Filed under: Security, Utilities, Video
Log into your PC with your face instead of a password with KeyLemon
About 10 years ago I bought an incredibly expensive Samsung X10 laptop. It was one of the first powerful Centrino 'ultra lights', and along with the Sony Vaio range it cost a stupid amount of money -- but it rocked! It was fast, it could run games, and it only weighed 2 pounds!And it had a fingerprint scanner. 'Ooooh!'
Yeah, it was slick, it was silver and fast -- but really, I'd just paid $2500 for a damn fingerprint scanner and boy did I feel cheated. I thought I'd get all the girls with that thing: 'Hey, babe, look, I can just swipe my finger across...' But no, no cigar. I don't even know why consumer products have biometric scanners -- in the office environment maybe, but at home?
Anyway! The actual news: you can now use your face to log onto your computer with KeyLemon. Sit down in front of your computer and voila: logged in! Firefox users will be able to log into social networks using their face, too. It's not just a one-time login either: KeyLemon keeps scanning whoever's in front of the computer, and if your face changes it logs you out! Also, on the off-chance that your laptop gets stolen, KeyLemon will continue to take photos of whoever's using it.
Don't forget your password though -- what if you undergo plastic surgery and can't login?
[via CNET -- download link (30 day trial)]
Chromatic is one of the best time-wasters I've recently come across. It's all about the gameplay -- no Flash graphics here. You play a "circle" (it doesn't really have a name in the game). You move around with the arrow keys, and you change colors with Z, X, and C.
You can either be red, blue, or yellow, and you can switch at any time during the game. Each color has different capabilities -- yellow can double-jump, while red has a longer dash (which is like a forward sprint, activated by double-pressing DOWN).
Each ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
kevjohn said 10:57AM on 2-10-2010
Great, now I have to worry about somebody cutting my face off Castor Troy style to get into my PC goodies. I hope they don't reset my Freecell stats!
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Sebastian Anthony said 10:58AM on 2-10-2010
My main concern is that they'll just be able to hold up a photo of my face... :P
Doesn't sound so secure when you look at it like that...
Jayenkai said 11:02AM on 2-10-2010
Does it start logging you out if you pull a confused face whilst reading about a stupid new piece of technology?
---
o.o
o.o
o.o
o_O
User face not recognised!!!!
Nooo!!!!
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AdvancedN0ob said 11:54AM on 2-10-2010
ever heard of Banana Screen, ive used it 4 ages -_- | u guys surely try to make old stuff new...
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Jason Shelbrock said 1:36PM on 2-10-2010
is there an English link to this? The only one I found, at Softpedia, is infected.
Drakkenfyre said 10:32PM on 2-11-2010
There's the old gummy bear trick. On fingerprint scanners you can gently press a gummy bear down, and use the old fingerprint that way.
David said 5:03PM on 2-10-2010
Wait.... doesn't Lenovo offer this on most of their laptops? I don't really see how this is news. There can't be that many people out their thinking "Man, I hate typing my password I wish I could log in with only my face."
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darwinsurvivor said 5:19PM on 2-10-2010
And just like that flickr becomes a rainbow table...
This is worse than the pad* fingerprint readers that can be activated by gently exhaling on them!
*swipe readers don't suffer from this problem, but neither are nearly as secure as people think.
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Sebastian Anthony said 7:49PM on 2-10-2010
So you don't have to spray that glue stuff on and peel off a perfect mould of the fingerprint?!
darwinsurvivor said 8:14PM on 2-10-2010
@Sebastian Anthony
Nope. Think about it, when you touch something, you leave a fingerprint (oils, etc) behind. When you touch the reader, you leave a fingerprint behind (doh).
Exhaling gently (warm, moist air) on it causes the moisture in your breath to stick to the existing fingerprint. Once the moisture builds up (1 or 2 breaths is usually enough), the reader "reads" the water dropplets and, well, *bingo*.
It's kind of like leaving a copy of your door key inside the lock, just reach right on in a give 'er a twist :P
Sebastian Anthony said 8:16PM on 2-10-2010
Damn, that's quite clever!
I have a swipe one on my current laptop (though thankfully it didn't cost $2500 like the old one).
I used it once... but it's faster to type my password, really.
polobunny said 8:20PM on 2-10-2010
Considering the first Centrinos appeared in 2003, I have to wonder how you can calculate that as "10 years ago".
Anal retentive? Yes. Factually correct? Absolutely! :P
I have used KeyLemon before, when it had rebranded to LemonScreen, which was after rebranding from something else unrelated.
In good lighting conditions with a Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000 my sister was able to log a few times in my computer and a friend was also able to log in, albeit only once... Ditched the software.
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Sebastian Anthony said 8:33PM on 2-10-2010
You know, as I wrote that, I wondered if it was actually 10 years ago or not...
7 or 8 sounds a bit closer.
It was like, TOP of the range Centrino, bleeding-edge, first off the production line!
I figured it wouldn't be all that secure, but more of a novelty -- and don't forget, your sister is genetically very similar to you, so that's not a huge surprise :P
Tezz said 9:50PM on 2-10-2010
so going by genetic similarities your father, mother, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grand parents, cousins, should all be able to log into your computer. i also heard that dolphins are incredibly similar to us, does that mean flipper can log into my computer with keylemon.
Sebastian Anthony said 9:55PM on 2-10-2010
Are you going to launch into some stuff about Intelligent Design next?
DarthNinja said 11:11PM on 2-10-2010
@ comment 2
I remember reading about this a while back, in the context that it _could_ be broken using a photo of your face.
I wonder if they've fixed it at all.
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James said 11:18PM on 2-10-2010
So you're saying that when somebody turns out the light and my crappy webcam can't see my face anymore, my computer will lock up. That sounds... fun.
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Sebastian Anthony said 11:19PM on 2-10-2010
Your screen does provide some illumination... :P
AdvancedN0ob said 3:04AM on 2-11-2010
Heres Banana Screen 1.2.1...i checked it its virus free...
http://bit.ly/bananascreen121
there were reports that this doesnt work with x64 systems.. but u could give it a try :D
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polobunny said 5:04AM on 2-11-2010
Hey you're right about my sister, but I don't expect my highschool friends to be that similar DNA-wise to myself.
Besides, whether my sister/aunt/uncle/brother/father/mother/cousin look remotely similar to myself, I'd rather keep the process of logging in my computer "tedious" by having to type a password than falling into "novelty".
And the problem is just that, it's novelty. Until it falls into the secure field, it's no real use. Compromising security for user-friendly is never all too good. The worst that can happen is some people expecting a secure software and not getting it. Kinda like laptop biometrics.
As for the 10 years detail, I couldn't help it. Those computer facts are carved straight into my membrane, welcome to the wonderful world of being a computer tech. :| I still remember when the Centrino hit, it kinda started the abandon of NetBurst.
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