Re: [NTLK] Travel and the Newt

From: Eric L. Strobel (fyzycyst_at_comcast.net)
Date: Wed Sep 04 2002 - 06:49:18 PDT


on 9/4/02 9:34 AM, SuerthP_at_andersonnews.com at SuerthP_at_andersonnews.com
wrote:

> didn't someone here suggest that it was the electric motors of the conveyor
> belts on the security scanners that could cause damage? i've had problems
> with ruggedized palms used for exact same tasks except one is used in
> airport bookstores and one is used in convenience stores... the only
> siginificant difference is the scanner routine...

If you're at an airport with a very ancient conveyor, perhaps. Way back
when significant numbers of laptops started going thru airports, the
magnetic fields from some of these motors were enough to cause data loss on
magnetic media. In the intervening 15 or so years, AFAIK, a) the motors
have been moved farther away from the conveyor surface; b) the motors are
better shielded; and c) newer motors are more efficient, resulting in lower
field strengths nearby. Also, the laptop manufacturers got savvy to this
problem as well. The result is that it's now virtually unheard of to have a
problem. The degree to which this impacts the solid-state media in a Newt
is not something I KNOW for sure, but my personal opinion is that it should
be even less of a problem than with magnetic media. Remember, there's
millions of folks that take digital cameras through airports without
problem.

So, to venture a guess, I'd say that the likelihood is that your Palm at the
airport is just a bad Palm.

Now, if someone actually were to run a field strength meter (and perhaps an
x-ray dosimeter) thru airport scanners, then we'd know for sure...

- Eric.

-- 
Eric Strobel (fyzycyst_at_NOSPAM^mailaps.org)
=====================================================================
The odds are greatly against you being immensely smarter than everyone
else in the field. If your analysis says your terminal velocity is
twice the speed of light, you may have invented warp drive, but the
chances are a lot better that you've screwed up.
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