There's An App for that, Kinda'. And One More Thing, It Requires Training ...

One of the things that falls under the heading of "Things that piss me off a lot" is terrorism - in any form. Freaking people out and blowing things up all in the name of a religion or a belief is wrong. I would ask those who don't agree with me to consult the God or higher authority in which they believe ... pretty sure you'll find that terrorism is a big no-no on the list of things you're not supposed to do.

Now, when I read this story on BBC.com (http://tinyurl.com/yggzjrx), I got a little upset. The device in question (AED-651), is a tool that is allegedly supposed to be able to detect TNT in IEDs, bombs, and other such devices (so not REALLY an app, but you smell what I'm stepping in with the reference in the title of this post). This instrument has the support of Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani who claims the AED-651 has detected 16,000 bombs. There are a few problems, however. One of which is that the device only REALLY works if the person using it to find bombs has been properly trained. Apparently a lot of people using this thing haven't had such training. The other issue is that, in inquiries and tests by both the BBC and Cambridge University's Computer Laboratory, the device contained "nothing but the type of anti-theft tag used to prevent stealing in high street stores." Dr. Markus Kuhn of Cambridge University informed the BBC that it was "impossible" for the AED-651 to "detect anything at all." He also went on to comment that it had "absolutely nothing to do with the detection of TNT."

This begs many questions, the predominant one being, WTF?

The schmuck selling this thing under the guise that it's going to detect bombs when a dude at Cambridge U says it might be able to tell you if someone shoplifts a high end item from the local Target store is just plain wrong. You shouldn't be able to mess around with people's sense of safety like that - I'd go out on a limb and say his actions have some terrorist features themselves.

But even IF the thing worked, I think this story points out the bigger underlying issue with the war on terrorism. We can have all the freakin' technology in the world, but if we don't have the right people TRAINED on how to use said technology, then we're no better off than we were before. We need to train people on the technology and also what to look for. Case in point: I heard the other week on NPR that a flight attendant on Richard "Shoe Bomber" Reid's flight actually stopped him before he boarded the plain because she got a little uneasy when seeing him. But when he responded to her questions in a perfect English accent, she let him board the plane. Maybe if we invested a little bit of money in training people on what to look for and how to use all of this wonderful technology we have available to us, we might just be a little better off.

- The Incident