I just put mine in the little bowl they use to pass keys etc through. They did not x-ray it. That system worked in Tulsa and Sarasota. Small airports, so maybe not true for larger ones.

If I remember from Mac Secrets correctly (and my physics education), X-rays will have no effect on computers or iPods. Magnetism might, but it would have to be very strong and the only magnetism in X-ray machines in airports would be from the conveyer belt. It's hardly a concern.

Just as a side note, last time I travelled with my powerbook, they made me turn it on to show it was in fact a computer. Do they still do that? Would make me feel much more comfortable if they did.

Just because an electronic device can turn on doesn't mean it's not also a bomb. Most of the security procedures that you see at the airport are really just for peace of mind -- they don't actually increase security. That's OK though, your lifetime risk of actually dying in any kind of terrorist incident in the U.S. is so low as to be nonexistent. There are other more realistic things you should be worrying about.

Anyway, the last few times I've travelled I've had to put my iPod through the x-ray machine and there's no problem with that. PowerBook too. I've never had them ask me to turn either one on to make sure it works.

Ha, one time a couple years ago I was flying and the TSA inspector was going through my camera bag (2 SLR bodies, bunch of lenses) and she pulled out my late 1970's vintage Canon A-1 camera (a basically fully manual SLR camera) and asks me to turn it on.

Huh? Well I flipped the little switch from L to A but that's about it. It doesn't do anything when you turn it on. Hmm this will make more sense if you have ever owned one of those cameras.

I recently travelled from Vancouver BC to Las Vegas and took my iPod and iBook with me; in Vancouver they didn't even make me open the iBook's case but just ran it through the X-ray; in Vegas they ran the case through the machine, stopped it and looked at it for about 20 seconds, then took me aside and swabbed the case for explosive residue (surprisingly, considering I'd been at a pyro convention, nothing showed up). At no time did anybody ask me to turn it on, although I had it in sleep mode so it wouldn't have been a hassle to do so.

I was wearing a Tilley "Vest Of Many Pockets" so I left my iPod in that and ran the vest through the machine with no problems.