Pharyngula: Not quite ready for prime time

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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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Not quite ready for prime time

Category: Personal
Posted on: July 1, 2006 11:55 AM, by PZ Myers

Because all the cool kids are doing it, I plugged my face into this Face Recognition software.

I am not happy.

I mean, really, what did I do to deserve this?

→

I'm a little happier with my second choice.

→

I'm still not going outside anywhere without a bag over my head anymore.

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Comments

Excuse my ignorance (or lack of the requisite ability), but is the second face that of Karl Marx?

Posted by: gracchus | July 1, 2006 12:06 PM

Hmm.

I guess Rumsfeld and Marx do look a bit similar.

I never noticed before.

Posted by: fontor | July 1, 2006 12:11 PM

Well at least you got a known celebrity. Is Marx even in their database? It looks like it could be a better match.

My closest match is Michael Owen (who?) at 60%. I did two tries, rotating to a more level view on the second try, but this did not help. I also got John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Gilbert O'Sullivan at 50% (slightly less on the second try) (sort of fits since my ancestors all eventually go back to Ireland). Other matches included actor Edward Norton, Calvin Coolidge, Vaclac Havel, and Max Euwe (?).

The one that threw me was Oliver Hardy, the larger half of Laurel and Hardy. Maybe they have different picture in their DB than the one they display, but I just don't see it.

Posted by: PaulC | July 1, 2006 12:44 PM

Does it mean you're going to foment a violent revolution somewhere but then send the CIA to squash it?

Posted by: Alon Levy | July 1, 2006 1:16 PM

Alon, you must obviously make your living as an efficiency expert

Posted by: gracchus | July 1, 2006 1:30 PM

Hey, my pic was matched with that of the 77-year-old John Glenn. I think that software must be usin' one of them unknown unknowns Rummy was talkin' about. Or was that Karl?

Posted by: Michael Bérubé | July 1, 2006 1:31 PM

Wow, this is amazing software! Uncannily accurate! I got Tom Cruise and Gregory Peck. Then I tried a photo of my younger self (15 years ago) and got a match on Leonardo DiCaprio.

Gosh, I'm pretty.

Posted by: Zeno | July 1, 2006 2:01 PM

I'm suprised you didn't match the late Peter Ustinov - a well-known (refugee/British) actor......

Posted by: G. Tingey | July 1, 2006 2:27 PM

OK, Bérubé, but you're a moonbat. It was reading your inner soul and deciding that an astronaut was the best fit.

Posted by: PZ Myers | July 1, 2006 2:37 PM

#10

I guess Rumsfeld and Marx do look a bit similar.
I never noticed before.

Yeah, and have you ever seen them in the same room together? Very curious.

Posted by: Zeno | July 1, 2006 2:42 PM

#11

Hey I got Elle Mcpherson... (I'm a 27 year old GUY)

Posted by: Seraphym | July 1, 2006 2:43 PM

#12

I give. Seraphym is prettier than me.

Posted by: Zeno | July 1, 2006 2:49 PM

#13

Obviously, this "face" recognition is only good at matching hairlines, lighting, and angles. That, and the secret contents of souls.

Posted by: Grumpy | July 1, 2006 3:03 PM

#14

Grumpy, you're only saying that because you matched Winston Churchill or something, aren't you? [/joke]

I did it yesterday and matched Emma Watson and Martin Luther King Jr. Oooookayyyy.

Posted by: Carlie | July 1, 2006 3:18 PM

#15

Hmmm, I got Eminem, not bad. And... Nicky Hilton?

Posted by: Richard | July 1, 2006 3:38 PM

#16

Strangely, one's hairstyle really seems to impact the matches that you get. I noticed this while playing with the website several months ago. Try a different picture and you'll probably get totally different results.

And yes, cross-gender matches seem pretty common. It's definitely an amusing way to kill some time.

Posted by: kmarissa | July 1, 2006 3:41 PM

#17

First time around I got freakin' Herbert Spencer. Who is mostly bald. And I'm a grrrl with hair. Okay, so he came up with the term "evolution"; maybe the software does read one's soul...

Second picture, I got Rachel Weisz. Much better, tho' I see no resemblance to either of those folks.

Posted by: DominEditrix | July 1, 2006 4:21 PM

#18

I got everyone from Jeff GoldBlum and Dick Cheney to Sylvia Plath. (Calista Flockhart?) Finally, some rich weirdo who co-founded microsoft named Paul Allen kept popping up.

Oh, but I got Heath Ledger. Muh hah hah.

Posted by: Inoculated Mind | July 1, 2006 4:59 PM

#19

I got Colin Powell -- and I'm pretty much the typical thirtysomething nerdy white male. We both wear glasses, I suppose.

Posted by: Jonathan Badger | July 1, 2006 5:38 PM

#20

Rajiv Ghandi, former Prime Minister of India.
According to Wikipedia, he increased funding for science and educational programs. Then he got caught up in a scandal involving corporate kickbacks, was voted out of office, and was assassinated a few years later. Hooray?

Posted by: RCP | July 1, 2006 5:42 PM

#21

Usama Bin Laden.

-AND-

Uma Thurman.

Even taking me out of the picture, that's just weird.

Posted by: Evan Murdock | July 1, 2006 9:31 PM

#22

I was a 68% match to Alan Alda and a 53% match to Shelly Winters. Wow.

Posted by: cfeagans | July 1, 2006 11:45 PM

#23

Zeno, I think I have Seraphym beat: I got Alexis Bledel. Not bad for using a picture from when I just got back from a hiking trip, having not bathed in almost a week. Also, I'm a guy and had four days' stubble in the picture.

Posted by: qubit | July 2, 2006 1:39 AM

#24

Oh, and Evan, that may not seem so weird after seeing Babe Laden.

Posted by: qubit | July 2, 2006 1:55 AM

#25

PZ,

As bad as you think yours was...my first three matches were women, and then a Chinese dude [I'm Caucasian].

I was ready to swallow some pills, but then just decided to completely dismiss the accuracy of the program.

Posted by: sdanielmorgan | July 2, 2006 7:23 AM

#26

The program seems to compare the pictures rather than their subjects. The 'best match' always seems to be similarly lit, with a similar composition & expression.

Paul C: Michael Owen is a striker for the English side in the World Cup-- he went out with a knee injury against Sweden, I think.

Posted by: Bryson Brown | July 2, 2006 9:24 AM

#27

Hm, and the page claims it doesn't support Safari?? Oh well, I don't have a good photo anyway.

Posted by: Keith Douglas | July 2, 2006 10:05 AM

#28

Hey, at least it didn't match you with an Olsen twin.

Posted by: Dr. Free-Ride | July 2, 2006 10:28 AM

#29

You thinks yours are bad. Apparently I look like George Bush!!!

Posted by: tluger | July 2, 2006 1:00 PM

#30