Travel Tips: TSA, Family Lanes and Larger Bottles

TSA regulations have changed. Available to families are so-called Family Lanes. The lanes allow families, especially those with children and older members, to move at their own speed.

The Family Lane also features a scanning device that can scan large bottles of liquids. Anyone who has a larger bottle of 'medically necessary' liquid (greater than 3 oz.) can ask to use the Family Lane.

See the full story at USA Today.

Tom

Thracian Chariot Unearthed

Bronze covered wood, leather and more. Just a few of the grave goods found when archaeologists opened a Thracian tomb in Bulgaria.

Read on...

Tom

Body of Copernicus Identified

The body of the famous priest and astronomer, Copernicus, has been officially identified. Interestingly, the DNA used to help confirm the identification was taken from strands of hair left in a book owned by Copernicus.

Copernicus' now-famous book, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres) set the world in motion with concept that the earth rotated on its own axis and circled the sun.

Tom

Travel Tips: RFID--Some Privacy Protection

In California, Governor Schwarzenegger has signed a crucial privacy bill (SB31), making it a crime to surreptiously read information that is transmitted by technology known as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). Such technology has been highly critized as it is being incorporated into US Passports.

In previous posts--RFID Passports (Update), RFID Passports and Protection--I have mentioned some of the concerns with RFID technology used in passports. Not least of all is the concern that a criminal minded individual could--and can--surreptitiously scan for RFID transmission and then use that information for identity theft, tracking, counterfeiting and more.

Governor Schwarzenegger and the California legislature has recognized the danger in this technology when unprotected RFID chips are used.

Unfortunately, the same protection on the same issue was not extended to children in schools. The governor vetoed SB29 that would have required parental consent before schools could require students to carry RFID enabled cards.

Read more: ACLU News, RFID Journal.

Tom