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Hacking Big Brother With Help From Revlon
skids writes "All those futuristic full-face eyeliner jobs in dystopian cyberpunk fiction might not be that far off the mark. A New York University student spent his thesis time exploring computer vision technology (OpenCV) for ways in which one could confound first-stage algorithms that initially lock onto faces. Then he mixed in a bit of fashion sense to predict future geek chic. Now, whether you want to go for the coal-miner look just to stay out of the data mine, that's up to you."
The point is, there's an endless variation of disguises you can use to thwart the software as long as certain programed traits it looks for (darkness above eyes/lighter nose and cheekbones/symmetry) are thrown off by face markings and hairstyles. I think this would be cooler with glowing phosphorescent paint, but I think the point is to blend in so the software doesnt look too closely at you.
one step closer to living in the world of Hackers. Just gotta find my old roller blades now...
Balderdash!
There's no hacking involved, and the word hacking wasn't even necessary for sensationalism's sake. Seriously, I know people write misleading headlines to get eyeballs, but a perfectly accurate title could have been just as enticing: how about "Evading Big Brother with Help from Revlon?" Isn't evading about as interesting as hacking, Big Brother-wise?
Even when they could be honest, accurate, and interesting the Slashdot editors simply don't bother. Why?
The police, and policy in general, are simple:
1. Ignore something.
2. If there's a crime associated with it, stop ignoring it, and start treating it as the crime.
3. Ignore something else.
And so on.