Video geeking: Revolution and biometrics

Watching TV/movies is becoming increasingly hard for us geeks. Each time they dramatize stuff on the screen, with hex dumps or code, we feel compelled to pause them, take a screen shot, and analyze what we see. I occasionally do this and blog out it. In this installment, I take a look at a screenshot from the TV show Revolution, season 1, episode 18, at around the 17:40 mark.

In this scene, a character attempts to enter a building with a handprint. What's the code to the left? A quick google search using unique keywords in that code sample finds the answer: https://github.com/biometrics/openbr. This is a project called "Open Biometrics".

At least this code is related to what's onscreen. Usually, the code chosen for dramatization is fairly random. The Ironman movie chose Lego Mindstorm code to power the first suit. A Charlie's Angle TV show used Obfuscated C contest code for a safe. At least this biometrics code relates to the biometrics security scanner in the show.

On the other hand, if you look at the "Open Biometrics" project, you'll see that it's designed for facial recognition, and related topics like gender/age determination. Hand print analysis isn't one of the options..

Anyway, I didn't know that there was an open-source facial recognition project. That's kinda cool, maybe something I can hook up with my Google Glass, should they ever start shipping.

How geeky am I

These days, we have both 1080p hidef television, and plotlines with hackers. That means "code" appears frequently on the screen. Of course, if you read the code, it has nothing to do with the plot. The producers just grabbed a fragment off the net and stuck it in there for dramatization.

In the pilot episode of the remake of Charlie's Angels, one of the gals cracks an electronic safe by typing in a fragment of code. Here is a picture from the video: