Airport security can be fun! ... When it's a game

Have you ever dreamed of being a TSA baggage screener? To sit for hours at a time watching x-rayed images of carry-on luggage, trying to pick out the knife from among your clothes, toothbrush, laptop, shoes, belts, and whatever else you shove in there to avoid checking luggage? Me neither.

But someone thought it might be fun. I wasn't so sure when I saw a new game for my iPhone called Airport Scanner, which puts you in the TSA baggage screener's seat and purports to make airport security fun. In a press release, one of the game's creators said the company's goal "is to create unique games out of everyday life experiences that are fun and interesting." Have they visited an airport, I asked. What is "fun and interesting" about passing through a TSA security checkpoint?

Oh well, I paid the $0.99 to try it anyway. My report: It turns out it is sort of fun to pick out knives, ice skates, ninja stars, and sticks of dynamite from luggage. I'm not sure how long the game will keep my interest, but it's certainly entertaining for now.