With security restrictions on cabin baggage now being somewhat relaxed, Laptops are being allowed back in Airplane cabins.
During the recent emergency I’ve heard various stories about a number of digital thefts that occurred from peoples checked luggage during the height of the cabin baggage restrictions and in some cases not being compensated by their insurance companies – there’s a surprise!
However, another case came to light last week where the owner reclaimed his laptop from his luggage only to find that it would not switch on, after further investigation he discovered that the internals were full of condensation! The laptop was left off for a further two hours after which, it then came to life!
This reminded me of a similar incident that happen to me a few years ago. I had driven up to make a technical demonstration at the Sellafield site and in pre-laptop days we then took a very large floor standing Unix Tower with us, along with some external Disc Drives, cables, a 21″ CRT monitor – boy was that heavy. We (three of us) had a long drive and due to traffic, arrived quite late at our hotel. Not bothering to unpack the computer equipment from the car boot, we had a late meal and went off to bed.
The following morning, we arose to find an unexpected and severe frost on the car! On arrival at the site, we of course then discovered that we had been caught out by the same condensation problem! Despite a hours delay while we warmed up the equipment, we were luckily able to start the computers and make our demonstration. Needless to say we never let this catch us out again!
Although today’s computers are more robust that their predecessors, since that incident I’ve always traveled with a CD/DVD backup of my data (not in my PC case) just in case anything untoward happened. Condensation can do enormous damage to laptops, if tough security restrictions come back again, manufacturers should make sure that users know what to do in case they are affected and yes the insurance companies will have to change their policies to allow for claims based on PC theft from checked luggage.
Tags: UNIX, Heathrow Airport, Security, Backups
Powered by Qumana
Beasley's Place 
Yee ha!!! I’ve been following the cabin restriction news and although I’m quite willing to leave my lipstick/gloss and other ‘liquid’ items elsewhere, I like the comfort of having my laptop with me. Our trip to the UK will be easy enough (Virgin has the TV’s in the headrest so the kiddie will be fine), but since 9/11 I’ve enjoyed the security of having something I can lob at someones head (if necessary)… oh, and somewhere to download pictures each night too! 😉Got an email survey from “Totally London” the other day asking how the recent events might have effected any travel plans to London. I have to say that it did nothing except make me aware of what we can and can’t take on the plane and I talked with the kids about being more aware of what we try and carry-on too. Beyond that, we’re going and no potential threat will stop us! It still amazes me how everyone acts like this type of thing is ‘new’. What’s new is the ability to report things immediately, not the threat.
LikeLike