Not quite ready for prime time

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

Hmm.

I guess Rumsfeld and Marx do look a bit similar.

I never noticed before.

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.

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

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

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?

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.

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

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

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.

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

I give. Seraphym is prettier than me.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

D.

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.

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

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?

Usama Bin Laden.

-AND-

Uma Thurman.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

Now that's a little better. 52% match with Jackie Chan. I can live with that. :-)

I got Warren Beatty? Also in the list were Michael Keaton and David Arqette, but then so was Linda Hamilton. Hmm.

Why didn't you use a 'Pirate mode' photo?