walking experiment in wearable computers, went through a three-day ordeal trying to board an Air Canada plane bound for Toronto.
TEVE MANN, an engineering professor at the University of Toronto, has lived as a cyborg for more than 20 years, wearing a web of wires, computers and electronic sensors that are designed to augment his memory, enhance his vision and keep tabs on his vital signs. Although his wearable computer system sometimes elicited stares, he never encountered any problems going through the security gates at airports.
Last month that changed. Before boarding a Toronto-bound plane at St. John's International Airport in Newfoundland, Dr. Mann says, he went through a three-day ordeal in which he was ultimately strip- searched and injured by security personnel. During the incident, he said, $56,800 worth of his $500,000 equipment was lost or damaged beyond repair, including the eyeglasses that serve as his display screen.
His lawyer in Toronto, Gary Neinstein, sent letters two weeks ago to Air Canada (news/quote), the airport and the Canadian transportation authority arguing that they acted negligently and seeking reimbursement for the damaged equipment so that Dr. Mann could put his wearable computer back together again.
The difficulties that Dr. Mann faced seem related to the tightening of security in airports since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. But he had flown from Toronto to St. John's two days earlier without a hitch.
On that day, Feb. 16, he said, he followed the routine he has used on previous flights. He told the security guards in Toronto that he had already notified the airline about his equipment. He showed them documentation, some of it signed by his doctor, that described the wires and glasses, which he wears every waking minute as part of his internationally renowned research on wearable computers.
He also asked for permission not to put his computer through the X-ray machine because the device is more sensitive than a laptop. He said that the guards examined his equipment and allowed him to board the flight.
But when he tried to board his return flight on Feb. 18, his experience was entirely different. This time, he said, he was told to turn his computer on and off and put it on the X-ray machine. He took his case to Neil Campbell, Air Canada's customer service manager at the St. John's airport, and spent the next two days arranging conversations between his university colleagues and the airline.
The security guards continued to require that he turn his machine on and off and put it through the X-ray machine while also tugging on his wires and electrodes, he said. Still not satisfied, the guards took him to a private room for a strip-search in which, he said, the electrodes were torn from his skin, causing bleeding, and several pieces of equipment were strewn about the room.
Once his system was turned off, turned on again, X-rayed and dismantled, Dr. Mann passed the security check. When he was finally allowed to go home, some pieces of equipment were not returned to him, he said, and his glasses were put in the plane's baggage compartment although he warned that cold temperatures there could ruin them.
Without a fully functional system, he said, he found it difficult to navigate normally. He said he fell at least twice in the airport, once passing out after hitting his head on what he described as a pile of fire extinguishers in his way. He boarded the plane in a wheelchair.
"I felt dizzy and disoriented and went downhill from there," he said.
Air Canada said that there was no record that any of Dr. Mann's baggage had been lost and that the Canadian transportation agency, Transport Canada, had required that his belongings be X-rayed. "We don't tell the security firms that there is going to be an exception made," said Nicole Couture-Simard, a spokeswoman for Air Canada. "We don't have that authority."
Transport Canada declined to comment on the case except to say that it was reviewing it.
Considering that even tweezers may be confiscated when a passenger boards a flight these days, the stricter scrutiny that Dr. Mann faced may not seem surprising. But for him, the experience raises the question of how a traveler will fare once wearable computing devices are such fixtures on the body that a person will not be able to part with them.
"We have to make sure we don't go into a police state where travel becomes impossible for certain individuals," Dr. Mann said.
Since losing the use of his vision system and computer memory several weeks ago, he said, he cannot concentrate and is behaving differently. He is now undergoing tests to determine whether his brain has been affected by the sudden detachment from the technology.
Alejandro R. Jahad, director of the University of Toronto's Program in E-Health Innovation, who has worked closely with Dr. Mann, said that scientists now had an opportunity to see what happens when a cyborg is unplugged. "I find this a very fascinating case," he said
Mann's Enhancements... (Score:3, Interesting)
Augmented vision (camera & hud glasses)
Handheld chording keyboard
Any mic/headphone setup
Wireless/cellular hookup
Without his input/output devices, he would have lost access to his memory enhancement programs (smart conversation tags to lookup keywords, replay stored audio, etc.), vision enhancement programs (recording, environment reconstruction, text overlay), and probably all of his sending/receiving capability.
I pray that he backed up his rig before he flew. All the data he accumulated/uploaded while in Newfoundland is probably toast. (Why the hell was he in Newfoundland anyways? Was he speaking or just visiting?)
In one fell swoop they cut him off from his augmented memory and processing, and then threw his visual system for a loop, hence the need for a wheelchair. Oh, and of course, they trashed some very expensive, hard to replace, custom equipment. Not nice. I'd hate to think what might have happened if Mann had needed vital implants (heartrate regulator, insulin, etc.) that would have summarily been stripped along with the rest of his hardware.
Sounds more than a little exaggerated to me. (Score:5, Informative)
I'm a graduate student at the University of Toronto, and interact with Prof. Mann on an intermittent basis (did a project under him a few years back, meet him in the lab whenever I'm borrowing his soldering equipment).
He can see fine without his HUD. It's not a complete visual transformation overlay - it's a wearable computer display, functionally equivalent to most of the other wearable displays you can buy. He's been working on information-overlay projects for years, many of them successful, but to say that he has "vital" vision-enhancement programs running at all times is a drastic overstatement.
Likewise, "augmented memory" consists of him either teleconferencing with someone or doing a Google lookup. He's perfectly capable of finding his way through this university, or an airport, without augmentation.
Use common sense, people. If he was disoriented, I'd suspect it to be the result of a many-hour delay with inadequate food/water or of an overly-zealous search as opposed to loss of any electronics.
Re:Sounds more than a little exaggerated to me. (Score:4, Interesting)
One Simple question... (Score:5, Funny)
Does this guy EVER take a SHOWER?!?!?!
-Russ
Another reason to watch the contractors (Score:3, Insightful)
That poor bastard (Score:3, Insightful)
I know this is something that's not really going to sound right, but "rape" is the best word I can think of to describe this. Where the hell were this guys lawyers? How could the security dudes not realize what an incredib;e achievement Mann's gear is? I repeat: that poor bastard.
Man oh man (Score:2)
maybe overstating the case a little (Score:3, Interesting)
From reading the New York Times article, it doesn't sound like Mann had any "implants" "forcibly removed". It sounds like they tore electrodes off his body. In other words, they pulled tape off his skin, and it caused bleeding. Unpleasant, sure, but it's not like they strapped him down and used a drill to extract chips from his brain. More like they pulled off a Band-Aid too fast.
The reason that he ended up in a wheelchair was that since he no longer had his cyborg navigation gear, he supposedly got confused while walking around the airport and hit his head on a pile of fire extinguishers. I don't even know where to start with that one.
Now, clearly what happened sucks, because $56,000 of gear was lost or damaged. Clearly he should be repaid, and probably security was rude to him. But I don't think it's all that shocking, given that here's a guy, covered in wires and batteries, getting on a plane post 9/11.
In my opinion, the truly interesting part of this article is that once his technological aids were removed, this guy ceased to be able to complete basic tasks like walking. This has significant ramifications for wearable computing. Is it augmented reality? Or is it a crutch without which he can't function?
Big-o Deal-o. (Score:2)
The world post-9/11 is no different from the world pre-9/11, except perhaps for the fact that people are willing to accept any old damn thing in the name of security. After all, The World Is Dangerous, And We Might Die!!!
I guess the Terrorist trump card just got its value doubled. I find it laughable that this game has to be played at all.
Re:Big-o Deal-o. (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's think about this hypothetically. You're a security guard. Your job is to ensure that planes don't blow up. Six months ago thousands of people died because security failed, so there's pressure on you to be extremely careful.
So this guy shows up at your post and the metal detector goes off. The guy says he can explain, and pulls up his shirt to reveal wires all over his undershirt leading into a couple of boxes, also concealed underneath his clothing. He then helpfully informs you that he's a cyborg, and that he has a letter from his doctor.
Personally, if I was in this situation, I'd have two concerns. First, this guy's telling me he's a cyborg, which frankly gives me doubts about his mental stability. Second, he's got wires and batteries and all kinds of crap concealed under his clothing. Sure, he's telling me that it's a computer, but it looks like a bomb to me. The boxes are screwed shut, so I can't see what's inside them, and he won't let me run it through the X-ray. These are also custom boxes that look like no computer I've ever seen.
Now, how're you going to determine the truth of the matter? I seriously doubt a security guard is keeping up on the state of wearable computing, so you're not going to recognize Steve Mann. Mann's got a note from his doctor and other documentation about this equipment, but you have no reason to think that these documents are credible. Maybe you call your boss to see if he knows anything about this, and more likely than not your boss hasn't been informed, because the message has been lost in the corporate fog. Or maybe he has been informed, but he's in the bathroom and you can't get him on the phone.
So you're standing there at the checkpoint, with a man in front of you whom you have many reasons to believe might be wearing a bomb, and you have only his word that it's a computer.
I don't think anyone in this situation would just let him hop on the plane. Maybe you disagree, and that's fine. But in that case I sure hope you aren't working in airport security.
Re:Big-o Deal-o. (Score:4, Insightful)
You're right, but only half right. I wouldn't
expect him to be able to just walk through security, for exactly the reasons you describe.
The $10 an hour guy can't make that decision.
The problem his the report clearly states he
spent two days escalating to many
non-$10 an hour people who at some point should
have been able to verify his story, and figure out
a way to get him on the plane.
Let's also be real here, what terrorist is
going to spend two days escalting up the food
chain to hijack a plane.
The thing that concerns me the most here is
the lack of consistency. Anyone who travels has
seen this for years, both pre and post 9/11.
He had no major issues in one airport, and major
problems in another. If we're going to have
security, there should at least be an expectation
that if you were able to fly somewhere you can
return in the same state, and that's far from
the case.
Treat it as a medical situation (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't allow him to board the plane yet, get him to stay for some days until management can confirm his documentation (call the universities, for example), then personally oversee his boarding the plane a couple of days later, after a reasonable, non-intrusive search.
Don't they have to do something like this when someone with special needs of medical attention/equipment needs to travel anyway?
If the guy happens to be famous enough to appear on the media, you might want to pay for the hotel and new airplane ticket just like when the airlines resell your ticket. But that's strictly a PR move.
Most likely, he takes charge of the extra expense on his trip, security takes charge of the extra expense of making a couple of phone calls and personally overseeing him for 20 minutes when he finally boards the plane.
No strip search, no destroyed equipment, little wasted time for other passengers and most likely no lawsuits.
Re:maybe overstating the case a little (Score:5, Funny)
I do - if you've followed his research, you'd know that his glasses continually project data streams onto his eyes.
(example - he walks up to a price display at a store twiddles with his fingers, and sees, projected into his vision, the price of the same object at the competing store.)
If he's worn such glasses for a long period of time, and if he's doing some other sorts of tricks with prisms and mirrors to allow the merging of eyeball-data with bitstream-data before it hits his retina, the loss of the glasses could very well hamper his ability to navigate on foot.
(I'm reminded of an old experiment in depth perception where they gave subjects glasses with prisms that shifted their "vision" 30 degrees to the right. The first day, everyone was bumping into the left-hand side of every door they tried to walk through, as you might expect. After a few weeks, their brains "retrained" themselves to see the world with the glasses on, and everything was fine. Then they took the glasses off and everyone was bumping into the right-hand side of things until their brains "unlearned" the glasses.)
> In my opinion, the truly interesting part of this article is that once his technological aids were removed, this guy ceased to be able to complete basic tasks like walking. This has significant ramifications for wearable computing. Is it augmented reality? Or is it a crutch without which he can't function?
"Yes and yes."
And that's precisely the kind of stuff he's researching.
(Once my snowshoes were removed, I ceased to be able to walk in 4-foot-deep snow. Are my snowshoes a mobility-augmentor or a crutch?)
Try this link (Score:2)
Re:Try this link (Score:2)
Nevermind. They closed the loophole.
Damn slash code wouldn't let me post this without changing something, so how's this for a change: Slashdot is starting to really suck.
WTF? (Score:2)
Why didn't he just take a boat back or something? Did they not allow him to simply leave?
This is interesting... (Score:3, Informative)
Since losing the use of his vision system and computer memory several weeks ago, he said, he cannot concentrate and is behaving differently.
"they" have seem similar occurrences in individuals that often use PDA to jot down things in that some individuals tend become dependant on the technology. I am sure this case is making for an interesting study, but I am more curious on learning more about some of the devices he has wired himself into and how he uses them. So far this is probably the best link [cbc.ca] I have found detailing the technologies he is using.
Living as a cyborg (Score:2)
Jeez, I wonder what his wife thinks of all this?
Oh, wait...
Re:Living as a cyborg (Score:3, Insightful)
Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org) [sethf.com]
He's got a webserver! (Score:2)
"I've got a web server on my body. The I.P. address of my body is 128.100.10.122."
And the link [slashdot.org], it seems as though my traceroute dies somewhere in Newfoundland.
It's Not About Security (Score:4, Interesting)
It's both control of the passengers (You *will* drop your trousers and paint your arse green!) and control of the drelbs who run the security checkpoints (follow *every* rule *exactly* or you're fired!) Security- related professions are magnets for rule-bound control freaks.
Most of the stuff is ridiculous. "Turn the laptop on and off". Tweezers. Fingernail clippers. Very little about security and a whole lot about "I'm in charge and you're not!"
Control freaks at play.
Not his first run-in there! (Score:5, Informative)
His detailed description with photos is at Air Canada Irresponsibility [engwear.org].
What if Mann were disabled? (Score:4, Insightful)
What if a person required such tools in order to move, breathe, or even think? Would this not be the equivalent to destroying an experimental respirator which has already been O.K.'ed by a doctor?
Don't get me wrong, NOT searching would leave the possibility for a person claiming to be sick to be used as a bomb - but to RIP electrodes from a person's skin is reactionary, cruel, if not downright monsterous.
They could have just denied him access to the plane instead.
Ryan Fenton
Mann is a jackass (Score:5, Insightful)
However a few times they showed him going into retailers like walmart and gap with a consumer video camera (just to start shit). When an employee asks him to not bring the video camera in, he starts being a little smart ass about it. like "Well don't you have video cameras in here, why can you video tape me and I can't video tape you", "What if I told you that my glasses we're a video camera, would that be ok?". generally not agreeing with the store and making a jackass out of himself.
I also saw him take off his glasses constantly, he would slip them off to do something, then put them back to walk around (then look around like a space cadet ), but it did not seem that he was in any way disoriented without his gear. So I don't buy that all of a sudden once his stuff was busted up by the security guards (which we're just trying to do there freakin job) that he started bumping into things, or at least not more then normally.
I think what happened at the airport is that for "I'm cyberman" reasons he opted to keep his gear on, got shit from the security guards, proceeded to be a complete smartass while thinking, "if they fuck with me, I have it all on film", but when they broke his gear and is alibi that's when he really god pissed. I'm sure he was already expecting shit, but maybe hoping he could have covert footage of it to show the 8 o-clock news as well.
-Jon
Re:Mann is a jackass (Score:3, Funny)
So, is there something in the Canadian constitution against that?
Article XVII, subsection C, Clause 256 -
Any person deemed to be a jackass, as defined by Slashdot shall be subjected to physical harm and have any mobile computing devices damaged by persons of low intelligence, authority and wages.
Cyberman (Score:3, Informative)
I'm in Engineering at the University of Toronto... (Score:4, Informative)
Hence I see Steve Mann, usually on a weekly basis.
All you Slashdot'ers will be relieved to know that he is still using his wearable computer, his display glasses still work, etc.
I personally have doubts about this article for three reasons:
A) The issue has shown up in a NY times article, yet I haven't heard about it from any of my campus news sources OR the Toronto Star (www.thestar.ca)
B) I've never seen Professor Mann wearing electrodes as mentioned in the article, and can see no reason as to why he would (his system is not biometric, to my knowledge he uses a sort of keypad as well as visual feedback of his eyes to interface with it)
C) Even though Professor Mann wears his device most of the time, my computers professor (who I believe knows him personally) has seen Professor Mann remove his device without disability.
I've emailed my computers professor to see if he knows any more about this story, I'll reply if I find out any more.
--
Eamon McDermott
ENGSCI 0T5
ERTW$$
I'm not impressed (Score:5, Insightful)
No rational security guard or "manager" doing their jobs would have the knowledge or authority to make the kind of exceptions to security procedures that this guy expected.
I am highly concerned he was let through Pearson security so easily. Ripped from his skin? Disoriented and couldn't walk straight? Half a million dollars of equipment? Whatever. Cyborg? If it is that bad, he should not have been flying, not without a Transport Canada ruling, like are needed for other highly exceptional circumstances.
Give me a break. The "article" as well as the Slashdot lead in all sound *HIGHLY* one sided.
I give this side of the story a credibility rating of 2 out of 10, and the possibility that Professor Steve Mann is a pompous jackass a 7 out of 10. That the people in St. Johns did their job as we've requested them to do? 8 out of 10, losing points for putting his video glasses in with the baggage and not keeping track of his possessions.
Re:Forced removal of implants? (Score:3, Insightful)
But don't worry-- they only use their powers against terrorists and bad guys, right?
Re:Forced removal of implants? (Score:4, Insightful)
Man, that's not just bitter, that's just savage. I'm really disturbed just reading that. I feel that there is a lawsuit here based not only on equipment damage, but also on humiliation and emotional abuse. I mean, how can they possibly have the right to do that? I understand that you give up some civil liberties when there is suspicion at an airport, but those guards cannot cause you harm for no reason, I cannot believe they'd have that authority.
Re:Is this the whole story? (Score:3, Insightful)
You're not going to hear from the guys who actually did this, unless it's as a dark silhouette with a disguised voice on Dateline in a few months. I'm not waiting until then to make my decision on which side is right.
Re:Forced removal of implants? (Score:3, Insightful)
If they suspected he had a bomb, it seems to me that there should have been a process that they followed, not just snapping things off at random! " Gee, what's this?" "Oh, just the power to my...pacemaker! "
But then again, did anyone see the problems the WWII veteran with a *CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR* went through? Pretty much similar -- and this is a medal for which there are 40 living recipients.
Re:Forced removal of implants? (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020202-3287461
Seems that the airport security weren't even aware of what the CMH was.
Well at least the INS managed to get Mohammed Atta his student visa.
From a personal point of view, however, I've not particularly noticed any inconvenience from heightened airport security, and I live in NYC.
Frankly, I think this airport security frenzy is a great illustration of closing the barn door after the horse has run off.
Re:Forced removal of implants? (Score:2)
Hope it's the security yelling "ouch" RSN (Score:2)
Of course, this isn't much compared to the abuse some other people take. Innocent people regularly get sodomized by security who "know" they are drug mules, and verbally abused and humilitated despite being clean. (I call it sodomy, because what else would you call it when someone shoves their fingers up your bodily orifices against your will?)
That said, I wonder if Canada's legal system is as hot on violations of rights as the USA's once was. Somehow I think it's not, and the deterrent effect of lawsuits isn't likely to change the practice.
Re:NYT login (slightly OT) (Score:2)
Nevermind. They closed the loophole.
Re:This was Air Canada (Score:3, Informative)
Re:This was Air Canada (Score:2)
I mean, these guys are from a godforsaken desert full of rocks, but come on. There's no way they'd even bother with St. John's.
I think Canada's got another think coming if it thinks it's under any threat from anyone.
Re:Keep this in mind (Score:2)
If you depend on glasses to see, and the airport confiscates them because they're metal, you wouldn't find it so funny if you tripped over something and hit your head.
Re:This guy is creepy (Score:2)
He did play by the rules.
The rules are: Unless they have a damn good reason to do otherwise, the authorities are to leave you alone.
Schwab
Re:This guy is creepy (Score:3, Insightful)
No. Not even then.
If you're interested in gaining control of an airliner, the last thing you want to do is attract the attention of security personnel. As such, you have to look normal. Since Prof. Mann looked anything but normal, there's a fairly low probability that he's a hazard to air travel safety (although one could legitimately question the RFI radiated by his equipment if it couldn't safely take an X-ray). A quick check of his ID -- hell, even a quick Web search on his name -- would have quickly confirmed that the man was absolutely no trouble at all.
Prof. Mann was detained not for being a potential threat, but because he questioned The Rules.
Believe me, the guy you want to keep off the plane doesn't look or act like Mann. The Bad Guys will be appear very normal. That's why Congressmen are being detained and strip-searched in airports, because they're acting normal; very suspicious these days.
Schwab
Re:Face rec! Face rec! (Score:3, Interesting)
>
> Face rec, face rec!
Yeah, that's Steve.
As long as we're on the subject - it's one of the supreme ironies that Steve's tech, hooked into a large database and facial recognition system, could have improved security. (I have a hunch Steve would be loath to sell his ideas to these bastards now.)
No auto-scanning face-recognition cameras - just a guy wearing cool shades who looks at you, and your name pops up in front of his face.
When your face comes up clean, you get a "Welcome to America."
When Charles Manson tries it, the screener gets "Armed and dangerous. SWAT team notified. Ask him about the weather and stall him for another 30 seconds." Chucky doesn't know what hits him.
When Joe Sixpack tries it, the screener gets "10 outstanding warrants. Hand over to secondary inspectors immediately."
When an 80-year-old general tries it, the screener gets "Hey, asshole, don't you recognize a Medal of Honor when you see one? Let him through!" flashed onto his screen.
(Of course, when Mohammed Atta tries it, the screener gets "INS says he's a student at flight school who hasn't collected his visa notification yet, so let him on!", but that's not the fault of the wearable computer and augumented memory system, it's the fault of INS - the only organization capable of making airline security drones look like geniuses.)
Re:Details on the medical telemetry (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting. I'd forgotten about his fooling around at shopping malls.
If he was being confrontational, he may have deserved some (but not all) of the treatment he got. If his gear was functioning at the time the shit went down, we should all be able to view the video streams (well, once his site recovers from the /.ing) and make up our own minds.
On the flip side, isn't it against the law these days to take video of airport security checkpoints? (In which case, he should have shut down the recording portions of his gear, because failure to stop recording would lead to a Catch-22 situation where he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.)
Re:Forced Removal of Implants? (Score:3, Informative)
Of course, one could conceivably acquire those parts, pack them with explosives, and board the plane pretending to have an artificial heart.
Re:Another Cyborg Professor... (Score:3, Insightful)
In other words, Kevin Warwick is a pseudoscience publicity hack.
--
Evan