News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by re on Friday September 30, 2011 @02:45AM (#3055952)
Similarly, if you're posting an image of a mailed envelope and want to block out your address, don't forget to remove the postal bar code, which can be specific enough to identify your mailbox.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSTNET

Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by jarin on Friday September 30, 2011 @06:29AM (#3056435)
I seem to remember hearing about there being an indicator of whether or not you should be given an "enhanced screening" as well. I assume it is set if you are on a watch list, or randomly otherwise.
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by Udo on Friday September 30, 2011 @07:00AM (#3056475)
If you're on "The List" or have otherwise triggered red flags, your boarding pass will have a quadruple S marking on it (SSSS) in plain text.
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by knieveltech on Friday September 30, 2011 @01:10PM (#3057732)
Seize, Sequester, Search, Sodomize?
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by hammock on Friday September 30, 2011 @02:47PM (#3058121)
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by jimktrains2 on Friday September 30, 2011 @02:08PM (#3057997)
So, this information isn't signed or anything? Airports that scan your pass to check your name don't actually look up the name from a database? So..:-\
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by swewing on Friday September 30, 2011 @07:45PM (#3058928)
When boarding an aircraft the information is still used to mark you as boarded in the airline's system.

This information is then checked when the flight closes to make sure that everyone who has checked in has actually boarded.

The scanners at TSA entry points might be a different story. I'm not sure if they're linked into the airline reservation's system, or if they just check the barcode to see if you have a valid flight for that day listed. I'm certainly not going to test this theory though!

Fortunately the country I live in (AU) allows anyone through domestic security check-points, so it's a non issue.

Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by drblast on Friday September 30, 2011 @01:32PM (#3057837)
Does anyone else find it odd that the barcode doesn't entirely consist of a primary key referencing a passenger database?

I do somewhat understand the desire to encode additional information for cases when, for example, network connectivity is lost at an airport terminal, but mostly this just seems unnecessary.

Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by epochwolf on Friday September 30, 2011 @02:25PM (#3058057)
Having worked with some enterprise software before, this is not a surprise. What happens if you have multiple booking systems? You end up with 87734 being non-unique. GUIDs? What if the system was produced in the 80s?

Having the scan code contain the same info as the boarding pass itself is just fine. It's what you would do with a paper pass anyway.

Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by mscarborough on Friday September 30, 2011 @12:28AM (#3055683)
Article not readable in FF - crammed into small div on right.
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by JoshTriplett on Friday September 30, 2011 @02:16AM (#3055893)
I noticed this when I attempted to make the small fonts a bit larger. If you shrink your fonts a bit it might work. (Looks like the site uses some fragile CSS positioning.)
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by diziet on Friday September 30, 2011 @12:30AM (#3055688)
It rendered fine for me on 7.0.1
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by swewing on Friday September 30, 2011 @07:42PM (#3058922)
I can replicate this under certain conditions - and all to do with changing the text size as Josh suggested.

I'll try to get around to fixing it this weekend.

Thanks for noticing :-)

Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by Luyt on Friday September 30, 2011 @03:59AM (#3056136)
Same here, FF 6.0.2 on OSX 10.6.8

Teh interwebs are broken since 1993.

Luckily there is View/Page Style/No Style, and the Readability AddOn, both of which bring web sanity back.

Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by kleiba on Friday September 30, 2011 @01:51AM (#3055832)
Works for me in FF 6.0.2
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by bootload on Friday September 30, 2011 @01:34AM (#3055795)
worked on FF 3.6.17, which version/platform?
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by joshmattvander on Friday September 30, 2011 @01:12PM (#3057746)
I don't know, but that question just put you on a watch list ;D
Re:What’s contained in a boarding pass barcode? by swewing on Friday September 30, 2011 @07:41PM (#3058917)
You'll be pleased to know that I've flown in the US several times since making that post, and not only have I not been selected for "secondary screening", I haven't had the nude-o-scope either ;-)