Monday, January 3, 2011

The Face that Launched a Thousand Websites

My new laptop arrived late this afternoon and I've been installing and activating software ever since.  The one piece I haven't played with yet is the facial recognition application. Supposedly it will eliminate the need for me to enter passwords for my computer and most of the websites I use that require them.  That would be a good thing because (theoretically, at any rate) malware will never be able to snatch my passwords from the cookies on my hard drive, but I'm a little leery of the technology.  If I wear my glasses during the initial setup, will it recognize my face when I'm wearing my contacts?  What happens if I change my hairstyle or color?  Is the software smart enough to know it's my face with or without makeup on?

My old HP had fingerprint recognition software that was also supposed to do away with passwords, but I was never able to use it.  Like the fingerprint recognition locks on the storage lockers at Universal Studios, the software could never read my prints.  Maybe I spend so much time on the computer that I've largely worn off my ridges and whorls; they're hard even for me to see.  I have higher hopes for the facial recognition software because  I've reached the age when my face is acquiring ridges and whorls rather than losing them.

"If God had to give a woman wrinkles, He might at least have put them on the soles of her feet. " ~Ninon de L'Enclos

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