I'm all in favor of the use of technology to accurately detect unwanted explosives from being taken on board. However, like most people, I have a problem with (mostly) unqualified, unmotivated and underpaid TSA amateurs from exploiting this Government-given voyeuristic opportunity.

The scanner manufacturers need to get back to the drawing board, so that computers study the collected images, and not people. Technology already exists for things like complicated facial recognition, so it's hard to imagine that a computer program cannot study a scan and report anomalies.

Then, the scanners themselves would have no output display, or image storage. They would simply indicate anomalies with a beeping sound or flashing red light, indicating that human intervention is required.

This is supposedly the goal behind Automated Target Recognition (ATR). ATR is being used in some of the foreign country WBI deployments, but, according to our esteemed TSA propaganda master Pistole in testimony before the Senate committee yesterday, is not up to snuff for the USA (claims too many false positives).

Maybe they need to rethink that position.

if the device has a harddrive it stores the image, even if its deleted its not gone. go look for the specs TSA put out for the device (hard drive 10/100 card, USB ports) so TSA has been lying all along they just dont want to admit even though its been pointed out since day one.

TSA is highly OVERpaid for what they provide. Its sad that real civil servants(EMT, rookie FF and PD officers) make less then them, and actually do something that provides for the common good.

Got a Ph.D.????


Postdoc Position in Image Processing at Tufts University

A position is open for a post doctoral researcher with experience
in image processing/image analysis to work on a US Dept of
Homeland Security project looking at object identification from
whole body scanner data (X-ray backscatter, millimeter wave,
etc). There is a good deal of flexibility in terms of defining
the technical specifics; although efforts in one or more of the
following area should be anticipated: denoising, registration,
segmentation, statistical model building, machine learning and
sensor fusion. Candidates with strong experience in computational
imaging and statistical methods would be most appropriate.

Again, you post complete drivel without ANY basis in fact WHATSOEVER. How about some supporting links. As someone who has been in LE for nearly fifteen years, your post is complete BS. While I'm sure there are some podunk fire departments and PDs that pay less than 30K, most certainly start in that range and the compensation (which, you of course FAIL to mention) is likely much more when night differentials, overtime, and other such premium pays are included. When I started back in 1996, my PD pay without ot or other premium pay was about 30K in a municipality of a little under fifty thousand population in a southern state in a nonunionized department. The average screener under "rest of us" locality starts at just under 30K; those in higher locality pay areas earn more as do the local "real civil servants." You, like many others on this forum, have a clear bias against the TSA and you certainly have the right to express your bias; however, would it be too much to ask that you base your arguments on facts rather than the fiction upon which you tend to build your case against the TSA?

TB

Okay, so how about the TSA's 2011 budget of $8.2 billion dollars? We don't seem to be getting a lot for our money beyond security theatre.