Riiggght. I'm sure that's all it will be used for.
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Posted on 05/28/2009 11:14:38 AM PDT by freespirited
Few places in Virginia are as draining to the soul and as numbing to the buttocks as the branch offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles. And yet, until recently, smiling was still permitted there.
No more. As part of the DMV's effort to develop super-secure driver's licenses and foolproof identification cards, the agency has issued a smile ban, directing customers to adopt a "neutral expression" in their portraits, thereby extinguishing whatever happiness comes with finally hearing one's number called.
The driver's license photo, it seems, is destined to look like a mug shot.
DMV officials say the smile ban is for a good cause. The agency would like to develop a facial recognition system that could compare customers' photographs over time to prevent fraud and identity theft. "The technology works best when the images are similar," said DMV spokeswoman Pam Goheen. "To prepare for the possibility of future security enhancements, we're asking customers to maintain a neutral expression." ...
When asked how DMV employees are able to determine when customers might be smiling too much, Goheen explained that the process is automated. Naturally, the new software is programmed to reject attempts at exuberance or human warmth. "It will send an error message if it detects a non-neutral expression," she said.
The ban is in effect at more than half of the agency's 74 offices statewide, Goheen said, including most Northern Virginia branches. It is expected to be in place at the remaining branches by the end of next month.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Sounds like the software they load into the DMV employees.
Yeah, that’s what it was. Oi....
Virginia should worry more about all those illegal and undocumented workers who do lawn care and carpentry and numerous other jobs for their rich white masters living in those McMansions in the suburbs of MD and D.C. , too
I would’ve sworn you couldn’t put lipstick on a cat, but you’ve proven me wrong!
I always smile when I have my government photos Passport, drivers license)taken. These workers want everybody to look as miserable as they probably are as human beings.
Not banned about page. Note the flag and the other links on top.
http://www.freerepublic.com/~vabthang4/
Banned account page here.
http://www.freerepublic.com/~adlucem/
However, that dummy page may be prophetic; we'll see.
~huh.
Oh well.
Virginians can gloat over the money saved when the photos can double as mug shots.
I have bangs and I just got my DL renewed. When I got there, the lady said I had to pull my bangs away from my face, which wasn’t written anywhere on my renewal letter or else I would have. They wouldn’t stay because they were too short and she started getting snotty with me. I said, “What do you want me to do, lady? I don’t have a pin or a bret. You want me to hold them there?!” Finally she just took the damn picture with my head tilted back so they would stay. Now it looks like I have a football player’s neck. It doesn’t look anything like me, really.
LoL!
Yeah... and the ‘Click it or Ticket’ program is all about seatbelts~
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