File :-(, x, )
The US, as usual Anonymous
My company will send me to the US for about a month this year. I'm already scared shitless of the FBI and the hotel staff wiretapping my internet among other things. That would mean no downloading or 4ch for a month...

The last guy who went out mentioned that convenience stores don't sell beer. So where do I find it?

What do they check at the border? Should I even bother trying to bring food/drink/swiss army knife, and do they check the contents of your laptop / USB drive?

Anything else I need to survive in the US for a prolonged period of time?
>> Anonymous
some states sell bere at the drug store, some don't. Most places do sell beer at gas stations. If you're in a weird place that doesn't, you just go to the grocery store or liquor store. You won't have to go far to get beer, unless you are in some backward dry county in Alabama or something.

Are you crossing the border by land or air? Since you are not a U.S. citizen I assume, you could be in for some fun times. They will fingerprint you and scan your retina.

Food that is prepackaged and unopened will probably be okay. Customs does from time to time take people's laptops and copy everything on them, then give them back hours later if they decide not to take you to jail.

Whatever else you need to know to survive, i guess depends on where you are coming from and what you are used to.
>> Anonymous
First of all: you are waaayy too paranoid. Second of all: your friend is insane; every convenience store sells beer. As for the border, put stuff like liquids and knives(duh) in your main luggage, not carry-on; they only care about carry-on stuff.

And check the contents of your laptop/wire your internet? Don't be retarded. You aren't going to Soviet Russia, and nobody gives a damn about what you do on the internet.
>> Anonymous
>>23253
you are indeed paranoid. The FBI don't give a flying fuck about you unless you're doing something illegal (visiting 4chan is not illegal), and the hotel staff have better things to do then care what you're browsing.
Convenience stores sell beer, your friend appears to be blind.
They check your passport at the border. They don't check your luggage, unless you come up in the FBI database or some shit (which I bet you won't). They don't check the contents of computers.
"Survive" in the US? The US is a first world country, you don't need to bring anything to "survive" in it. The US is not a fascist state, stop believing everything you see on 4chan/hear on the news.
>> Anonymous
Thanks for the answers.

>>23254
That sounds good, Gas Station it is, then.

And yes, I'm paranoid. It's not that I'm afraid of some nazi shit happening, but a possibility will be there that wasn't there before. RIAA and the bunch have no power in my country (Eastern EU lol), but I'll be much closer to them in the US.
Also, customs will be sure to check the luggage at least randomly. And the Russian visa was a cakewalk compared to the US one, they will know more about me than my government.
>> Anonymous
>>23266

RIAA should not be a worry for you. You won't be criminally prosecuted for stealing music. RIAA just files lawsuits against people, and it has nothing to do with customs checks. They just troll limewire. If you're only here a month, do not personally sign up for an isp, and don't even have a permanent address here, no problems.
>> Anonymous
>>23253

You'll probably get shot as soon you enter a big city. If not, you're lucky if you only get mugged.

Regular people will probably spit on you or accost you for not being American, and you might get shit from the local police as well. Either way people will be staring at you with contempt and general disdain for not being American.

Not really though. We're not European after all. Sure, I've heard New Yorkers are total assholes, but I think Americans on the whole are actually very welcoming and nice. You'll probably be surprised.

Where exactly are you going anyways? Because there's a lot of regional differences in US.
>> Anonymous
Eurofag here, I nominally hate Americans, especially the retarded portion that tends to inhabit 4chan, however, I did see that people of San Francisco were very nice when I went there, and the city was truly beautiful.

So yeah, there are parts of merica like that, and there is Alabama.
>> Anonymous
Hotel staff will probably not wiretap your internet, but hotel internet is not provided by hotel staff. Instead, the company that provides hotel internet (usually some pay per minute thing) will wiretap you and send the full logs back to your home town in the form of a press release.

Alcohol depends on what part of US. For example, New York convenience stores do (but they don't call 'em convenience stores). But the beer selection sucks in NY. Midwest is weird. Some areas it flows like the river Ganges. Other places it's easier to buy a machine gun than a bottle of beer. You may need to go to a special store. But almost nothing in the US is as bad as Canada, where the government tells you what to drink. By the way, are you from Canada? We don't take kindly to your people around here...

Little knife is probably no problemo but the TSA has ultimate power within the air transport system, and they will basically take whatever they want and you cannot contest it (well you could fill out a billion forms and potentially go to some hearings to retrieve your $200 of allegedly missing merchandise, but if you're a business traveler your personal time is probably worth more than the amount determined by the USA PATRIOT Act, and anyway, what do you need that knife for, you terrorist. If it's something you really need, buy it here (protip: good knives are sold only over the internet).

They will probably not care about your laptop or USB drive, but it has happened. If you look at any kind of pron (which you do), it pays to remember that carrying any kind of "obscene material" into the US is against the law and they can basically do what they want with it (not sure where the actual laptop hardware stands, but I could use a lulzy story so why not ask the friendly customs agent on your way in).

Other than that, welcome to the USA, and don't mind the ass probe and retinal scan. It's for your own protection.
>> Anonymous
>>23289

Bahaha, San Francisco. You've got to be kidding me. Californians are some of the worst people in the United States. They're so obsessed with the fact that they're from California. They think it's the greatest thing in the world. The state that gave us Hollywood (which should say enough about it).

And San Francisco is filled with homeless people and wierdos. It is a nice looking city, but the people are odd as hell.
>> Anonymous
i don't know if i should laugh or cry that the world thinks of our country this way.

- you won't be wiretapped, jesus christ. don't you think the government has better things to do than track down and prosecute random Europeans for doing perfectly legal things on US soil? and hotel staff?? i'm not even going to go into the long list of reasons why that would never happen (as they should be pretty obvious), but that would never happen.
- i don't know much about what goes on at customs, but again, the contents of your laptop won't be checked. i've never ever heard of this happening. the anon above me might be right about them occasionally taking laptops in to be examined, but really, when you think about the amount of laptops and other data storage devices that come across the border to the amount that they probably search... i'd say your odds of getting singled out are pretty slim.
- the RIAA is a bunch of pansies. they cherrypick random college kids to prosecute and that's pretty much the extent of their interference into the everyday world of illegal downloading. there's a reason why everyone and their grandmother downloads music and movies illegally. you'll be fine, especially considering you're not a US citizen.
- lol your friend must be blind, you can buy beer just about anywhere. convenience stores, gas stations, delis, grocery stores, liquor stores... laws vary from state to state but it's not hard to find.
- we New Yorkers are nice, really. we just don't want to be bothered.
>> Anonymous
>>23294
meh, they seemed nice to me

but... homeless people, yes. I would be surprised to see them if I didn't already know about that sort of thing.
>> Anonymous
something you should be scared of is black people. if they see you, and you look confused, they'll swarm you like flies on a cow's carcas. So make sure you always look like you know what your doing. If you are looking for a street, dont slow down at every intersection, go at same speed and if you pass it turn around and go back to it. Just dont look like a tourist and nobody will think you are one. If your not a tourist and dont look like a good target to rob, blacks will probably leave you alone, as long as you dont look them in the eyes. If you look one in the eye be prepared to lose everything you have, even your ass virginity, and the ability of your first 3 daughters to marry in the case of a major gang.

As for beer, you can get it everywhere. Except for massachusetts on sunday. if your in a state that dont sell it in supermarket then chances are they'll be at least 4 alcohol stores within 5 miles of where you are going to be staying.
>> Anonymous
>>23318
As the Eurofag who went to SF, I disagree. I didn't encounter any issues like that, back to your basement.
>> Anonymous
>>23326
They were nicer to you because you're a eurofag and in the mind of the quintessential SF yuppie European accents means cultured. Saying this as a SocalFag who's also been there.

Either that or that's just my paranoid cynicism talking.
>> Anonymous
You're paranoia is best left back in whatever fucktard country you live in. Unless you're trying to smuggle child porn or nuclear weaponry into here, you're welcome to cheer the fuck up and realize we're not going to kill you.

The FBI isn't here to randomly molest and wiretap every European that comes over. Unless you're coming here from the Middle-East and wearing a blood-stained turban and a T-Shirt that says, "I can't wait to bomb you fuckers", no one's going to care what's in your bag, much less on your laptop.

You have a right to privacy as long as you are not violating any laws; thus, play nice and you've got nothing to worry about. Hell, I've known people get through customs with switchblades (which are not only not fun to get through customs with but illegal in my state) and machetes. This isn't City 17, this is America.

And for beer, there are a lot of stores that sell them. Just go to any store of a similar nature and you'll find what you're after.
>> Anonymous
Honestly, you DO have a reason to be paranoid of the FBI and wire-tapping and all that in the U.S...something that you would not have to worry about in most any other country. But still, the chances of them tracking/monitoring and/or v&ing you when you're just a visitor using hotel wireless for your short stay in the U.S. are very slim.
4chan IS the arch nemesis of the FBI; we stand for everything that they hate. Free speech, unbridled anonymous insanity, a lot of barely legal if not blatantly illegal content being posted on a daily basis, etc, but with the ridiculous amount of people using this site these days, you stand very little chance of being singled out.
And if you're still paranoid, there are all kinds of programs that will hide or mask your IP and identity on the internet...various proxies, Tor, programs like Peerguardian and tons other that someone else can probably tell you more about.
But, as I said, there is little to no chance of you getting in any trouble with the FBI or any other law enforcement agency during your stay in America, unless your skin color is not white (just kidding...kind of.)
>> Anonymous
A friend of mine went to the US with his family recently, and his brother's name was cihad i.e. jihad, which is a normal name in derka-derkastan. Anyways, after they get in the US airport they lose the kid, and start shouting his name to find him. Seconds after they start yelling "jihad" in the middle of the airport, security rushes in with rifles pointed to them.

It ended with them spending lots of hours waiting in a dark room with some Ugandans, until they explained themselves.
>> Anonymous
Typically, customs will trust your paperwork. They have way, way to many people to handle than to do any detailed search of your computer. If you wana be on the safe side, just bury your porn somewhere thats not real obvious. Or, just carry it with a dead batterey, and if they decide to mess with it, I can guarentee they wont dig your power cable out and have you plug it in, log on, et cetera. The average customs agent knows shit about computers, so unless they have specific intellegence aginst you, or you get really, really unlucky, you'll be fine.

The TSA is actually more concerned about you trying to smuggle a weapon onto an airplane hidden in your laptop than whats actually on your computer.

Typically, your hotell will have a non password protected wifi network that you have to connect to, set so your browser takes you somewhere to agree to a terms of service, which are actually never monitored or enforced.

A lot of people beleive that the US Goverment is ill minded and technically compatent, but its actually the other way around.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>23373
lol, oh wow. funny as it is, that story sounds very realistic. Cihad does sound like Jihad, and i can see the confusion. what they should have done is to go to airport security first, not start yelling out one of the keywords that can get you a free, all expenses paid FBI wire tap.

pic very related, there was a bunch of security officers carrying G36K assault rifles last time i was in the Baltimore airport.
>> Anonymous
>>23388v&

Enjoy getting waterboarded.
>> Anonymous
>>23389
not really, in four years i will be the one doing the water-boarding...
>> Anonymous
>>23388
Cihad is Jihad. "C" in Turkish is pronounced as a "J".
>> Anonymous
>>23402
thus, increasing the odds of getting raped by TSA.
>> Anonymous
Wear a bullet proof vest. Seriously. America has NO gun control at all. Absolutely none. Most people have no idea what zero gun control actually is until they see it for themselves. I was on holiday in Canada last year and we drove into America just for the hell of it. They literally walk around with guns. Americans are also HIGHLY xenophobic, one of the most xenophobic countries on the planet. Xenophobia + guns for everyone + rampant goverment corruption = YOU die.

Just be careful. It IS a 1st world country, BUT is also the only 1st world country to display all the signs of a 3rd world country.
>> Anonymous
>>23318
Also, they're not called black people, but the "jazz people".
>> Anonymous
>>23430
You're trolling unless you can actually say what city this was.
>> Anonymous
Come to Delaware. We're small and full of cancer, but there's no shopping tax, and we're friendly.

Also, you're not going to get shot. Honestly. It only happens in low-income inner city areas. And you can buy beer just about anywhere, and the Internet is still the Internet, and Customs will not rape you, all they care about are really thick heels in your shoes, CP, knives, and liquid in containers.

Seriously, it's a nice place to be. This thread is just full of fucktarded trolls.
>> Anonymous
guns rule you'll love it here
>> Anonymous
>>23432

detroit is just over the border amirite (ausfag know very little about US) as far as I know it has some of the worst gun crime in america, im not saying he is not a troll but...
>> CapitalistBastard !!f/pELCnjRD0
>>23253

OP, your post was very unhelpful for giving you advice.

Where exactly are you going?
>> Anonymous
>>23458
It's not like the Detroit Red Wings get shot by all their fans when they lose a game, y'know? I've also heard of people who complain that because of strict gun restrictions in Canada, and I remember a newspaper story years ago about an Ausfag who had to use a samurai sword heirloom to fight a robber because of the stronger gun restrictions there. So this kind of thing goes both ways.

He's making a pretty nasty stereotype. It's true in certain parts of many cities, such as Compton in LA or some nasty parts of Miami, etc that you probably should have a gun concealed somewhere on you just in case. But not all parts of cities are like that.
>> Anonymous
>>23289
You gathered all your impressions from SanFran? Oh wow. Everybody likes to shit all over the southeast(omg racist backwards evangelicals, at least that's what I saw on Family Guy!), but they're probably the nicest region in the country.
>> Anonymous
>>23472
replace "they're" with "we're" and you got yourself a more honest post
>> Anonymous
>>23253

The only "survival" skill you need to live here is to be able to deal with listening to people talk about American Idol seriously. Otherwise you're golden. Seriously, we don't eat babies. The pictures on the Gerber jars are not showing the ingredient but what you're suppose to feed that stuff too. I've been from coast to coast in this country and haven't seen a single convenience store that DIDN'T sell beer. Some places you can't buy after 10pm. Lots of guns but people don't use them. Most collect dust on gunracks. I've never fired a gun in my life and I own two rifles, though they're antiques. This isn't 1880 and even back then shootings weren't a daily occurrence. It all gets played up because it sells print.

Nobody cares that you're a tourist because we're tourists in our own country. Nobody cares about your accent as long as they can understand you. If somebody glares at you, ignore them. If they ignore you, ignore them. If they say hello, say hello back. All types of people are everywhere, you'll blend in even if you feel like you stand out.
>> Anonymous
>>23461

Black people don't watch hockey.
>> Anonymous
>>23544

Sorry, Jazz People don't watch hockey. My mistake there.
>> Anonymous
>>23318
Wise words that you won't find in any travel guide.
>> Anonymous
Forget what you've read in your newspapers, because the media talks up everything that is (or isn't actually) bad about the US.

You'll be fine, and you will meet many friendly people, and I guarantee at least some of them will in fact be very interested in where you come from.

Bring whatever you are allowed to, find out on the customs card or whatever. Swiss army knife can fly in your checked baggage, no they don't check the contents of your laptop/USB drive. That's insane.

You won't be wiretapped, but try to refrain from anything blatantly illegal. Browsing 4chan is fine. Maybe decided against illegal filesharing, or not. Fuck who cares.

You will have no problem finding beer. I promise. You are 21+, right?

Even if you're not, you will have only a slightly harder time finding beer. It will still be very easy, and you might make a drinking buddy. No worries.

Enjoy my country!!
>> Anonymous
>>23561no they don't check the contents of your laptop/USB drive. That's insane.

They do, at least the last 6 times I went through LAX they did. They make you turn it on and then look through everything with explorer, and do a couple of word searches. If time is short they will copy your hard drive via usb.
>> Anonymous
>>hey do, at least the last 6 times I went through LAX they did. They make you turn it on and then look through everything with explorer, and do a couple of word searches. If time is short they will copy your hard drive via usb.

Nothing like this has happened to me the 4 times I went through LAX in the last year. Are you middle-eastern looking? I'd like to know what the fuck they're looking for when they pick people out for these 'random' searches.
>> Anonymous
>>23561
To add to the file sharing thing, I know that colleges don't like you using their WiFi for filesharing, but I'm not so sure as to hotels. Stick on the safe side and don't do it there.
But just using it through someone's house is fine, ISPs are greedy and don't care, unless it's Comcast and their anti-net neutrality shit.
>> Anonymous
>>23596
someone needs to read
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=08/04/22/1733251
" California appeals court has unanimously upheld a ruling that border security officers at international airports can search personal computers without requiring any specific evidence of criminal activity."
>> Anonymous
>>23561
>Forget what you've read in... newspapers

Good advice! Don't bother watching the news or reading the papers here, either. You really will not get any valuable or honest information from them, ever.

Also, I wouldn't worry about anyone wiretapping you for fucks sake unless you do something like screaming you're going to kill everyone in an airport. As for scanning your laptop, no. They don't do that. Why would you care, anyway? Porn is legal. Unless it's child pornography. In which case you can just stay wherever you came from.
>> Anonymous
>>23430
lol what? Unless you're in a part of america full of niggers, there is no problem.

PS everyone talking about SF being a nice city is a fucking liar. I went there one for a computer convention of sorts, and its full of fucking agressive homeless people and trannies. I had to step over quiet a few that were SLEEPING ON THE SIDEWALK IN BROAD FUCKING DAYLIGHT.

If this was back in my area of texas, they would have been curb stomped.
>> Anonymous
ITT: Dumbasses. Unless you're middle-eastern and therefore a terrorist, we dont care.
>> Anonymous
>>23776If this was back in my area of texas, they would have been curb stomped.

HEEE HAAAA! WESA GOIN TO FRY SOME NIGGERS AND RETARDS, HEEEE HAAAAAA!
And people wonder why everyone hates americans.
>> Anonymous
>>23778
I was talking about homeless people, who shouldnt have been sleeping in the street.

This is why everyone hates Europeans.
>> Anonymous
>>23778
Hell, I'm sure you wouldn't like angry hobos sleeping on your sidewalk in the middle of the day, either.
>> Anonymous
>>23253
Convenience stores do sell beer just not wine and hard liquor so you go to a liquor store for that.
>> Anonymous
>>23781
Yes, I wouldn't like that - and I don't see that, while Americans do.

Ever think of why that is the fucking case?
>> Anonymous
>>23565
I went through LAX only a few months ago. They didn't touch my laptop and it was in my carry on bag.
>> Anonymous
lol good troll post OP
>> Anonymous
There are a lot of fools in here talking about how they go through LAX every week and never have a problem.

That's because the exception that allows them to do a suspicionless search is for "border crossings." As in, international border crossings. If you are flying domestically, your files won't get copied. If you are hopping off a flight that departed Singapore for the U.S., then there's a chance your laptop is gonna be copied.
>> Anonymous
>>23813
Yea and the OP said he would be entering the country. I dont see how all these idiots cant see that traveling inside the country has nothing to do with what he was asking.
>> Anonymous
A
>> Anonymous
If your white you'll catch your flight. If your dark, they will search your ass till it leaves a mark.
>> Anonymous
>>23253
I'm american (now) but when i traveled i had my external with me. and i spend a weekend at a hotel in vegas looking for brothels and shit so...you're safe to look on 4chan. I took my external because I also visited my parents on the way back and they have dial up, so i took all my porn with me.
Alcohol...some states have dry counties (arkansas, luckily the base sells and the county lines are thin around here.)
as long as you don't have any CP in your hard drive. you're good! they didn't scan my laptop or anything. if YOU DO! put it in an external and put that in your checked baggage so they wont take it from you.

Where the fuck are you going anyway? if you dont mind asking (tell me anyway)
>> Anonymous
>>23373
lolz
>>25236
always lived in amerikkka btw
>> Anonymous
>>23472
don't feel bad, theirs bad and nice ppl everywhere. I went to philly once and they were nice, bought us drinks and shit. (military)
so ya, you know the stereotype of city folk.
and ya. i live in arkansas, pretty nice ppl here
>> Anonymous
guys, is there a site that i can use to book hotels and plan my trip beforehand?(traveling within the USA)
>> Anonymous
AWGAWD YOU had to post a trollbait topic, OP.

The fact is, liquor laws vary by State, so it depends entirely on which ones you go to. All the people making "uh NO it's like blah" posts probably haven't ever left their home state. (provincial bunch, ain't we?)

Old blue-laws in the Northeast (except maine) make beer available in *some* supermarkets (limited #s though) but generally only in specialized liquor stores.

Some southern states have dry counties or township. (e.g. where JD is made haha) YMMV

---
as far as the border goes, they reserve the right to inspect whatever they like. the workload however, requires a random sampling approach, or airports would bog down. disputes about the nature of the randomness abound ofc, but since the guidelines are secret and the laws / courts supportive, not much you can do. maybe you get doublechecked, maybe you don't.
>> Anonymous
>>25240
Yeah, try travelocity.