security Blog and Journals

Tokio Hotel drops VSD Hamburg
August 9, 2008

I know it’s a tough headline to read, but it’s true. Apparently Tobi was telling people at the Sayreville concert, so an anonymous fan has posted the information for us. VSD Hamburg were dropped as Tokio Hotel’s security and a new company was hired to do the job. What’s most startling is that, from what we know, it seems like Tokio Hotel made the decision themselves, not management. Look below the break to find out more.

Oookay, since Tobi was telling this fans in New Jersey, I guess I’m finally allowed to tell what I know too *hrhr*
Saki got fired. He’s not working for Tokio Hotel in any way anymore.
Tobi left VSD Hamburg, and now has a new contract with Tokio Hotel themselves, and works for them now as Head of Security, but is not related to VSD anymore (that’s also the reason he hasn’t worn the VSD shirt since a while, obviously)
The tour management Four Artists is gonna take over the lead of security. We don’t know yet how it’s gonna look like from now on.
I guess it will either be local security at every gig from now on, or Tobi will create a whole new security team on his own (which I hope)

Source: http://tokiohotelnetwork.com/tokio-hotel-drops-vsd-hamburg/

I'm now in NYC's JFK airport heading back to Belgium, and while going through security, one of the TSA guys said rather gruffly, Let me see your tattoos. My tattooed sleeves are peeking out of a shirt that covers them up to the elbow and he wanted me to roll them up for a better look. I asked if I did anything wrong, and he said that he liked tattoos and just wanted to see more. *phew*

Read More: http://needled.com/blog/entries/tsa-banned-tattoos/

I kinda new that they did not like you taking pictures in a mall, but all in all I thought it was OK.
So that is what I did today. I had a hour before the srotes in the mall opened so i went mall walking and took some pictures.

Here are some shots I got;












Now after I took my last picture I was stopped by two security guards. They told me I could not take any pictures in the mall. I told them I did not know this and asked why I could not. They said it was because of what happened on 9/11 and it was for security. They said that you cannot take any pictures of the outside or the inside of the mall do to possible terrorist threats. They also said it is because of copyright laws.
In some ways it does make sense and some ways it does not.
What do you think?
Is taking pictures of the outside and in a mall a security risk?

This past Saturday night I went to the local Rocktoberfest, where a bunch of shitty bands played. Totally wasn't worth the $12 I payed to get in, but whatever, I had nothing else to do that night. The night started out great, people recognized me, that I have never seen before,.... but I guess it's like that everyday for me.

As the show progressed.... this man who was clearly intoxicated, somewhat frightened everyone. When I first saw him.... I just thought, well this is Aberdeen, there are a lot of drunk bums around, maybe he is just one of them. So he would come close to about every girl in the place, and they would look at him.... and just kinda keep their distance. I felt bad for him in a way, but I wasn't going to jump right in and be all friendly, because he was incredibly creepy.

During the band, JED's set, these douche bags that were in the band that played prior, decided they were going to play some games with him. Let me say that security was GREAT for the whole night until now. So this intoxicated man was stumbling around when these fucking idiots decide they were going to push him around. A guy that was with them was part of security for the night, he decided well.... he was going to play a part in this disgraceful act as well.  The "security" guy would look over at his douche bag friends and "act" like he was telling them to stop. As he was doing this the singer from the band that played prior, was "acting" all buddy-buddy with the intoxicated man.

A couple songs played more, and the actions only got worse. They hoisted him up into the air, several times, waving him around like he was a dummy. Which really pissed me and every other sober person off. They kept doing it.... they made him crowd surf, and well.... the crowd wasn't watching this all happen, so the man fell. They hoisted him up, and did it again.... and again... and again. I finally got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore.... The somewhat "leader" of the douche bags was hoisting him (intoxicated man)  up one final time, and I punched him because it was just too that point. He still proceeded to do this. Luckily one of the idiots wife/girlfriend saw what was happening, and she told one to stop. And I guess it's true, "monkey see monkey do" because after that,.... it stopped.

I'm going to write to the people that put the show on, and complain that the so-called "security" needs to do a better job, and maybe hmm....idk... not take advantage of those that can't really defend themselves. This old man, was clearly not able to function by himself. The level of intoxication and who knows what else was wrong with him was just clearly..... over my head. Maybe, shows just shouldn't happen here, because they hire douche bags that don't really give a shit about the people that attend's well being.........Idk.... but I do know one thing... that I have witnesses and I have people that will help me with this whole deal... and I am going to do my damnest to find good "security" that actually do what they are supposed to at shows.... 

WHAT THE FUCK? THIS IS SO FUCKING RIDICULOUS THAT I MUST INSIST ON USING ALL CAPS BECAUSE, IN MY HEAD, I'M SHOUTING.

THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION IS DONATING ALL THE CONFISCATED LIQUIDS THAT ARE POTENTIAL SAFETY THREATS TO HOMELESS SHELTERS.

THAT MEANS ONE OF TWO THINGS:

1) THEY ARE HOPING THESE DANGEROUS "LIQUIDS" WILL EXTERMINATE ALL OF OUR NATION'S POOR AND DOWNTRODDEN

OR, MORE IMPORTANTLY:

2) THEY AREN'T FUCKING DANGEROUS TO BEGIN WITH.

MY HEAD JUST HIT MY TABLE. HARD.

90%?????

The TSA is so busy eye-raping me because of my tattoos and telling me my earrings are potential weapons; yet they miss 90% of actual bombs?

We're so fucked.

Update for Mac OS X includes a number of fixes for zero-day vulnerabilities released as part of two high-profile bug-hunting campaigns.

Okay so yesterday as most of you will know, Fall Out Boy came to Canada (Toronto to be exact) and I actually fricken got to go. It was like, amazing to be able to see THE Andy Hurley like, right fricken there but yeah, the meet and greet was next door to the Kool Haus and guess what? Only people ages 19 and up could get in!!!! Nobody except maybe the people who were with me, could understand how pissed off I was. I had just gotten to see my favorite drummer of all time, my hero, my god, play a fricken live show right infront of me. I was crying the whole damn time. Seriously. And then I couldn't actually get to meet him. I was like, freaking out. But yeah I got a Clandestine shirt so it wasn't all bad. Oh and for those of you who love mosh pits, I'm gonna say otherwise. Thatw as the most pain and fear I've ever experienced. When people start pushing you and you get kicked in the back of the head by a fucking boot and then you fall down onto your knees and people start jumping on your damn ankles, it's not that fun. Hence why my friends and I moved back. We could still see FOB really well and Andy could still hear me when I screamed out my love for him. :) Yeah that part of the night was amazing. Also if anyone was there for the concert did anyone see durning Grand Theft Autumn when Andy was singing the words to Patrick and Patrick was turned around and was singing them back to him? CUTEST FUCKING THING EVER!!!!!!! Seriously, I melted. But yeah, so the concert waqs over and my three friends and I went out into the lobbyish type thing and sat down and there was this open pakcage of water bottles. So there were already people taking them so one of my friends grabbed some for all of us because we were so thirsty and I had actually like, fainted a coupld of times already so I needed water. We all just barely get our bottles open when this huge security guard comes along and starts yelling at us about how we stole the water and that we all owe him $2. I'm like wtf? I hadn't really opened mine so I just offered it back but he wouldn't take it. One of my other friends went over to her dad to get a toonie but the guy wouldn't take it and said he was just kidding. Okay all four of us were sitting there, afraid that this guy was gonna beat the shit out of us and that Pete was no where in sight to beat him up so we were gonna die. So we were all like, trying not to like, freak outwhen this other security guy comes along ans starts bitching at us for sitting in everyone's way! We weren't even near anyone and he could of just politely asked us to move and we would have but oh no he's got to go and tick me off. Me and my friend start yelling back at the guy, hoping he won't like, pull out some pepper spray or something. We just eventually got back into the line to get our coats with my friend's dad and then left. Yeah, I was peeved that I couldn't meet Andy but my friend bought me an Andy hurley doll and so I'm pretty happy right now. I guess that's all I've got to say well except for that it still seems unreal that i got to actually fricken se them. :D I'm still hyperventialting and I still can't talk. XD

Much Love,

-MrsAndyHurley

And not in the sense you may think.

Waiting in long lines to get on flights and having to deal with disrobing, probing, and other forms of annoyance isn't my favorite part of flying. (Honey roasted peanuts used to be, but no one hands them out anymore.)

So, when I say that airport security sucks, I don't mean so in a personal way. According to a report released a month ago by the Transportation Security Administration, screeners at the Newark Liberty International Airport failed 20 out of 22 tests to catch concealed guns and bombs.

Let that sink in for a second.

That means they passed with a wonderful score of 2 / 22.

The story:

Screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the starting points for the Sept. 11 hijackers, failed 20 of 22 security tests conducted by undercover U.S. agents last week, missing concealed bombs and guns at checkpoints throughout the major air hub's three terminals, according to federal security officials.

The tests, conducted Oct. 19 by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, also revealed failures by screeners to follow standard operating procedures while checking passengers and their baggage for prohibited items, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We can do better, and training is the path to improved performance," said Mark Hatfield Jr., the Newark airport's federal security director. The poor test results at Newark come after heightened security procedures that the TSA put in place at U.S. airports in August.

One of the security officials familiar with last week's tests said Newark screeners missed fake explosive devices hidden under bottles of water in carry-on luggage, taped beneath an agent's clothing and concealed under a leg bandage another tester wore.

The official said screeners also failed to use handheld metal-detector wands when required, missed an explosive device during a pat-down and failed to properly hand-check suspicious carry-on bags. Supervisors also were cited for failing to properly monitor checkpoint screeners, the official said. "We just totally missed everything," the official said.

Well, that's reassuring.

Bruce Schneier makes a good point:

Airport screeners have a difficult job, primarily because the human brain isn't naturally adapted to the task. We're wired for visual pattern matching, and are great at picking out something we know to look for -- for example, a lion in a sea of tall grass.

But we're much less adept at detecting random exceptions in uniform data. Faced with an endless stream of identical objects, the brain quickly concludes that everything is identical and there's no point in paying attention. By the time the exception comes around, the brain simply doesn't notice it. This psychological phenomenon isn't just a problem in airport screening: It's been identified in inspections of all kinds, and is why casinos move their dealers around so often. The tasks are simply mind-numbing.

To make matters worse, the smuggler can try to exploit the system. He can position the weapons in his baggage just so. He can try to disguise them by adding other metal items to distract the screeners. He can disassemble bomb parts so they look nothing like bombs. Against a bored screener, he has the upper hand.

So how do we resolve this? If acts of terrorism and violence are possible (and I'd be a fool to deny that they are), how can we actually make the skies safe?

It's certainly a tough proposition, especially given the human limitations to the entire process. Do we turn to technology to solve our problems? (Methinks this will just cause more.)

I'm bummed I missed this story the first time around, but it's still just as important.