Saturday, April 15, 2006

Tick, tick, ticking in my head....

45's spinning in my head

"No time, tryin' to get a watch repaired
No time, never got a thing to wear
Hear the ringing of the telephone, oh no
Hear it ringing in my head now"

"I'm here alone on the telephone line
I'm right where you want me to be
And I'll wait alone and never ask why
I'll be where you want me to be"

"In another life
You’re always the hero
In another life
You always win the game
In another life
No one ever cheats you
In another life
You never have to change"

"Sometimes I try to do things and it just doesn't work out the way I wanted to.
I get real frustrated and I try hard to do it and I take my time and it doesn't work out the way I wanted to.
It's like I concentrate real hard and it doesn't work out
Everything I do and everything I try never turns out
It's like I need time to figure these things out"

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Now the games are over....

Now that the Commonwealth Games are over, I can rant about the security that was in place. I think that the security was completely useless and that it was only put in place to make the masses feel like something was being done. Here are two ways in which the security system was shown to be faulty.

Case 1
On the night of the opening ceremony, the Australian team was told to meet at the village at 4pm. One of the competitors, a female mountain biker, heard that the team would not be marching into the MCG till 10.30pm that night. Since she wasn't staying at the village, she decide to ride her bike to Vodaphone Arena (where the team would be just before marching in) later that night. The competitor arrived and notice that there was security everywhere, including walk-through metal detectors. As the competitor neared the security entrance, one of the guards noticed that it was an Australian athlete and proceeded to let her in without going through the security procedure. So all you would have to have done to walk into the MCG was wear a Trinity Grammar blazer and rock up to Vodaphone arena. You are an Australian athlete so therefore you must be OK. Enter Vodaphone arena and do your business.

Case 2
I went to a few nights of the athletics at the MCG which was surrounded by fences and checkpoints. You had to pass through the checkpoint which consisted of a walk-through metal detector and security searching your bags. This system was flawed and I'll describe how you could have smuggled in explosives and a detonator.
Step 1: Strap plastic explosives around your waist.
Step 2: Modify your mobile phone so that it contains the detonator. Use a phone that is at least a few years old, like a chunky old nokia.
Step 3: Wear a t-shirt and have your tracksuit top tied around your waist to cover the bulge.
Step 4: As you walk towards the metal detector, place your mobile phone, wallet and keys in the cardboard container provided and hand it to the security guard.
Step 5: The security will ask people to remove their tracksuit top from off their waist and hand it to be check. Little girls standing in front of you will. Just look as if that is going to be a hassle and then they will just ask you if you have anything in the top. Reply you don't.
Step 6: The container that was handed to the guard will be given a cursory look and then passed around (not through) the metal detector.
Step 7: Step through the metal detector. It won't go off since you don't have metal on you.
Step 8: Collect your phone, keys and wallet and move on.
Step 9: Go to a toilet inside the MCG and assemble your device.

This is how I walked in one day (except for steps 1,2 and 9).

Security is only as good as its weakest point. The above two cases show, in my opinion, that the whole exercise was a waste of time.