Originally Posted by GradGirl

Hi snapperhead,

An x-ray machine could have seen through your neoprene sleeve with no trouble. However, the TSA hasn't made sleeves an exception to its rule that computers must travel through the x-ray machine in a plastic bucket with nothing underneath them to pad the bumps along the conveyor belt. This is how people get their computers broken.

The current rule is that you can put items next to a computer, but not on top of it or underneath it, so that rules out your padded sleeve. Black-and-white regulations with no accomodation for reasonable variance are what you should expect from any government bureaucracy, not just the TSA.

The x-ray machine has no explosives detection ability. Supposedly, the x-raying of shoes is so they can detect hollow compartments inside the shoe that might be filled with explosives. Of course, as Spiff has argued thousands of times, the same volume of material could easily go into your rectum, and no one's checking that. So there is exactly zero security value to x-raying shoes, but remember - the TSA is about creating the appearance of security. Security theater is expensive and diverts resources from effective measures, but hey, enjoy the entertainment for what it is.