A Russian Hacker Walks into a Cafeteria...
- Thread starter TailsWin
- Start date
This would be a funny story if it wasn't for the TSA. Have you tried going to an Airport recently?
TailsWin
Well-known member
Haven't been in a while.
Well, it's just a cute little joke, but actually I think it's only like 1/3 of the allegory.
The second third is that there's always potential people who'll put weird things into other people's salt.
The third third is that there will be 'directors' who'll want to have salt behind a paywall, or a login, or just want to fuck with people, and will use the hacker as an excuse to introduce such measures.
From the US side, there was the Tylenol episode where somebody started poisoning random Tylenol bottles with cyanide, which is why we now have "Tamper Proof" packaging for foods and drugs. And TSA (Transportation Safety Administration) protocols are so goofy at this point we all probably could save time by flying nude and tattooed with ID. It may come to that.
As far as the salt and pepper, just put them in little sealed packets that have to be delivered by the waitress with the food. That's getting done in some places already anyway? Don't use them, take them home with you. You're paying for it either way.
Lynortis
Well-known member
This Summer an American got caught, arriving at the airport of an Asian country (cant remember which one), with loose ammunition in his bag. Well, can happen, at least when you are from the USA. But the interesting thing is that he was able to board the plan in the USA, with the ammunition in his bag
I never said the TSA was competentThis Summer an American got caught, arriving at the airport of an Asian country (cant remember which one), with loose ammunition in his bag. Well, can happen, at least when you are from the USA. But the interesting thing is that he was able to board the plan in the USA, with the ammunition in his bag
But if it was in his check in luggage rather than his carry-on I can see that happening.
TailsWin
Well-known member
Well it's a metaphor lol, that's why it's about a Russian hacker and not a food hygiene inspector.
That said, there are enough good reasons to have anti-tampering seals on drugs., and unless they're stupidly made, they don't have much downsides. That's not always the case when weird stuff is made for 'safety' or 'security'. The equivalent would be if Tylenol bottles would be sold fully open, but you'd have to take the pills only in front of a camera that would be checking if you're doing it right. But nobody would be recording the people who might be putting shit into the bottles.
As for TSA... Well aside of the whole fake security stuff, my theory is that it's just another way to show the common people who's the boss. You wanna fly (or go to concert or whatever), you gonna let weird things happen to you, and you'll have no say in it.
I heard this anecdote, not sure how true it is, and I'm too tired to research it. Back in the day, plane hijacking was super common, especially in the US, and there were no screenings or anything. Flying was for the rich folks, a lot of travelers were mafia people, and air travel companies didn't think they'd be willing to give up their guns to fly. But, lo and behold, turns out that even the mafia would gladly fly without guns if it meant there's less chance their plane would get hijacked. Well, but if a 1% inconvenience could result in 50% more safety (it was like, the 50's, so there was still good chance the plane would drop for many other reasons), why not eventually ramp it up to 99% inconvenience for 1% extra safety? I mean it's the same thing, right? You know what they say about giving up a lot of freedom for a bit of safety.