Visit hircus's column >>

HIRCUSHome Page

Add To Watchlist
Articles Posted: 9; Links Seeded: 386
Member Since: 9/2007Last Seen: 11/22/2009

Read me first: Taking your laptop into the US? Be sure to hide all your data first | Technology | The Guardian

Read ArticleArticle Source: Guardian Unlimited
advertisement

Last month a US court ruled that border agents can search your laptop, or any other electronic device, when you're entering the country. They can take your computer and download its entire contents, or keep it for several days. Customs and Border Patrol has not published any rules regarding this practice, and I and others have written a letter to Congress urging it to investigate and regulate this practice.

What's this?
Who's leading the conversation?
This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.
4.7
{"commentId":1806234,"authorDomain":"ffeineandsugar"}

How often does this happen?

{"commentId":1806234,"threadId":"265165","contentId":"1491079","authorDomain":"ffeineandsugar"}
  • 2 votes
Reply#1 - Thu May 15, 2008 11:16 PM EDT
{"commentId":1806332,"authorDomain":"TeddRi"}

Trying to get real numbers I have found close to impossible and it seems to vary greatly between airports and locations. Some far more strict the others. Washington (IAD), LAX and New York I have heard are some of the highest, What I also have heard in the cases of actually searches, its very rare and only if the person is very suspicious or on a watch list. The most common is to have the computer boot up.

But I have never gotten anything in writing, even after many phone calls and emails..

{"commentId":1806332,"threadId":"265165","contentId":"1491079","authorDomain":"TeddRi"}
  • 4 votes
#1.1 - Thu May 15, 2008 11:54 PM EDT
Reply
{"canLink":false,"threadId":"265165","isPrivate":false}
Leave a Comment:
You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.
{"threadId":"265165","contentId":"1491079"}
Start TrackingStart Tracking
Stop TrackingStop Tracking