Young American woman travels over to
Jerusalem to meet some friends, see the sights, live the life. Overzealous
border security officers ask her a bunch of questions, take issue with her answers, and a few well-placed bullets later she is allowed entry into the country with a somewhat altered MacBook in tow. So what can we all learn from this incident? Firstly, back up all the data you consider important; B, Israeli policemen don't mess about; and 3,
distressed laptops look gorgeous no matter how they got there -- just look at the way the glass trackpad has wrinkled up from the force of the bullet penetrating near it, it's a borderline work of art. The young lady in question has been promised compensation, but lest you think this is a one one-off you can see pictures of an equally dead Dell at the Flickr link below. We've got a couple more close-ups of the ravaged MacBook after the break.
[Thanks, Itai N.]
Update - We've tracked down a video interview with Lily herself, which shows off a few more angles of the former MacBook and current article of modern art -- check it after the break.
P.S. - As always, we encourage a discussion. A sensitive, intellectual, worldly discussion. If you can't infer what it is we're asking of our dear readers tempted to intone on this matter, then please skip commenting on this thread, mkay?
posted December 16th 2009 7:25PM
Glad to see it's still "cohesive"
I'd tap that
@(Unverified) that's what's up!
It's worth mentioning that she clearly stated she left it unattended, which is the equivilant of calling in a bomb threat in Israel.
Leave your bag unattended in an airport or a train station in Israel, and it WILL get blown up by security, be it a laptop, a sandwich or a bag full of undies.
Israeli security would rather blow up an innocent laptop than NOT blow up an actual bomb and lose innocent lives.
Laptop Hunters.
BEST.
@Sparky
WIN
Maybe Microsoft should hire those guards for that Windows Mobile press event in Germany,
Does one of the guards look like Steve Ballmer?
Instead of shooting the MacBook, maybe they could have just thrown a chair at it.
it's funny how the article headline doesn't mention the country the border guards were working for anymore...
Maybe the guard was a huge DC fan. Notice the sticker?
I think the Israeli chap was just pissed off coz he can't find the last intel item [laptop] in Modern Warfare 2 in the Wolverines level. Shouts "Check the dumpster at the back of Nate's you schmuck".
@MazMan
What most people here seems to amusingly do is assume it's guys at checkpoints, where in reality the security seems to be predominantly girls, not 100% obviously, but more than 50% with many chief security officers being girls.
@Wwhat Yeah, service is required by law in Israel, so women are just as prevalent or statistically slightly more prevalent.
she left the laptop unattended, to start with.
the rest is obvious
@varera
According to more info she was told to leave it as she was being questioned in another room, so a silly mistake in procedures?
Although she says they took it and she was outside enjoying the vista, giving them a window of opportunity to hit the mac with a cloud of bullets :)
The best looking Mac Personal Computer, or Mac PC for short.
her voice is annoying as hell. quite good that the HDD was not damaged too.
I went through that border crossing going to egypt in 2000 and the egyptian guards where so puzzled by my Nokia banana phone that they took it into as many parts as it would go...
What a load of hype over nothing, dont screw around with the Israeli security, they take their jobs very seriously for obvious reason!
Shooting a suspected bomb with bullets is really a dumb idea.
Pretty drastic action and how far away were they? If it was a bomb you'd think they used a sniper to shoot that as doing ti close range would be foolish wouldn't it?
"We're Israeli Policemen and we're PC's and WE ABSOLUTELY HATE MAC's!!!" *Gun fire ensues*
"So, they, like, asked me if I was Jewish? And I said I was? And they quizzed me on Jewish holidays? And I don't know anything about them? So, I was smirking at the girl? And she didn't appreciate it? So, she, like, took away my computer? So, you know, like, I was really upset? Cuz, they, like, shot my computer?"
Sure, this was an Epic Fail on the border guards' part, but also a Snark Fail on her part.
Israeli hospitality!
No, they did not literally kill a laptop. This annoys me!
You see, if she had a ThinkPad, it would have required a full clip of bullets to kill. Even then it would probably rise up from the dead and proceed to cure leprosy and turn water into wine. You'd have to crucify it to kill the damn thing.
All bad jokes aside, this sucks trackballs. A $1000 computer with files worth an equal amount in time and money gone in a matter of seconds.
So I was typing a paper, on my Mac, and it was like "BANG! BANG! BANG!" and then like, half of my laptop was gone..
After reading a lot of the replies to this story it is very evident that too many of the people who replied have not grasped the severity of the problem that has been created by these international criminals. Notice I do not refer to them as terrorist because that gives them a level of credibility they do not deserve and enhances their stature with people who may be may swayed by their actions.
While I am as worried about our liberties and freedoms to move about with as few restrictions as possible these criminals have changed things to such an extent that new and tougher measures must be employed to keep any kind of travel possible. Countries such as Israel have endured many more criminal acts by these criminals therefore we must learn from and respect the rules and regulations they have had to impose to help insure the safety of their citizens and visitors to their country. Laughing at security questions they ask is not showing that respect or an understanding of what they have experienced. We are the first to want others to respect our rules and regulations but unfortunately have not learned to show that same respect to other countries rules and regulations.
Bottom line, it is their rules and regulations, not ours.
Meh, it was a 13"...