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Indiana Bans Driver's License Smiles, For Security
Smelly Jeffrey writes "According to a recent article, Indiana BMV Communications Director Dennis Rosebrough states that applicants for a new or renewed operator's license or state identification card will no longer be allowed to smile and say cheese. Apparently new facial recognition software being employed by the state fails to function when the face is distorted by something as innocuous as smiling. Also on the list of taboos are hats, eyeglasses, and hair that hangs down over the face. The article fails to mention, however, the legality of beards, mustaches, and bushy eyebrows." Similar restrictions are in place for the Enhanced Driver License (which serves as a sort of limited passport) implemented by the state of Washington, among others.
I'd damn well like to keep my awkward smile on my driver's license!
Papers, please.
This has been an unwritten(or maybe even a written) rule in Finland for drivers licenses, passports, ID card etc.
Or maybe it's just that they don't want anyone to mistake Finland with some happy smiling nation.
She: Hey, are you a traitor? Me: No, I'm atheist.
If your anti-terrorist/pedo/freedom/whatever facial recognition software is so sketchy that it can not cope with eyeglasses or facial expressions, it is not doing its job, and neither are you.
Support the EFF and Creative Commons. The war is coming, and they're supporting you...
Beards are a great point. In my license picture I have no facial hair, now I have a full beard. My hair is also quite a bit longer. I wouldn't say I look like a completely different person just a mere two years after getting this one taken, but I doubt I would be recognized by this facial recognition software.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
...that it can bet beat by a simple smile, much less something like a beard or actual disguise. Another one of those government boondoggles that's supposed to make us feel safe, but actually just wastes money and effort.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Note to self: Don't shave for the week before getting driver's license renewed. Also wear old, ugly glasses instead of current glasses.
~ C.
is a smile or a pair of eyeglasses. What a stupid waste of taxpayer dollars.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
... is for those people who don't want to be detected by the recognition software to go around smiling when in the view of cameras that use it?
When buying your booze (and being carded) or being pulled over for speeding, you're generally annoyed, surprised or just plain ticked off, right?
So perhaps the driver's license photo should be graced with one of those common expressions.
The problem with socialism is that they always run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher
Why smile? :P
I'm not sure what is new in this article: in France (and I bet in many other country too), this is already the case for ID card, passport..
Not smiling when the photography is taken feels very weird, but that's not a big issue, though I would guess that parents trying to make their children not smiling for the photography may disagree.
I wish I could find the lyrics to that song, because it sums up a few of the oddities that this state has.
All you have to do to get away with it is smile all the time.
uh... i see a flaw in this 'security measure'.
You owe me a new keyboard slashdot! Dx
You know what happens when someone is told NOT to laugh? I can picture it now...
PictureLady: No sir, no smiling.
Driver: *stiffles a chuckle*
PictureLady: Sir...
Maybe waiting two hours in a quiet room will remedy that however...By the way, at least in my state, you can call ahead. I was in and out in 30 minutes = record. Maybe that's why I have a big smile on mine....lol.
Why not tell people, "you can smile if you want to for your license, but we also have to shoot a picture of you not smiling"? Then, record both images, so that the recognition software has two looks available for that individual. Heck, get a shot of them with and without glasses, too.
This approach would make people happy, promote friendliness, and improve security.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
Real ID should make any sensible person cringe. Take five minutes and read how the federal government has mandated a variety of criteria for states' drivers licenses, the cost of which to the states is in the millions and is entirely unfunded (not to mention unconstitutional!) and poorly executed in states where it has been effected.
Take a moment today to call your state legislators and see where they stand on your states' Real ID compliance. If they oppose it, congratulate them and consider donating to their campaign. If they support it, swear on your mother's grave to see them unseated and replaced with a responsible legislator.
Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
It's settled then, wear a fake beard when you get your picture taken
The article fails to mention, however, the legality of beards, mustaches, and bushy eyebrows.
'cause we all know, unibrow == unibomber
Never ask for directions from a two-headed tourist! -Big Bird
If you don't like the idea of the police finger printing you or taking a DNA sample when you've done absolutely nothing wrong then I suggest you put on a nice big smile for your next license photo. Because that's what this is, the government taking a facial fingerprint of you.
Which brings me to my next concern... are they going to try to make me take off my tinfoil hat for the picture too???
Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?
!liberty
Who the hell smiles at the DMV anyway? This shouldn't be that big of a problem; by the time you get your picture taken you've already been there three hours, been coughed on, had to deal with incompetent workers, and had your car towed because your stickers are out of date. Smiling shouldn't occur.
Thats it now all we have to do is tell the stupid terrorist to smile all the time oh wait
Canada's passports have had a similar "no-smile" requirement since 2003. http://www.ppt.gc.ca/cdn/photos.aspx?lang=eng
Also on the list of taboos are hats, eyeglasses, and hair that hangs down over the face.
So I guess Slash is out entirely.
Kind of hard to get your six-year-old a driver's license in Indiana, anyways.
Six-year-olds in Indiana are eligible for non-driver identification cards just like everyone else. I don't see how this regulation distinguishes between identification cards that include vs. don't include a license to drive on public highways.
Residents of Indiana will no longer be allowed to smile in public when the Homeland Security Alert Level is Orange or Red, to improve security. Image recognition software is not able to easily recognize and track citizens movements if they smile, which causes terrorism and child pornography.
93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
So if I am required by law to wear eyeglasses when driving, I will not patch my DL photo?
Amazing.....
So the cameras can get images that will match the photos, it is also prohibited to smile in:
Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
I don't get the point of the !liberty tag here. Technically your liberty went out the window the moment you had to get licensed to drive in the first place, making this a moot point viz-a-vis liberty. That said, this can be a good thing because one of the controversies in Britain has been with making Muslim women take off their veils to get a state ID. Only in multicultural, bureaucratic lala land could a photo of a woman with a veil be considered part of a photo ID, but with this sort of thing in place, hopefully tactics like that can be avoided before they become a contentious issue.
They're doing this for all of the wrong reasons, but some good can indeed come out of it.
BMV Communications Director Dennis Rosebrough said if a criminal went to get a driver's license under his name, the criminal's photograph would be compared to an old photograph of Rosebrough and the BMV could be alerted the next day that the two don't match.
This system isn't even realtime. What good does it do if a criminal gets away with a state-issued ID a full 36 hours before anyone knows that he shouldn't?
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
Whenever your not at the DMV, wear glasses/smile/frown/etc...
They'll never know its you.
Also on the list of taboos are hats, eyeglasses...
Local reaction: Newspaper reporter Clark Kent was quoted as protesting this in the strongest possible terms, while wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne said he didn't really see this as a problem.
"Apparently new facial recognition software being employed by the state fails to function when the face is distorted by something as innocuous as smiling."
Perhaps they need to use facial anti-distortion software before using facial recognition software ?
If you don't succeed at first, try again. If you still don't succeed, try harder. If nothing works, try reality shows.
And the employee that gives out the passport is not allowed to question your believe. By this reasoning someon managed to gat a official id card dressed as joker. He later fialed to a a drivers license as joker because the employee refused. In that case you also seem to have no rights.
by the way, later his card was taken in because the card is still owned by government..
Here in Indiana, we have the BMV. Yes, that's right. It's the Bepartment of Motor Vehicles.
. . . because Indiana is fucktarded in a lot of ways, that's why!
Okay, I got Linux installed. So where's the free beer everyone keeps talking about??
As those who have read my old sm62704 journals know, I was very nearsighted all my life, until I got a cataract in my left eye that was caused by prescription eyedrops. My eye surgeon implanted a CrystaLens inside it (you will be assimilated, resistance is futile), and my vision in that eye is better than 20/20 now. The doctor said I should no longer have any "corrective lens" restrictions on my driver's license.
My driving record was exemplary so last time my license was renewed I could have had it done by mail, but I went in anyway, extatic. For the first time in my life I was going to have a license without vision restrictions!
Also for the first time, I'm smiling in the picture. In light of the circumstances, how could I not?
And it actually looks like me, unlike every other picture I've ever had on my license. You should vote those morons out of office. A picture of a normally happy person who is frowning does not look like him.
Note to the mods- "Hoosier" is not an insult. Indiana is known as "the Hoosier State", and that was the motto on their license plates for decades. Indiana's citizens are proud to be hoosiers.
Free Martian Whores!
I want to wear my glasses in my driver's license picture! But, as an Indiana resident whose license expires next year, I suppose I'll have to be Scowly McNoGlasses in my next picture. Though I guess it's better than the rain-induced white boy afro in my current picture.
Amazon needs to be taken down under the Patriot Act:
http://www.amazon.com/Groucho-Glasses-Fake-Mustache-Brows/dp/B001HHECYU
Squirrel!
This is a pretty normal precaution. Apparently, smiling allows you to distort your face enough to allow others a better chance of passing themselves off as you.
Of course, keep in mind that the photo is for humans to do facial recognition.
I wouldn't be too concerned.
It gives new meaning to the phrase "Smile, big brother is watching.". No wonder they couldn't recognize Guy Faulks.
IMAGE VERIFICATION IS EVIL!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jOFf_KB3lI and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owvO640ODwA
neither the joker nor rachael ray can get a driver's license
is it just me or does her mouth weird anyone else out? it extends beyond natural dimensions into a creepy permanent smile
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I'm at the freaking DMV! I've been at the freaking DMV for hours!! By the time my picture is taken, I'm definitely not smiling!!!
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Frown when they are taking the ID photo and grin from ear to ear when driving! ;D
Ezekiel 23:20
"NO, this is NOT a combover, my hair grows like that!"
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Terrorists never smile.
...but it's the government. What did you expect?
Now, let me get this off my chest, anonymous-cowardly style as I'm sure this will turn into a nice little flame-bait post:
I'm quite fed up with all the complaining about how states and/or the federal government regulate ID for their citizens. I'm quite fed up about peopling crying over all the Real ID, National ID, and whatever-else ID acts being proposed. What's that you say? Privacy? Infringement of rights? What in the hell are you talking about? Since when did ANY of you think that you had truly rock-solid privacy at ANY time in this country in the last 50 or so years?
Let me tell you a story. I used to work for a now on-its-way-down finance company. We did our own in-house collections work. The fact is, with just your social security number I could tell you who your neighbors was/were, what kind of car your neighbor's second cousin drove, where he or she bought it, and how much they paid for it. I could tell you how much money your mother's recent surgical procedure cost. I could see just about every piece of information I wanted because it's all right there, floating around in cyberspace for people who know how to do a little detective work. Do you not think your own GOVERNMENT has the power and the know how to pull that off? Wake up, people!
I, for one, would welcome a National ID system. I, for one, would welcome some kind of biometric system for identifying citizens. It sure would beat the hell out of carrying a little plastic card around everywhere. I carry as little on my person as possible in case I'm ever robbed. Imagine everything tied together in such a way that you never needed to carry around anything more with you than your own person. To me, that's a safe way to live.
So what if Uncle Sam knows you watch porn or that you just went into the drugstore and bought some cold medicine? You weren't doing anything illegal. I'll state this time-honored phrase again: if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. If you commit a crime, you should be punished. Simple. I don't see how privacy factors in.
The real problem, yes, does come into play if companies are allowed the option of viewing this information and treating their employees based upon what they find, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If anything, recent events have shown that "voting with your wallet" does work rather well. Don't do business with companies that violate the moral dignity that people deserve, but don't spit on the people who protect you from the real dangers of the world.
No matter how bad you think you have it here, I'm certain that we can arrange for you to go somewhere else in the world that's far, far worse.
Usually the pictures aren't that great on the Indiana BMV photos, now they will especially be poor.
makes me a sad panda. :\
Actually, you know what, I'm not even sad but the law makes me look like I am.
Great, now I'm actually sad.
Seriously why doesn't the government hire the best of the worst to write programs like this? I mean look how fast the captcha was broken, among thousands of other security features. I bet that if there was some way to profit off of it, within a few weeks we would have a near bulletproof facial recognition software from the hacking community.
Why do I get sudden flashes of anyone smiling at airports being given strip searches for security?
Well, if you are smiling or showing any other signs at an US airport with all the headaches that goes on there you probably do need a mental exam, but that is besides the point.
by Anonymous Coward: I, for one, welcome the shift from car analogies to pizza analogies. um.. overlords?
However it isn't to do with facial recognition as such. UK passports (and some others I believe) are fitted with chips which store a fingerprint of the face (presumably encoded in some way) which describes the geometry of the face. This allows the photo in the passport to be confirmed against the chip, preventing someone from nicking your passport and replacing the photo. Eventually it will be possible for the passport's data to be confirmed against a record held on a central system.
The restrictions make it a real pain to get passport photos for kids.
Of course this hasn't stopped people hacking these, and demo fake passports have been produced. It also doesn't stop The Man from potentially tying the data into all those CCTV cameras we have.
The BMV use here is to prevent the same person getting multiple licenses, not for comparison against camera footage. Face recognition is much harder than the media (and companies that do it) would like you to think, and for this purpose, where all the images are from the same source, it makes sense to simplify the problem.
Paul Leader
My license expires this year. I am TOTALLY wearing this t-shirt when I renew!
Not sure if it really prevents recognition..
Simply refuse to not smile.
They can't stop us all. Fuck em.
You can't take the sky from me.
A friend of mine who works at the local DMV remarked that Iowa has the same requirement. Of course, they have a reason they tell the public as well, but he confided sotto voce that the real reason was facial recognition.
Daniel Crawford
don't get deluded into thinking that demanding papers is a sign of fascism. The basic tenet of fascism is the bundling of powers of state and industry, not playing wehrmacht sergeant. it might be a sign of a totalitarian state, but there are plenty of countries that have a register of all their citizens, but have not devolved into the fascist state you seem to fear so much. It saves a lot of trouble if you know who lives where, pays taxes and is eligible to vote. I would be more worried by erosion of education by the state, as illiterate/dumb people are a lot easier to control. Two word comments are pretty dumb, if you ask me... :)
This space is intentionally staring blankly at you
If a facial expression breaks their shitty spy-ware, how would it handle THIS? BSOD? (I hope...)
Thank you, Edward Snowden.
"Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
In order to defeat the facial recognition software, criminals now just need to smile while committing crimes!
Never go to sea with two chronometers; take one or three.
Oddly, burkas are perfectly ok.
...then only the outlaws will be smiling!
that the Wal-Mart smilie face logo is a fictional character.
Someone smiled at the BMV.
Suggestion: Go in hours after mouth surgery, you will practically cease to exist, like 007 or Madonna.
I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.
Your tax dollars at work. And you know why this happens? Because we let it happen. A well-placed bat to the head at an early age would mitigate stupidity like this. Better yet, take those plastic covers off the wall outlets and let nature weed out the morons like it used to.
Wonder what they'll do when some joker with facial scars drops in?
They might was well try banning clothing and forcing everyone to have all body hair removed and bar codes labeled across the head so you know that'd be far easier to instantly ID them on video camera. You also outlaw hats or any form of covering of the bar code as an illegal ID hiding device. You must be a terrorist or other criminal with something to hide if you where a hat in one of those cold northern states.
Obviously, beards will be required. What works for the Taliban will work for the Amerikan.
If the software fails if the subject wears glasses, and I wear glasses just shy of 24/7, wouldn't a picture of me without glasses cause a failure in comparison? Or are they going to make me take my glasses off for the software, causing me to squint or otherwise alter my face and probably fail the test anyway? More importantly perhaps if I wear my glasses to drive, and I do, shouldn't the picture on the license reflect that?
Jealously hoarding mod points since 2007.
Does having a long, 1900's mustache short-circuit computer face detection? If so, this means that Snidely Whiplash was a visionary with a keen sense of crinimal discretion. This would also confirm what I've always known - that Ned Flanders is a dangerous man on the run and that the Pringles guy is a criminal mastermind.
Imagine the same software trying to recognize Fletch.
Good luck with that!
So to avoid being caught, just smile while robbing the bank. Ah, happy criminals... Finally, face recognition software is improving the world at least a little bit :-)
Facial recognition software cannot recognize smiling faces. New TSA bulletin indicates all smiling travelers should be treated with suspicion, as they're trying to defeat recognition software. --edfardos
WHY was your post modded insightful? You present an argument, but don't back it up. They already HAVE the ability to look up most state licenses right now without this amongst other things.
It does NOTHING of what you think it will.
It does NOTHING of what they claim it will.
Trying to make them more uniform does nothing for security.
Trying to make them all be in a single database (i.e. One of the other requirements of RealID) makes it easier to hack in or grab a single ID and go to town with ID theft. (Niiice...)
With it not doing what it says it does and increasing the risks involved with it all, it doesn't make ANY sense whatsoever.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
...there is to be a regulatory body set up to curtail the prevalence of children's laughter in society today.
You feel sleepy. Close your eyes. The opinions stated above are yours. You cannot imagine why you ever felt otherwise.
And don't have a driver's license, nor will I. The government has no recent photos of me. I'm rather proud of this fact.
So I guess if someone stole my identity and used their own mugshot for a driver's license, I'd be flagged as an imposter when/if I try to get my own license?
What then?
By the way, none of the 9/11 attackers stole anyone's identity.
Some of who work in secure government facilities have not been able to smile on our badges for some time.
I thought the whole point was that if your DL photo had you wearing glasses then that was an immediate indication that you were supposed to be wearing glasses while driving. Sure there can be additional codes printed on the license info to indicate that as well, but the visual indication created by the photo is a heck of a lot faster. Further, considering that there's a few people who need their glasses to just be able to *SEE*... I can see the problems already... "Uh... sir, the camera is this way. Sir, don't squint. Sir. This way. No. Turn right. Turn left. Face where you hear my voice. Sir? No, that's the window."
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
If "hair that hangs down over the face" is not permitted, but beards are allowed, will the face recognition software be able to recognize me if I shave mine later on? And to spice it up a little, what if my beard covered some scar(s) on my face? Just curious.
So, to avoid recognition, just walk around smiling...
When I was photographed for a military ID card in 1962 I was told to relax every facial muscle, no expression whatever.
rj
Indiana tried to set PI equal to 3.2 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Pi_Bill
This is nothing new or special. Well, maybe it is in the US. In Taiwan in addition to no facial expressions, people taking photos for IDs couldn't wear glasses nor could they have any facial hair. I'm sure similar rules apply in many nations.
While this may be somewhat excessive, an ID does exist for the purpose of identification, so why not try to make that identification as easy as possible?
Not everything is about the police state trying to screw you.
Quick, look stoic, our software doesn't want you to be happy nor to see what we are doing while we take your picture. Clearly this isn't a problem with the software we spent lots of your money on... our extensive customers research shows full support for this initiative. Here is just one glowing example "fine, we get it."
Somebody needs to give this person an award for their public relations bravado!
This is easy to crack. Don't smile for your DL picture, and do smile the rest of the time. It will make the world a better place in the process.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Last time I flew to Canada via the US, US immigration wanted to take a picture from me _without_ wearing glasses (funny, as you can never find me "in the wild" without wearing glasses ;-).
On the return flight, US immigration wanted to take a picture of me _with_ glasses.
Happiness is forbidden.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Wasn't there a law in Nazi Germany prohibiting laughter in public places?
I know I've read about it somewhere but I just can't find any reference online at the moment.
I did find this gem though.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
I used to live in Indiana years ago, and I remember something like this and using it to my advantage.
The state of Indiana had just started to put traffic cameras up at various intersections. The state of Indiana also had a series of 'specialty' license plate designs. They had some logos that werent on the standard plate design, such as a school, a hand-print, or some other such thing. Well, the automated software on the cameras could not recognize these symbols(dont ask how I know), and would discard any images it had taken with what were 'invalid' pictures of license places.
Basically, for the extra $15, you could legally get a license plate in the state, that the state was unable to record on its own camera systems.
Enough said.
And there isn't much to smile about, so this shouldn't be an issue.
Seriously, what face recognition software are they talking about (and for what)?
I don't recall but someone once said, "We shall be enslaved by the machines we have made". If we can no longer smile for the camera because some face recognition software will fail, the machine is telling US what to do. Time to re-think all of this "mess".
Meanwhile, "You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile! You will become one with the Borg".
Groucho Marx will never make it through
Table-ized A.I.
Seems like an unnecessary requirement. Who the hell would have a reason to smile in Indiana? Especially in the DMV office.
I smell a comeback for fake glasses and mustaches!
If a smile can fool the software, what about makeup? I have a friend that is a makeup artist. She can make people look completely different just adjusting how she does their makeup. (Make eyes appear close together, farther apart, or different size; make lips appear different shape or size; adjust shading so cheekbones appear higher; etc).
...Comrade
That still leaves us with Life, and Liberty. I suppose. :-|
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Don't smile when taking your driving license picture, when you commit a crime, remember to smile!
Neither the article nor the submitter mentioned the possibility of extremely long nose hair. Will that distort the results similar to other facial hair? Will nose hair trimming become mandatory?
How do they hope to use this in the wild where you WILL probably be smiling... especially if you're getting away with something (or think you are)...???
Same experience, different word. There is a transportation company in, I think, Puerto Rico, called "Kike Transportation." The filters don't like that either.
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
This makes sense actually when you think about it.
Glasses for people who need them.
White canes and seeing eye dogs for people that need them.
And a GREAT BIG red-letter MORON tattooed right across the forehead for 99% of the assholes on the road.
Put my smiley on my driver's license, put the frown in the file for the face recognition.
What the hell is wrong with these people's brains?
Next they'll release a several hundred page paper trying to legally define a 'smile.' "I'm not smiling, my face looks this way normally!"
I wonder if how well infrared, terahertz or microwave imaging would strip the facial hair? If so, then next gen scanners will probably incorporate 'multispectral' imaging. Add low level microwave (radar), generate a complete 3D model of the head shape. That would probably be harder to fake than any facial thing.
Of course, the cost would be trivial... Not.
It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
If I were Indiana, I would tell the developers to go back to the drawing board because the software doesn't meet the requirement of actually WORKING in a practical way.
Fascism is defined by extreme nationalism and a disregard for basic human rights
Facism is an undemocratic military model applied to the entire state. Each person is a soldier of the state and the thought is that this would be more efficient, as armies were thought to be efficient. It follows that there is an extreme nationalism and disregard for human rights, largely because the view of the state as a single giant army generally leads to wars.
SO... you have a giant state, everyone is a soldier, and from the top on down, and there is no accountability or information flows from the bottom up. Everything is strictly top down. This arrangement has nothing to do with who owns what corporation, or even the entire state owning everything. It is the combination of the lack of citizen powers, the lack of accountability, the view of the entire state as an army, all culminating in absolute power for a leader who assumes the legislative, executive and judicial powers, that makes a facist state.
While its certainly vogue to claim that the USA is going fascist (when Bush was in office-I'm sure we'll here equally ridiculous claims about Obama going communist once he's sworn in), the dividing line here is that Bush does not have the legislative and judiciary power in his hands. Granted, the American President does have a great deal of power relative to the divided system of President and Prime Minister in parliamentary systems, but, he's still limited constitutionally in that he cannot spend money or wage wars without the approval of the Congress, and he has little say in the process of amending the US Constitution. And, in any case, he's only allowed to serve two terms, must be elected and then re-elected and then he's done.
By contrast, Hitler was both the head of state, and the prime minister. After the "Enabling Act" passed the Reichstag, Hitler was legally allowed to do -anything-. He could arbitrarily declare war on another country, which no US President could do. He could also set budgets and manage the spending of the Reich, which no US President could do. And, he had wide powers of arrest and harrasment that a US President does not have.
Perhaps the easy way to test a dictatorship would be to see what happens to the dictators enemies. Presently, in the USA, the political enemies of the President wind up getting rich and famous, whereas in NAZI Germany, they wound up in Dachau, assuming they were not all executed in the various purges that took place as Hitler gained power.
This is my sig.
Are you kidding me? Why all the complaining? Here in Canada, specifically in Saskatchewan, we've had the "no-smiling" rule on licenses and passports for quite a while. It's not that big of a deal. It also provides some pretty funny pictures on people's licenses. You can laugh at your friend's 4 year old picture when he looks like he's about to kill someone.
Apparently new facial recognition software being employed by the state fails to function when the face is distorted by something as innocuous as smiling.
So what should the educated criminal take from this? Remember to smile when committing your crimes and they'll never catch you with the facial recognition code!
This is obviously just a way for cops to more easily arrest the wrong person. If Suzzy looks like a serial killer in her photo then it will be easier on the conscience to assume she did it, rather than looking elsewhere. If I have learned anything from TV crime shows, happy people never commit crimes!
This recently became required in Alberta (that's a province of Canada for you ignorant types) where I live.
Of course I didn't know this I went into renew my driver's licence. It was just after a weekend and I'd been working around the house and hadn't shaved in over a day, but I didn't think they'd need a new picture and I'd kept putting it off so I decided to get it over with. Sure enough, they tell me they have new rules and need a new photo with no smile. Oh and then she said my glasses were "obscuring my eyes" so those would have to go too.
So now my driver's licence has a photo of me looking somewhat disheveled in no glasses with thick whiskers, as opposed to how I'd normally look - clean-shaven with glasses. They never said anything about facial recognition software, but if that was the intent then I'd like to know how it can be effective by using this picture of me looking nothing like I normally do!
...during the Civil War Indiana was a US state while Missouri was a confederate state.
Actually, Missouri was part of the Union throughout the Civil War, although Missouri's situation during the war was more complex. No big deal, it's a common misconception. In my own family ancestry from Missouri, there were both Union and Confederate sympathizers. The roles of various Missouri militias during the war is of particular interest to historians.
- T
http://richprosperity.com/2008/11/23/share-this-with-anyone-that-needs-to-smile-today/
3 Words...Get Better Software.
Guess the Canadian Passport uses the same software?
I don't see what is the big deal, other than the whole biometric tracking thing.
At least in France, when you renew your passport, you have to provide a photograph where you close your mouth and you don't smile. (And they DO refuse a smiling photo, believe me, I tried.) This is explained in all the small photo boothes in subway and railways stations.
The secret is out. From now on, if you ever commit a crime in Illinois within range of a surveillance camera, be sure to smile as you do it.
It's all part of a DHS disinformation campaign. The terrorists will hear that facial recognition software won't work if you're smiling. At the same time, the TSA is making air travel so miserable, NO ONE is smiling. Hence, in the future, the TSA need merely arrest all smiling people at the airport.
So, if you're committing a crime, be sure to smile and make silly faces.
I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
all the time otherwise, you can never be facially recognized based on the evil government's drivers license record of you. What I can't understand is the need for the law. Who the hell can smile after hanging out at the DMV for any amount of time?
What if I WANT a Washington State ID for the benefit of not getting a passport (not that I *do not* want to get one, but this might be a scenario for those who never intend to travel outside US borders to another country other than Mexico or Canada), but also want to make sure that it is severally times harder to be an ID theft victim. Currently, at least in 2003, when i moved to Oregon, the obtained my California ID and plates and issued me new ID within 30 minutes of proving my California ID and passing the Oregon DMV test, Oregon took my CA ID. There was a reciprocal program between the two states to combat fraud, where, in order to obtain an Oregon state ID one HAD to surrender their California (and, I presume the same applies to other bordering states) ID/DL.
A year later, I returned to CA due to inability to find work in OR. But, DMV in CA wanted to take my ID. But, i'd started a business in Oregon (in name, but nothing in activity managed to take off) and wanted a way to continue a chain of ID proof other than SSN card, tax returns and such. My Oregon DMV/DL was what i chose because it was what i presented to various county and state agencies. But, California DMV then wanted to punch a HOLE in the DOB. I balked because if my bank in Oregon felt uneasy, then they might deny me access to my accounts if all i had for proof was a damaged/voided state ID. I suggested to DMV that they let or make me to -- in the presence of one or more DMV officers -- write on the back of my Oregon "NOT A VALID ID IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA/FOR ID CONTINUITY PURPOSES ONLY". They kinda reacted like, "Hmmph, pretty savvy. OK, we'll buy that", and they let me keep my Oregon ID. Besides, it was a cool piece of plastic and was more impressive to me than the CA ID. Besides, i liked the BLUE color instead of the orange/yellow...
But, i kinda LIKE the extra steps the Washington system takes. If I go there and then stay for 30 days to become a resident, and can prove "intent" to become a resident, obtain a WA state ID, then return to CA or go to another state, i'd expect a database to show the applications and approvals, along with my face.
It should not be a crime or misdmeanor to possess multiple IDs, so long as the holder of multiple IDs declares, presents, and allows inventory/logging of each so that they are on notice to not commit fraud, and it also could help keep such people off lists of persons of interest because it could be deemed the person is trying to be as above board as possible. The fewer false hits in a database, the better. This could be a way to reduce false hits in national, disparate databases that are going to be merged anyway at some point.
Now, why a smile would be a problem is beyond me. They SEEM to be retaining multiple images, so they can simply compare facial structure points of ALL the pics. It could serve to flag individuals who get cosmetic surgery trying to become an invented person.
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
I'm tall enough (6'2") and the DMV cameras are mounted low enough that it seems like my photo is taken looking up my nostrils. Nostril recognition anyone?
of course they already had a picture without glasses
Sorry, it has already been done (to great success, I might add).
Yeah, right.
Crap like this gives people a nice prod, pushing them to join the Free State Project.
Part of the Second American Revolution!
Maybe they should tell that to Tom Delay...
Most celebrities seems to know that not to smile for ID photos/mugshots, except for a few like Tom Delay and Bill Gates.
http://crime.about.com/od/history/a/mug_shots.htm
Did you ever consider that was the design from the beginning?
Now they have both.
I will go in after a night of heavy drinking, unshaven, and get stung by a couple of bees "at critical points", and pop a couple of zits, as well as put a drop of an allergic pollen in my left nostril. Maybe even put on lots of weight beforehand and stuff cotton balls in my cheeks like Marlon Brando did for "The Godfather". Can anyone think of any other natural things I can do? You heard of the C obfuscation contest. Maybe we can form the DMV face obfuscation contest.
I wonder what the laws about make-up are?
A well trained makeup artist (or any girl over the age of 15) is able to greatly distort the shape of his or her facial features using intelligent shading and highlighting make-up techniques. It's easy to make a large nose appear smaller; eyes appear bigger, smaller, or deeper set.
If even a smile bothers this machine, I'm sure makeup completely throws it off. Not to mention colored contact lens.
The government wants to be able to track you aka Minority Report.
Every good paranoid citizen needs a syringe of botox to keep him safe from the gub'ment.
http://mrmeval.is-a-geek.net/~mrmeval/images/humor/MyManBitch.jpeg
I can paste a shit load for my comment. Lameness filter nullified
Don't flash a toothy smile, don't wear your glasses and don't wear a hat or head scarf while you're getting your photo taken for an Indiana driver's license or identification card.
The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles last month rolled out a new set of rules governing how people must be photographed on their driver's license photos.
No, the rules aren't designed to make driver's license photos -- which already had a reputation for being unflattering -- even worse.
Rather, the BMV is making the photographs uniform so their facial recognition software can be its most effective in spotting fraudulent license applications.
A person's new photograph will be compared against old photographs on file -- more than 6 million dating back at least eight years -- to protect customers from identity fraud, said Ron Stiver, BMV commissioner.
"We take very seriously our responsibility to help protect the personal identity of Hoosiers, and the employment of this innovative technology is yet another important step forward in doing just that," Stiver said.
BMV Communications Director Dennis Rosebrough said if a criminal went to get a driver's license under his name, the criminal's photograph would be compared to an old photograph of Rosebrough and the BMV could be alerted the next day that the two don't match.
Rosebrough said the new technology is just an advancement of what the BMV already was doing. BMV employees always have looked at the old photo of a person to see if it looked like the person seeking a new license.
The facial recognition software might raise privacy issues, Rosebrough acknowledged. The BMV could give police a photo of a wanted person and that person could be arrested going through an airport where facial recognition software is used.
But Rosebrough said the BMV has long cooperated with law enforcement to provide photos and information that leads to arrests.
The bottom line, Rosebrough said, is that in this day of identity theft and fraud, "We believe it's our responsibility to assure all Hoosiers the credentials we issue ... are as accurate as possible." He said Indiana is one of about 20 states using the technology.
Rosebrough said BMV customers can petition to leave on headdresses in photographs for religious reasons and can petition to have a nonphoto license or identification card. Overall, the rule changes have been implemented without a hitch.
"We've really had minimal issues," Rosebrough said.
"If people understand why we're doing something, our experience is the great, great majority of our customers say 'fine, we get it.' "
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
What about religious garb?
Or is this ACTUALLY a circuitous way to fight the tide of court rulings allowing people (muslim women) to wear a full hijab(?) on ID pictures, revealing only pretty much their eyes, on the grounds that their religion prohibits them from displaying more of their faces?
-Styopa
The first couple times they rewrote the BMV software it didn't run at all.
This has been in place for all identity cards/passports/driver licenses for several years in France.