Travel Advice

[Lawreston]

If you are sitting next to someone who irritates you on a plane or train...

1. Quietly and calmly open up your laptop case.
2. Remove your laptop.
3. Turn it on.
4. Make sure the guy who won't leave you alone can see the screen.
5. Open this email.
6. Close your eyes and tilt your head up to the sky.
7. Then hit this link:

http://www.thecleverest.com/countdown.swf

HR

 

[tonycondon]

well you wouldnt be sitting next to the annoying person anymore.

might get a friendly chat w/your local TSA though.

funny though!

 

[mikea]

Penn Gillette suggested such a thing 20 years ago, only it was a batch file you put on your buddy's PC to run when the (then civilian) gate security person asks you to turn the laptop on.

Come to think of it that was one of the first of the long line of security theater stupidities. Is the idea that a laptop that can boot can't explode?

 

[gkainz]

In my early days of consulting I used to lug a Compaq portable thru airline security ... remember those? About the size of a sewing machine and weighed a ton... also, no battery! Had to plug it in to start the boot ... what a royal pain in the butt that was to travel with...

 

[cwyckham]

Friends of mine used to be on the Queen's University Solar Car team. Their car's computer died during a race in Japan. They sent the car to Australia for the next race and brought the computer home on the plane as carry-on to fix it. Trick was, the computer was built from scratch. It didn't exactly run Windows.

They went through Atlanta during the Olympics and security freaked right out.

"What's that?"
"A computer."
"Doesn't look like a computer."
"It's a homemade computer for out homemade solar car."
"Turn it on."
"We can't, it's not that kind of computer."

They were there for a long time, but managed to get it on a plane, eventually. These days, I don't think they'd ever have gotten on a plane.

Chris