MIT student arrested for fake bomb at Boston's Logan airport

Boston authorities have once again put their hair-trigger reactions on display for the world today in a case involving an MIT student and bad fashion choices. In a situation eerily similar to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force debacle, Star Simpson (the student in question) was placed under arrest at gunpoint (submachine gunpoint, that is) at Boston's Logan airport because of an "art project" she was wearing. Simpson, who was at the airport to meet her boyfriend, was sporting a black sweatshirt with a circuit board and flashing LEDs attached... and was inexplicably holding Play-Doh. Authorities mistook the combination for some type of explosive device. Maj. Scott Pare, the airport's commanding officer said, "I'm shocked and appalled that somebody would wear this type of device to an airport," and then lovingly added, "She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue." Here's our suggestion to authorities next time: just ask, "What's up with the bad art?"

[Diego @ Sep 21st 2007 10:23PM]

Lookout she`s got a breadboard!!!!

seriously, what`s next? someone getting shot for carrying an alarm clock?

[jbcaro @ Sep 21st 2007 10:37PM]

I'm thinking that they could use her electrical engineering skills down in Gitmo.

[Cellenin @ Sep 21st 2007 10:45PM]

For the idiots defending her. Can any of you tell the difference between a real disguised bomb from a fake one? If you can...please go to iraq and help out or soldiers who have to deal with this problem 24/7. If you cannot...go back to sucking on yous bong.
It is always funny how the ones who will never be in Harms way have no problem with the stupid stunt this jackass pulled.

[Andre @ Sep 21st 2007 10:49PM]

Why should the security guards who have family's and people who love them, need to discern between what is a bomb and not? They shouldn't. Its thier job to protect planes, airports and people. If they had of shot her, I'd have been supportive, because they shouldn't need to make the judgment call, they aren't explosives experts. Err on the side of safety and overreact from time to time is fine by me, so long as when I board my plan it doesn't have a bomb on it.

These two students need prison sentences to go with their short cell times.

Seriously, these guards are PEOPLE. If they had of ignored it and thought it was a PCB with flashing lights and it turned out to be a Bomb and it killed 300 people on a plane there would be HELL to pay.

[Mike @ Sep 21st 2007 11:00PM]

The girl is a dumb-a$$! She is lucky she didn't get shot. God forbid it was a mid-eastern student wearing that outfit.

Boston's Logan Airport needs to be on guard, because it was their lack-a$$ security that allowed the terrorists of 9/11 to board those planes. All of the terrorists that hijacked the planes that crashed into the WTC, Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvannia, all boarded from Boston's Logan Airport! With that sorry type of legacy, I can fully understand why they might want to err on the side of caution these days. As a New Yorker, we have something else to despise about Boston besides the Red Sox!

[ADR @ Sep 21st 2007 11:09PM]

I don't know what's sadder. That this idiot did this or that people are actually defending the idiot.

A small ammount of plastic explosive can be set off with a battery and in an airplane is enough to bring it down. Sorry but a shoddy wiring job on a breadboard does look like a bomb. Especially wearing it on a shirt like a suicide bomber.

Imagine if they didn't stop this girl. Terrorists could just wear a bomb on a shirt and say, oh no its just an art project, see the lights blink.

A lot of today's college students could quite possibly be the dumbest smart people in history.

[Dismal @ Sep 21st 2007 11:09PM]

you know most sane people here have good points for both sides. I'm not defending her because I believe what she did was a statement, cause face it America you are living in the fourth reich. Now for the intelligent reading these posts we realize that yes this is just a breadboard and some led's and a 9V battery, when was the last time you've seen a bomb with a stickman or star or whatever that design was, made of led's on the front???? Most suicide bombers have enough explosives strapped to themselves that they need large coats that will conceal the explosives, the more explosives the more death and destruction, most don't walk around with a handful of it if they are serious. so for all you folks out there going spastic one way or the other about this just realize that their are real problems in this world that need to be dealt with that are far more important than this chick and her crazy escapades...do most of you realize that the civilian death toll in iraq has reached 1 million? that electronic voting in the US is rigged? that GWB is planning for a war in Iran which could most certainly lead to another world war? so when you're done calling each other stupid and arguing over this story the rest of us would really like your help to make a change for the better in this world so we can all live in peace.

[John Cavanagh @ Sep 21st 2007 11:16PM]

I'm sorry, but I can't be the only one that thinks the real crime here is her hair.

[dmihalic @ Sep 21st 2007 11:20PM]

OK, my comment is coming quite late in this thread, but I had to reply to folks that claim the guards were being paranoid when they reacted to the 'LEDS' and breadboard... First of all, just because you only 'see' the breadboard, battery, and wires on the OUTSIDE of the sweatshirt, doesn't mean there isn't something UNDER the sweatshirt (this is not even taking the play-doh into account).

So, to those that say, 'this thing was just a breadboard and LED set, why would anyone think it was a bomb?', I say this..., "OK, so just because you don't see an explosive source (again, minus the play-doh', the thing could easily simply be the detonator for a device located somewhere else nearby! So, if you have to lay that person out to prevent them from activating the detonator, you have to do it.... It's better than a 'stand-off', where you hope and pray the crazy-ass doesn't HIT the BUTTON because you phrased your negotiation wrong and gave the nut an hour to stand there surrounded....

Before 911, would this have happened, probably not, but that's the exact point.... it is AFTER 911 at this point. The whole 'game' has changed. Yes, we've changed a lot of things about the way we live, but if you think Osama figures he 'won' because of that, I think you're being delusional.... They want America and our way of life GONE, not just 'extra cautious' about being blown up.... The words, "whiped off the face of the earth" are commonly used by America's enemies (as well as Israel...though, no I'm not israeli at all)...

[Diego @ Sep 21st 2007 11:31PM]

Lol, this one is for every EE out there (and for people that like messing with MCUs ) :

This guy lost his flight due to a 1 Ohm resistor :
http://vivara.net/blog/?p=61

[Ian @ Sep 21st 2007 11:37PM]

How can someone that stupid get into MIT? Seriously. We all know security people at airports are paranoid as hell. You walk in with blinking lights and putty? WTF do you expect will happen? The security folks were doing their job. They don't know its fucking "art." Should they wait until someone bloes themselves up? "Ooops Bob, looks like that one wasn't art. Damn." They could have just shot her, and it sounds like had this 'tard not complied with their directions they would have.

[Johnny appleseed @ Sep 21st 2007 11:44PM]

They should have shot her. I mean, how the f#$K do you not know that walking into an airport wearing something like that will cause problems. We have enough trouble worrying about real terrorists!

I mean, this is no joke. Lots of people lost their lives in 9/11 and there are people who are scared to fly, and some idiot calls this friggin bomb look-a-like a piece of art--if I were airport security I would have shot her then asked questions later...what if it were a real bomb, then people would have acused airport security of not taking action!

[frank @ Sep 22nd 2007 12:59AM]

I'm gonna do an art project where I carve guns outta black soap & point them at cops, just to see what happens.

[phoomp @ Sep 22nd 2007 10:53AM]

Circuit board does not equal gun. Was she being naive? Of course. Did the security officers over-react? Of course.

[frank @ Sep 24th 2007 10:01AM]

I've got 2 things to say to THAT:
1)SOAP
2)FREE SPEECH
The cops should be trained to know the difference between "gun" and "gun-like imitation".
Meanwhile, I don't think there's been anytime in recent history (I'm guessing back to the 1940's) that airport security considers ANYTHING related to hijacking any kind of joke. You choose to enter an airport, you should acknowledge that they operate that way. Most airports even have the "courtesy" (ha ha I know) to place signs explaining that bomb jokes will not be regarded as jokes.

[George Barrett @ Sep 22nd 2007 1:15AM]

An equation of an oblivious student and obtuse security.
I personally think it's a matter of social ineptitude on the part of the MIT student, versus the technical ineptitude of Logan security. And the absence of common sense for both. Simpson lacked the understanding her attire might be threatening or questionable to every-day officers and fashion-conscious citizens that would not be exposed to such esoteric techno-art or simple bad taste.

But I find the obtuseness and "cowboy" rootin' tootin' gunslingin' approach of the airport security vastly more troubling.

The security staff should have considered this fact: A terrorist wouldn't deliberately call attention to themselves with blinking LED lights. (This is when using your grey matter comes in handy) A terrorist's objective would be to blend in — go unnoticed.

Did the security staff think for themselves, use some form of logic before acting? or did they merely react to images brought to life? Previously shown only in training material or only on a bridge, in the same city, and in every form of media plastered everywhere only months ago? Puzzling indeed.

battery+flashing lights+circuits+plyable substance+unkempt appearance=a terrorist with a bomb, or
battery+flashing lights+circuits+plyable substance+unkempt appearance=oblivious (and obvious) young poorly-dressed college geek

Duh!

[Burnedwire @ Sep 22nd 2007 1:22AM]

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790), Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.

Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826), to Archibald Stuart, 1791

[Nick Gold @ Sep 22nd 2007 1:24AM]

• This girl was a moron, nobody with common sense would do this -- either she was looking for a reaction, or is a spacey MIT student (def. a possibility -- people can be nerds and lack many real-world common-sense skills -- as this forum demonstrates constantly.)

• Logan was one of the main points of departure for the 9/11 terrorists, let's not forget. They have every right to be jumpy.

• Who int he hell is stupid enough to wear ANYTHING that resembles ANY kind of circuit to the airport? I mean come on -- wires sticking out, battery, gooey stuff/play-doh. It DOES kind of look like a bomb, and if I saw someone at an airport fronting a getup like that, _I_ would report them to security -- and I'm pretty progressive.

• I love seeing non-Americans go on and on about how "gestapo" the USA is -- when the UK, Australia, Canada, etc. etc. have MUCH tighter controls on many personal freedoms than in the USA. I mean come on, the UK tracks every single license plate on every major road in realtime! That's infinitely more "Big Brother" than anything we have going on in the States. Glass houses, stones...? Oh, I give up.

[fa @ Sep 22nd 2007 6:28AM]

oh, come on..
this is just something you can't go into.
"I love seeing non-Americans go on and on about how "gestapo" the USA is -- when the UK, Australia, Canada, etc. etc. have MUCH tighter controls on many personal freedoms than in the USA."
weeeell. if you don't see that, you're owned. already.
"the UK tracks every single license plate on every major road in realtime! That's infinitely more "Big Brother" than anything we have going on in the States. Glass houses, stones...? Oh, I give up."
LOL, yes, of course.. can't you hear your voice getting out from the void of your brain?!
geez, i mean.. YOU track EVERY single person touching your f****ing country! please, at least shut up, don't get into that.

[Ron Larson @ Sep 22nd 2007 1:24AM]

Anna Jackobsen of the Women's Wallstreet Journal has the right response.
http://www.theaviationnation.com/2007/09/21/woman-walks-through-logan-airport-with-mock-bomb/
Anna mentions the case of Rigoberto Alpizar, the guy who was shot and killed at the Miami Airport in 2005 because he claimed to have a bomb. He didn't and he died for his "stunt". Lot of people were upset with the police for killing him because (a) he was off his meds, (b) there was no bomb.

The problem with stunts like his, and hers, is that is puts security personnel in the difficult position of deciding what is a real threat and was is not. The threats are very real. Look what happened in Scotland in June. There are people who truly want to cause mass murder, and their venue of choice is airports and airplanes.

Nice to see so many people who claim they know exactly what bombs look like. I hope that you are never wrong.

She is damn lucky she is not dead. She owes a lot of people a lot of apologies.

[John Doe @ Sep 22nd 2007 1:49AM]

Dave please do us all a favor and get a little more righteous have a coronary and die you asshat.

[nikster @ Sep 22nd 2007 1:59AM]

Security guards are fucking stupid, that's the problem.

Somebody who thinks some blinky LEDs is a bomb - worn on a T-shirt, no less - is in charge of security. And holding an assault rifle. Oh, great.

The stuff about the play-doh, I am absolutely 100% sure they over-dramatized this to make it sound like they are not quite as dense. But what's really the kicker - instead of saying "sorry, it could have been a bomb, at least in our little twisted imaginations" which would have been reasonable they say she's lucky they didn't shoot her?! WTF??

Idiots with guns. Sums up America these days.

[Dan @ Sep 22nd 2007 2:00AM]

Art project? Give me a break. She knew exactly what she was doing. This is nothing like the Aqua Teen accident, where the guy actually had no clue of the reaction. This isn't the 90's anymore. I'm glad that there is security who will not take chances and let someone on a plane wearing something that looks like a bomb on a plane. wtf was she thinking? Just as yelling fire in a crowded theatre is illegal, this should be illegal as well. They should be able to sue her.

[the_bopps @ Sep 22nd 2007 2:19AM]

She is just a liberal college student trying to make the current government look bad. Let's think about this: current rules are that you cannot take any liquids over 3 oz near a plane, and she decides to wear ghetto looking circuit boards and a wired switch attached to her hand. I love how people get outraged about this: "How f*cking stupid and paranoid has this country got?"
Are you kidding? Stupid and paranoid? The two key components to making a bomb: an electrical circuit and some kind of plastic explosives. No, not shady at all! Anybody outside the US just don't bother commenting, because you either bring in bad stuff or take in our bad stuff.

[the_bopps @ Sep 22nd 2007 2:25AM]

Why should anybody have to say sorry...odds are if you are an MIT student...which I am...shouldn't you have the sense to not bring shady ass looking stuff into the airport?

[Chris Hendrick @ Sep 22nd 2007 2:27AM]

This is that same thing that happened in Boston with the Team Hunger force thing.... LED terror.... MY BLEEPING GOD are the people who run Boston INSANE....

[Simon @ Sep 22nd 2007 2:45AM]

you people are funny. She was not stupid, the cops were stupid, as if a fucking bomb would be designed into a shirt with lots of flashing LEDs on the front!!!

lol. And people call her a douche (shower? wtf) your stupid hysteric paranoid country is to blame.

[Carbonize @ Sep 22nd 2007 4:24AM]

"Nah that looks to much like a bomb to be a bomb so just let them board"

If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck and walks like a duck then there's a good chance it's a duck.

[Simon @ Sep 22nd 2007 5:31AM]

Carbonize, what does that duck statement have to do with this case. it doesn't look like a bomb, it doesn't sounds like a bomb, she wasn't even going to get on a plane.

[dmihalic @ Sep 22nd 2007 2:36PM]

So, Simon.... Why do you think these security guards have the luxury of 'time' to investigate this person's actions in the 'heat of the moment'? Sure, if she had responded to the questions early on, it never would have gotten to that point....

Why do we think we know the methods the terrorists will use? Do you think they have a play-book that 'this is the way we do it...all of the time?' No, they look for new ways to be successful. Think about it.... On 9/11, 4 or 5 high-jackers with 'box-cutters' TOOK over 4 planes filled with passengers!!! Those passengers could have easily over-powered those hi-jackers IF they had known their intentions and attacked in a concerted effort (like flight 93). But before then, those passengers never would have thought the planes were going to plowed into the buildings or grounds....up until that point in time, the hi-jackings ended up in long stand-offs, negotiations, and a greater likelihood that eventually, they could make it out of there alive (if they listened to what the hi-jackers were telling them).... That all changed on 9/11... So don't purport to know that the terrorists wouldn't try a 'different' approach like sending a brain-washed M.I.T. student into an air-port with an 'art-project' that could have appeared to have been a detonator for a device (either on her person or elsewhere in the area). What if the M.I.T. person themselves was the 'package'? What if they would only needed a very small amount of explosive....designed to 'aspirate' the student's blood which could have been contaminated with a chemical weapon (ie., blood-borne or airport infectious pathogen)? In the end there's a whole lot of 'what-if's' in that scenario and not a whole lot of time to sort them out..... In the end, the security guards appear to have used a great deal of restraint because the idiot is STILL ALIVE to bitch about it!

[Simon @ Sep 22nd 2007 11:07PM]

dmihalic.
I think that America should take a minute to stop and think about what they want to become. Its interesting to think of so many crazy ideas about how to do an attack, if u really thought about all the methods and tried to prepare for them all, then it would be practiaclly impossible to fly or do anything. And look at the methods they have used so far. Bombs, and knives. Do you really think that there is an organised Terrorist network spanning the globe with Bin Laden as its leader?

No, most of the people who are fundimentalist muslims fighting the oppression, not all of them even have the USA as their target, most actually are targeting their own governments, which are supporters of the USA, and so the USA becomes an enemy by association. Also, they are doing it in separate groups (stand alone complex anyone??). In Iraq now, people are flooding in from surrounding countries because they see a foreign army holding a muslim land, killing muslims and oppressing the people.

Also, she did what they told her to do immediately, what are you talking about "not responding to their questions early on"?

Quote from article; "She was immediately told to stop, to raise her hands and not to make any movement, so we could observe all her movements to see if she was trying to trip any type of device," Pare said. "Had she not followed the protocol, we might have used deadly force."

read the article next time.

[AndyM @ Sep 24th 2007 1:00PM]

She was asked about the device she was wearing by the person at the desk. She turned around and walked away without saying a word. The person at the desk called security... See? She didn't follow orders until weapons were drawn. I hope this helped you understand this a little better, Simon.

To everyone else... Please leave poor Simon alone. It is obvious that he has some mild mental deficiencies. If your friend was mentally handicapped, would you attack him?

[Simon @ Sep 25th 2007 7:20AM]

Ouch. Didnt see that part of the article, i guess skimming really isn't the best way to read.

but ouch, wtf, no need for the adhominims, if that is the case, then yeah she was stupid and the security did the right thing. I guess after the taser incident i have been thinking that security there are a bit over zealous.

But still ouch man! Andy, u didnt even try to respond to the points I made about the USA going overboard in paranoia about terrorism.

[Jake @ Sep 22nd 2007 2:58AM]

Things like this show that the terrorists are winning, their aim was to change our way of life and look at this, this is absolutely ridiculous, and for the commanding officer to say that she was lucky not to end up in a morgue after she was held at gunpoint, i wish i could say i was surprised to see this kind of ignorance coming from someone in charge of an armed force, unfortunately i cannot. Reading this just angered me, so much for land of the free, we've crossed far over the line of protection into oppression.

[Ray GAO @ Sep 22nd 2007 3:03AM]

morons in the airport

[Carbonize @ Sep 22nd 2007 3:26AM]

I have to laugh at all the morons on here going on that it looked nothing like a bomb. How many bombs have these people seen? You can make a bomb look like anything you want. I have seen bombs packed into a packet of cigarettes.

Ask yourself this though, how much money is she going to get from selling her story to the press? I personally think they should make it illegal for people to gain from stories like this but then you do have to allow people to sell their stories where real harrasment is involved.


Oh and as for the stupid argument about US money I seem to remember that the US bank notes used to be all the same size and colour so all counterfeiters did was bleach a $1 and print a $100 over it.

[klitorisaurus @ Sep 22nd 2007 4:37AM]

Reminds me of the time I saw someone try to pick someone up at the airport in a U-haul. Needless to say, there was a swarm of cops pulling him over. Stupidity combined with paranoia makes for some great entertainment!

[keithwwalker @ Sep 22nd 2007 5:09AM]

they should of blown her head off as acknowledgement of how funny and witty her joke was...

[pika @ Sep 22nd 2007 5:43AM]

I'm an E.E student and I know how busy we can be...I got led, chips and the board in my backpack with me all the time. Does it make me a terrorist? Do I have to fu*king tell what this is and how it works everytime I see a police or passing through an airport? Why are we putting $ to train some dumb a*s who cant distinguish a bomb triggering circuit and a simple LED freshman level circuit? (what I can see are just some resistors, LED and battery...I don see any harm from this circuit)
For u guys, not putting circuit in the jacket is common sense, but for EE. students, not having a circuit with you is "nonsense".

[mark @ Sep 22nd 2007 7:37AM]

Your comments: To quote Dan Aykroyd: "Jane, you ignorant slut"

As a frequent flyer, I think she is VERY lucky and got what she deserved. Part of me wishes she was wounded (or at least repeatedly Tasered(TM)) so 5,000 other "smart" people won't duplicate this stunt in the coming weeks. (note: she may be smarter than me, but not more "intelligent", there is a difference).

I am technically adept and KNOW what LEDs, etc. are but you just so NOT do this type of thing in an airport (or courtroom or statehouse or capitol building, etc. etc. for chrissakes). You don't pack a starter pistol; you don't have a dummy grenade beltbuckle, you don't speak loudly about what a BOMB the movie "AIRPLANE" was with it's EXPLOSIVE finale.

If Security/Police question you, respond politely and accurately and 99.3% of the time the event is over and you carry on your merry way. Is it really so important to cop an attitude when some schlub is just doing a job that as many have noted; if security FAILS to stop someone who really is bad they get metaphorically crucified?

Prediction - she was despondent as her boyfriend was a-coming over to dump her, and she was hoping the arrest would kindle his sympathies.

Also (and others may have mentioned this, as many forgot) the "overraction" by the British police when they shot a kid for "just having a backpack" was the week of the subway bombings where the terrorists used backpacks; the kid shot ran away from police and refused their orders to stop and raise his hands.

Yeah it's less "rights" than we had 50 years ago, but unfortunately the world is a much darker, unfriendly place. We can't leave our doors unlocked, let our kids roam a playground unsupervised nor leave our garage doors open when away getting groceries.

[Lenz @ Sep 22nd 2007 8:21AM]

I find it disgusting the number of commentors here who would so cavalierly end this girl's life (cheering all the way) for a simple lapse in judgment.

[eric f. @ Sep 22nd 2007 8:48AM]

regardless of what it was supposed to be, it was plainly stupid to wear it to an airport. She had Zero common sense.

[Don Nevin @ Sep 22nd 2007 9:12AM]

I did not get into MIT. Now I understand that I was not bright enough.

[mike @ Sep 22nd 2007 9:41AM]

Ignoring any political dimensions ... what a dumbass. Smart enough to go to MIT clearly doesn't correlate with any reasonable level of common sense.

[Tim @ Sep 22nd 2007 9:47AM]

In a world where a minimal ammount of time with the right person can yeild the knowlege to make a bomb that looks like a suitcase, a thermos, or a shoe, it is certaintly not unreasonable to think something extremely out of place and unusual being intentionaly displayed on a persons chest in an airport could possibly be a bomb.

Is is certaintly not unreasonable to question it further when the person in possesion of it is questioned about it, and does not give any response.

if there was no doubt it was a bomb she would have been shot by security and the guy who pulled the trigger would be a hero to this country in the eyes of the media. The person who held her a gun point, ready to shoot her if it turned out to be a bomb, is still certaintly a hero in my eyes. even more so because he used good judgement and didnt shoot first, and ask questions later.

And oh yea, this "its only a beadboard, it looks like an electronic shirt" crap sounds alot like "its only a box cutter."

[ronin13 @ Sep 22nd 2007 10:06AM]

First off anyone who does not take this seriously is an idiot and should not be on endgaget and is obviously a liberal weenie without any knowledge of terrorist activity other then what they have read in a book or saw on the TV. Secondly I was an anti terrorist force protection instructor for the Marine Corps and if it was me and my men she would have gone to the morgue. When are you morons going to start taking this shiet seriously? If they did not stop her the way they did and it really was a bomb and hundreds of people got killed you same intellectual midgets would be saying they were to soft and shame on them and it was somehow a right wing conspiracy to make us vote Republican. When it come to setting off an explosive charge it only takes the flick of a finger, you don’t take chances you shoot first to eliminate the threat and ask questions later. Semper Fi

[Fafalala @ Sep 22nd 2007 10:24AM]

I know her and talked to her after the incident. Actually the problem was miscommunication.. when they confronted her they called her "sir" instead of "maam" and she thought they were talking to someone else because they were keeping their distance so she kept walking. She was actually clueless about the whole situation because it wasn't until they started screaming that she noticed them, she's not insane and wasn't trying to prove any point. She brought modeling clay to play with while waiting for her friend and the LED shirt was something she made the day before for fun. Recently my friend was detained for several hours because of the amount of cables he was carrying. It wasn't alot, he just bundled up several long cables for his laptop and other electronics and that's all. Was my friend at fault? SOme of you might call him an idiot for bundling them up but he didn't know they would hold him for that.

[Shane @ Sep 22nd 2007 11:09AM]

I regularly carry a large backpack FULL of pretty much every piece of electronic gear I own (MacBook, digital camera, iPod, headphones, Nintendo DS, spare cell phone, portable hard drive, memory card reader, USB TV tuner, amplified speakers, airport wireless router, chargers, cables and several other things I'm probably forgetting).

I don't want to pack any of this stuff in my checked baggage so I carry it on with me. I usually have no problems getting through security (domestic or international) but lately they do want to examine the bag a bit more closely since it is so crowded. When they see it's just my geek toychest and poses no real threat they let me go on my merry way. I always try to allow MORE than enough time when I travel (2-3 hours whether I need it or not).

As many others have noted what this girl did shows a serious lack of common sense but it may have just been a comedy of errors. I guess I can see it from both sides of the story. She was just doing what geeky MIT students do and the security guards were just trying to do their job. I don't expect the average security guard to know basic electronics. I am sure I would get stopped as well if I had any "homebrew" stuff on my person (especialy with silly putty or play-doh) in this day and age.

[Alex Kirby @ Sep 22nd 2007 10:40AM]

It seems to me that she was just asking for it

[phoomp @ Sep 22nd 2007 10:53AM]

If she wanted people to think she was wearing a bomb, I'd agree with you. Except, it's highly unlikely that she wanted people to think she had a bomb. MIT Media Lab students have been walking around with circuitry attached to their clothing for almost a decade.