8 ms·
Terminal Cornucopia
- tn13 13y agoI have always wondered about this. Given the kind of stuff available in these stores I think it is nearly impossible to scan all those items for security.
- christiangenco 13y agoBrilliant! Could someone make a short montage of all the weapons firing/being detonated? Slow internet and a lack of weapon descriptions make for quite the frustrating evening.
- PaulHoule 13y agoit would be nice to have some text and photos rather than videos you can only watch if you're in Kansas City or outside the US
- signed0 13y agoThe BLUNDERBUSSness Class is by far the best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsem22DkIjw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsem22DkIjw TL;DR: AXE body spray is super combustable!
- wlian 13y agoUmm. I'm not the only one wondering where the elemental Lithium came from? Right?
- jlgreco 13y agoI believe some disposable batteries have elemental lithium foil in them (opposed to rechargeable lithium-ion batteries).
- ktsmith 13y agoHow do you take the batteries apart without crushing the foil, shorting them, and causing a fire?
- jlgreco 13y agoCarefully. ;) People cooking up shitty meth apparently do it (http://health.utah.gov/meth/html/ToxicologyofMeth/Lithium.html http://health.utah.gov/meth/html/ToxicologyofMeth/Lithium.ht...) but I don't know how they do it. They might be using tools that wouldn't be available in an airport, but I'm not so sure of that.
- icelancer 13y agoYou can do it with a razor blade and a lot of patience, or as the author shows, using a small pipe cutter that you could easily get into the airport with a carry-on.
- unfasten 13y agoHe shows this in the Fragguccino video (http://www.youtube.com/embed/TZ5a4ycwsig http://www.youtube.com/embed/TZ5a4ycwsig): by using a small pipe cutter (on a lithium AA battery). He notes that it can be done without the pipe cutter but would take more time.
- ktsmith 13y agoThanks - didn't catch that's what he was doing with the pipe cutter.
- opnitro 13y agoThis kid sitting next to me in class did it....
- brianpgordon 13y agoI love how he takes great pains to emphasize that it's "reloadable" and "break action" but when he fires it it just explodes.
- treefort 13y agoit's actually sitting right here beside my desk. completely functional. ;)
- tehwebguy 13y agoWow, it definitely looked like the person holding it would have been maimed.
- treefort 13y agoYeah... it'd be slightly less than ideal.
- shabble 13y agoHave you considered fashioning some stylish yet concealed body-armour under your outer clothing, possibly using bits of left-over belt and magazines? Not quite Ned Kelly, but might help a little.
- frzn 13y agoStrap magazines on your body and fasten with belts, like in The Wire when Omar when to jail or did you have something fancier in mind?
- vanderZwan 13y agoSo I was wondering, did you ever watch the two Russian "Brat" movies? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk3Gey9SCWQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk3Gey9SCWQ
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- FreeFull 13y agoThe propellants are butane, isobutane and propane. The same sort of gases you'd use as fuel for a portable gas stove.
- aaronsnoswell 13y agoI've often thought how interesting it would be to see a TV series about something like this.
- csmatt 13y agoIs delivery to the stores and restaurants after the TSA related and our enforced?
- revelation 13y agoIf there are LiIon batteries available, why bother will all this stuff? Just short them out and throw them somewhere strategic. Takes all of a minute.
- CamperBob2 13y agoHave you tried this?
- baddox 13y agoThey generally just catch on fire and smoke a lot.
- icelancer 13y agoThey have protection against explosion. This doesn't work besides getting them hot and catching on fire, maybe.
- chimeracoder 13y ago> All of these findings have been reported to the Department of Homeland Security (TSA) to help them better detect these types of threats. The threats that the TSA itself admits are non-existent? (http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/tsa-admits-in-leaked-doc-no-evidence-of-terrorist-plots-against-aviation-in-us/ http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/tsa-admits-...) The best I can see coming of this is that the TSA will start to ban braided leather belts and condoms.
- ktsmith 13y agoThe real villain here is the dental floss.
- jlgreco 13y agoThe more ludicrous the TSA gets with its bans, the better. In the long run doing that will only make them look like clowns and make the general public resent them more.
- michaelt 13y agoI've been waiting for backlash against absurd restrictions to close the TSA since 2001. Don't hold your breath.
- ics 13y ago> Don't hold your breath. Bad news ever since the TSA confiscated my toothpaste.[0] [0] Yeah, it was actually a thing.
- Amadou 13y agoAt least they didn't make you drink your own breast milk. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-08-08-breast-milk_x.htm http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-08-08-breast...
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- joshdance 13y agoI don't know how effective any of these techniques would be to a terrorist, however cool and ingeniously constructed the weapons were. The whole security TSA thing is mostly a show anyways.
- malandrew 13y agoTaking over a plane with box cutters was mostly show as well. It only worked in 2001 because people went along with terrorist theater. If any would be terrorists tried the same tactic from 2001 today they would be mauled in the cockpit. Prior to 2001, passengers assumed they would be hostages and would come out unharmed if they cooperate. Now they assume they are potential collateral damage. That's a huge difference. The only thing they actually need to prevent getting past screening is explosives. Every other method I can think of would not work fast enough before the passengers take you out. The only way to overpower an entire plane full of passengers is in numbers and spread throughout the plane. Social Network Analysis can be guess if more than N passengers not sitting together (i.e. not family or friends) are likely acquaintances warranting greater scrutiny.
- dsjoerg 13y agoI would hope the passengers on a plane would be so brave, but there is a real collective action problem there for the passengers. Best case scenario, there are enough brave people on board willing to selflessly risk death to -- hopefully -- save lives. Would I? Would you? You don't know what you're made of until the moment comes, and I hope neither you nor I are ever tested in this way. Remember, individually it's "rational" (in the game-theoretic sense) to let the other brave folks take the risk, while you sit there nervously and think about the kids/parents/pets who couldn't bear to be without you. And let someone else be the hero. Worse case scenario, nobody is brave, and everyone dies as a result.
- hobs 13y agoConsidering it has happened several times since 9/11 and people HAVE taken action, I think you are wrong at this point. http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/29/world/asia/china-plane-hijack-foiled/ http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/29/world/asia/china-plane-hijack-... http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=man-attempts-to-hijack-thy-plane-in-istanbul-reports-say-2011-01-05 http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=m... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-149289/Italian-plane-hijack-foiled.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-149289/Italian-plane... etc etc etc
- moron4hire 13y agoI think the key takeaway here is that there are two types of people: those who grew up and eventually became TSA agents, and those who were curious about the world when they were kids and learned all of this stuff.
- joshguthrie 13y agoI cross my fingers hoping the BLUNDERBUSSness shotgun will be available in L4D3 or Dead Rising 3.
- WalterSear 13y agoTeleglitch http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/teleglitch/ http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/teleglitch/
- cowmix 13y agoI find it ironic that I'm reading this link from a Las Vegas airport gate waiting for my plane... using their wifi.
- gonzo 13y agoYou can say, "thank you". :-)
- zacinbusiness 13y agoI think it comes down to what people are willing to put up with. Personally, I don't mind any of the TSA stuff a single bit. I've stood in line for hours, missed a flight, and gotten home at 1am due to TSA and other security stuff, but I don't mind because it at the very least acts as a deterrent. However, I think that most of these things could be solved with a second screening. None of these options would pass a secondary x-ray, for instance. Or, a better option would be to have all items purchased in duty free to be shipped as luggage, and retrieved in the destination airport. Those would both be a huge pain in the ass, however, and I doubt anyone would put up with it.
- Amadou 13y agoI don't mind because it at the very least acts as a deterrent. What evidence do you have for that belief? Here's my evidence to the contrary -- if the TSA really were deterring terrorist attacks, the result would be a shift to other targets. It isn't like a terrorist is going to just give up, go home and forget about causing terror. They are going to pick another easier target. So where are all the other attacks? Since 9/11 the number of civilian attacks has been less than the fingers on one hand, and the only one that wasn't just a bunch of mental midgets too incompetent to even ignite a bomb were the Boston Bombers. No, there is no deterrent here because there is nobody to deter. If there were actual, serious terrorists looking at getting onto planes, the TSA wouldn't make a bit of difference. We've got TSA agents using their privileged access to smuggle drugs - it wouldn't take much to swap a couple of keys of cocaine with a couple of bricks of C4 and those dummies would end up helping the terrorists. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/26/news/la-trb-tsa-drugs-20120426 http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/26/news/la-trb-tsa-drug...
- riffraff 13y agoI like your reasoning, but couldn't you also say: in the ten years before 9/11 the number of civilian attacks on US airplanes has been less than the fingers on one hand. After TSA 100% of these happened on non-flight targets. Mind you, I still think the TSA is dumb.
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- guiomie 13y agoLol ... Planned Parenthood.. Why go thru all this trouble, and not just use the black rod to stab someone ? would be way more effective no ?
- treefort 13y agoThat all depends. Is the attacker trying to hurt someone within arm's reach, or are they trying to disable the pilot/co-pilot as they are walking back into the cockpit after a trip to the lavatory from the comfort of their first-class seat? Everybody poops.
- Aloha 13y agoSeeing this 'n’s' totally takes away from what the website is trying to say.
- D9u 13y agoThe real travesty here is that "General Aviation" flights (private aircraft) face no such TSA screening as we see in "Commercial Aviation" flight terminals. So anyone who has the money to charter a private jet is also able to carry whatever they want onto an aircraft, which illustrates the double standard inherent in most tyrannical systems.
- daniel-cussen 13y agoOnto any aircraft?
- D9u 13y agoMy experience is that many Private Aircraft terminals, such as private jets, private helicopters, etc, don't screen passengers, or their luggage, the way the public is searched in "Commercial Aircraft" pre-flight screening. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/private-plane-public-menace/308335/ http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/private-... http://www.generalaviationnews.com/2011/01/is-ga-a-menace/ http://www.generalaviationnews.com/2011/01/is-ga-a-menace/ The above links discuss the matter further.
- XorNot 13y ago"Private" is kind of a key word there.
- hkmurakami 13y agoThis is correct. An exec at a large firm mentioned (who was speaking at a recruiting event) this lack of screening proudly as a "great perk" of flying on the corporate jet between their offices.
- daniel-cussen 13y agoBut do they board from the same place? I don't see a whole lot of private planes attached to commercial aircraft terminals.
- mgkimsal 13y ago
- daniel-cussen 13y agoOK, how about airports stop selling aerosol cans and lithium batteries after the security check-in? They seem like the worst offenders here.
- vezzy-fnord 13y agoThis is simultaneously an excellent hack, culture jam and an expose of the security theater that is the TSA. There was also the people who were successfully able to get through with decoy explosives without a hitch, but this is much more whimsical.
- codezero 13y agoWhile this is all interesting, none of these videos show any actual lethal potential. I'm not saying that there is any, but there is no target and no way to show whether these tools inflict any meaningful damage.
- pritambaral 13y agoYou probably did not see the videos fully. Chucks of Liberty and 'Murica can crack open a human body pretty smoothly. Most lethal, in my opinion. And even if Fraggucino and Blunderbussiness only hurt or maim someone, they are enough to strike fear among a crowd of people. Do not underestimate the implications of that.
- baddox 13y agoThe melee weapons are a bit silly though. Everyone knows that people can be extremely dangerous with melee weapons, or even just their bare hands.
- icelancer 13y agoThey are demos. Did you ever think what would happen if you made a canister bomb with 12x the ingredients?
- jack-r-abbit 13y agoHe makes a point to say all those things can be purchased after the security check point... but wouldn't most of that stuff make it through security anyway?
- hughlomas 13y agoNone of these weapons would be of much use for anything besides maiming one or two people, which could be accomplished with much simpler things. They are novel creations though.
- ajasmin 13y agoWhen I read 'Terminal' on Hacker News I don't think of the airport kind...
- pyre 13y agoI also initially thought of a TTY, but there are too many definitions of the word that could still fit with this site.
- Houshalter 13y agoI find this really interesting, but I feel like publishing it is a bad idea. The TSA could just use this as an excuse for more absurd policies, or worse someone could actually try some of these things, which they wouldn't have figured out on their own. Only a very small risk, maybe, but for what benefit?
- dkbk 13y agoWhile I found the content interesting, the videos do a very poor job of presenting information efficiently and concisely. Time is wasted in the introduction, the listing of materials takes far too long when bullet points would suffice, diagrams are only shown for a few seconds apiece, and the music is downright irritating. A bullet point list of materials, a paragraph of description, a few diagrams and an embedded video demonstration would be far more effective. A slideshow would also work well. I apologise if this seems nitpicky, but as interesting as I found what you've done, I only watched half your videos because I found it so painful to sit through them. I doubt I am alone in this.
- x0054 13y agoThe music is really creepy and I am annoyed that there is no narration, considering the length of the videos. It's constructive criticism though, I like the actual info.
- lhnz 13y agoThat's nothing: break open many brands of low-quality leather shoe and you'll find a 3-5 inch sharp metal blade [1]. I know this because my shoe fell apart a couple of months ago and one came out: I'd been through multiple airports with this on my feet and I think it's highly likely that a majority of people are incidentally carrying sharp metal blades because of this. [1] http://distilleryimage4.ak.instagram.com/a31902082b7911e3b58922000a1fb885_8.jpg http://distilleryimage4.ak.instagram.com/a31902082b7911e3b58...
- x0054 13y agoIn court in San Diego women are not permitted to where stiletto heels to court. This is due to an incident when one lawyer took her shoe off, ripped off the heal, revealing a sharpened metal spike, and proceeded to attack the opposing console with it. This was not premeditated, apparently many high heal shoes have metal spike in the heal for support. The spikes are sharpened to make it easier to insert the heal on during manufacturing. This happened in South Bay court, if memory serves.
- Houshalter 13y agoPutting a sharp spike under your foot just seems like a terrible idea.
- ck2 13y agoBut why even try to get on a plane or through "security" to plague people with mass terrorism? Huge crowds are already caused by homeland security theater. Are they still taking water bottles from people and throwing these "dangerous materials" right into the trash next to everyone?
- x0054 13y agoForget about AA batteries, think about all the laptop batteries. All you need is 4-5 laptop batteries, and you can have a serious bomb going. And how easy would it be to carry that into the airport? Take 2 laptops with you, 2 backups, a cell phone, 3 backup batteries. No one will even blink an eye.
- darklajid 13y agoYou're late: http://xkcd.com/651/ http://xkcd.com/651/
- ithkuil 13y agoIn fact, airports in places such a Turkey have two security checks, one at the very entrance of the airport buliding, and the second just at the gate. However it looks like they are relaxing that: http://www.ataturkairport.com/en-EN/Airlines/Pages/AnnouncementsDetail.aspx?pid=9 http://www.ataturkairport.com/en-EN/Airlines/Pages/Announcem...
- blahpro 13y ago"Airplane Mode" claims to use a Parrot AR Drone 2.0 (~$290) for parts. The controller used is actually an infrared one from a smaller and cheaper (~$20) RC helicopter, like this: http://www.amazon.com/Syma-S107-S107G-Helicopter-Colors/dp/8499000606/ http://www.amazon.com/Syma-S107-S107G-Helicopter-Colors/dp/8...
- callesgg 13y agoThese weapons are harmless they are not scary enough. People know what an AK47 is and they know it will kill what it is used on. Power lies not in the weapon, it lies in what people think of the weapon. Another thing, since 911 passengers most likely assume they will be killed whether if they cooperate or not. Certain death in a plane crash or possible death trying to take a terrorists weapon.
- mavdi 13y agoThere it is! The association between my middle eastern name and a bomb making website on NSA Database! Thanks HN!