Can you tell the difference between the sort of person who would write a programming language and a serial killer?
It's getting close to Halloween so this is a good time to test your powers of detection.
Malevole has a lovely survey that asks if you can tell whether a person is a famous computer scientist or famous for another reason.
I'm interested in whether biologists as a group are able to tell the difference.
If you'd like to play:
1. Go take Malvole's survey first,
2. Then come back here and take mine.
It won't take much time and I'll post the results up in a couple of weeks.
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A picture is insufficient data.
Insufficient data or no, I managed to score 8 out of 10 on Malevole's test -- and one of those I missed was both a computer programmer AND a serial killer, so I maintain that was a trick question. The real issue is: what does this say about ME? :)
But Jennifer, you hang out with physicists. The physicists that I've known look quite a bit like both the computer scientists and the serial killers.
Maybe you've learned to tell the difference. :-)
I'm not doing the questionnaire because I already know the answer. A serial killer only kills you once. A programmer can kill you an indefinite number of times. More, if they work for Microsoft.
I first saw this quiz back in the late 1990s. I got them all right. (The first time I took it; this time I didn't take it because some fool converted it to flash, and it doesn't run on the linux flash plugin (because adobe is always slow to update the linux flash plugin).) They are all designers of relatively obscure programming languages. The question Jennifer complained about is only a trick question if you don't know the difference between a designer of programming languages (which is really what the test is asking about) and an ordinary programmer. I didn't take your survey because I'm not a biologist. (I'm a programmer - but if you ask me I bet the average programmer has never heard of about half of the languages designed by those people.)
I got 7/10 on the first test. Language programmers are pretty easy to spot. They're the ones that look like the biggest geeks.
I don't look like a geek because I'm not actually a programmer. I'm an all around I.T. guy.
@llewelly: I'll bet you made arithmetic errors in calculus class too, just like I did. 1) Adobe's Flash 9 is pretty much up to date, way better than when MM was steward of the code. The quiz works fine on my Ubuntu Dapper+Firefox workstation, a Dell PIII Dimension 4100. 2) Sandra's survey has a question specifically for you (and me) regarding one's vocation.
I got 7/10. Guess I still harbor grudges against my fellow geeks as I picked out way too many serial killers.
9/10.
Your survey has a flaw, though, since I could only check one: I'm a biologist, but I also worked for several years as a system manager and programmer -- I've actually written software in some of those languages, and recognized most of the language designers.
I didn't recognize the guy who invented Scheme.
PZ - I did have one category that I intended to have represent biologists with some programming skills. I guess I just didn't describe it well enough.
9/10 is amazing! The only one I recognized was a serial killer.
Hey! I got the same score as PZ!
I decided, as soon as I saw the survey was a bunch of Flash images, that I was not going to play that silly guessing game and simply chose programming language inventor for each one. Two reasons: I hate Flash, and--as already pointed out-a portrait is insufficient data. End result is 5/10.
Silly commenters, of course a picture is insufficient data. Duh. Play the stupid game, don't make excuses for your lousy performance, and don't brag about your superior guessing ability.
And I bet you can't throw your apple core into that trash can from where you're sitting. Bet you can't! Ha ha!
(3/10 and proud of it)
PZ, the only one I could recognize was Sussman [Shceme guys, http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~gjs/ ], thanks to the http://swiss.csail.mit.edu/classes/6.001/abelson-sussman-lectures/ .
I guess I cannot identify my own kind. 7/10. I picked up a few mass murderers who should have diverted their energies starting a programming language (as long as it's polymorphic).
How about a quiz using biologist? Be sure to include PZ's nude photo.
Hmmm... not a biologist, programmer or serial killer, but I managed a 10/10 score.... LOL
Most of the people who looked cheerful and friendly were not serial killers. People in grainy photos that look like they might have been taken in the 1930s were serial killers.
First time through I got 6/10, but recognized all but one of the Languages--but the designers were perfect strangers. Even having seen the test and having read RickD's guide to picking serial killers, I still only got 8/10.
i wasnt sure about 4 of them (3 because of low quality, 1 for photo from side)
but for others: 6/6 were quite obvious
some serial killers can be seen here: http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/stuff/serialkillers/
they are all somehow typical..
also, i just found, that my country has no famous serial killer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_by_country
what a opportunity :D ..but i am already programmer :(
Um. Four out of ten. Although I got David Berkowitz aka Son of Sam right away - probably recognized the newspaper photo.
I suspect that we need some control groups for comparison - science journalists, bloggers, drug dealers, that kind of thing.
Interesting test. Even though that could go for just about any walk of life, i appreciate picking on programmers.
Got 6/10