I think about a world to come where the books were found by the golden ones, written in pain, written in awe by a puzzled man who questioned, "What are we here for?" All the strangers came today and it looks as though they're here to stay.

-David Bowie "Oh! You Pretty Things"

Monday, October 18, 2010

Akinator, the Web Genius


Think of somebody, real or fictional, human or otherwise, some sort of character or being or whatever. Akinator asks you a series of questions and then almost always guesses exactly who you are thinking of, no matter how obscure and nerdy your character is. The first time I used Akinator I decided to stump him by choosing Die Fledermaus, the superhero from the hit Saturday morning cartoon, The Tick. He asked a series of questions, none of them really pertaining to my character. I was certain that I had stumped Akinator. Almost immediately, he guessed "Die Fledermaus." It was magnificent. It's really hard to stump Akinator, and it's really fun to try. Check out Akinator, the Web Genius here.

Come back to this blog and post your character and whether or not Akinator was able to identify it. Here's a list of my attempts:

Die Fledermaus (The Tick) - CORRECT!
Jacques Derrida - STUMPED!
Felicia Day - CORRECT!
Descartes' Evil Genius - STUMPED!
Claptrap (Borderlands) - CORRECT!
The Great Daryl Nathan - STUMPED!
Bork (Muppets) - CORRECT!
Vi (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - CORRECT!
Brand (Game of Thrones) - CORRECT!
Matt Buchanan (Terminator [we incorrectly thought his name was Brad, but it did not change the answers we gave Akinator]) - STUMPED!
Rusty Collins (X-Factor) - STUMPED!

1 comment:

  1. I stumped him a lot today, with

    Warren from The Sword of Truth
    Bain the Aiel from The Wheel of Time
    Willie Brother from The Last Western
    Beldin the Sorcerer from The Belgariad
    Dr. Christmas Jones from James Bond The World is Not Enough
    Maria from Sarah Jane Adventures
    Omega from Doctor Who
    and a couple others I can't remember now.

    Ones he got that shocked me,

    The Tardis from Doctor Who
    Mr. Smith from Sarah Jane Adventures
    Starlin Castro, short stop for the Chicago Cubs (I didn't think he had enough info to get it yet, but he got it)
    Trashcan Man from Stephen King's The Stand
    Peter Bishop from Fringe in like 7 questions! (it went Is he an adult male? yes Is he on a television show? yes Is the show still on? yes Does he use firearms? yes Is he a detective/policeman? no Does he work with police/authorities? yes Does he live with his father? yes Peter Bishop. I couldn't believe how fast it got it!)

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