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Posted: 9/8/2010 8:07:40 PM EDT
I'm considering writing a novel, I spend so much time writing for a living I figured why not write for fun... An idea I've been toying with for awhile. In any event, one of the plot twists I was thinking about was a head of state with a twin. The head of state dies in an act of war. As the nation rebuilds the remnants of the government press the twin into service as a form of continuity to impress upon the public that the leadership remains in place. Problem is all the state secrets and higher level military authorizations (such as nuclear codes) are locked down by a series of biometric identification methods. Would a twin have the same fingerprints, retina patterns, etc. Could they step in and pass the authentication procedures?
What other high tech identification methodologies are there in use? Could an identical twin pass them? Don't need to know how they work, just an idea if a twin could pass biometirc verification or if there are key differences that would preclude that. |
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They wouldn't be able to pass biometric tests. 'bout the only thing that they might pass is a DNA test. Some people actually have dual DNA. Their own and the DNA of a twin or triplet.
BTW, if you write the book and use the dual DNA thing. I want to be credited... just for shits and gigles.
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They wouldn't be able to pass biometric tests. 'bout the only thing that they might pass is a DNA test. Some people actually have duel DNA. Their own and the DNA of a twin or triplet. Well there goes that plot element... oh well... back to the drawing board |
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Quoted: Quoted: They wouldn't be able to pass biometric tests. 'bout the only thing that they might pass is a DNA test. Some people actually have duel DNA. Their own and the DNA of a twin or triplet. Well there goes that plot element... oh well... back to the drawing board Sorry about that |
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have them transplant the fingers and eyes Little deeper than I wanted to go lol |
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They wouldn't be able to pass biometric tests. 'bout the only thing that they might pass is a DNA test. Some people actually have duel DNA. Their own and the DNA of a twin or triplet. Well there goes that plot element... oh well... back to the drawing board Sorry about that Nope, appreciate it, while it will be fiction I don't want people screaming bullshit |
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Actually, this could still work... they substitute the twin to calm public panic but find out that they are playing the ultimate bluff with the world because the nukes are locked down and the people with the ability to change the codes as part of a lawful succession died in the initial attacks. They will eventually find a way to change the codes, but meanwhile they are sitting ducks with hostile forces at the gate. I'll have to do some thinking about this, why they would want to put an imposter in over the lawful next in command (say that person is a Pelosi loon type). Hmmmmm, interesting possibilities.
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Quoted: Quoted: They wouldn't be able to pass biometric tests. 'bout the only thing that they might pass is a DNA test. Some people actually have duel DNA. Their own and the DNA of a twin or triplet. Well there goes that plot element... oh well... back to the drawing board don't count it out yet. you are forgetting that biometric tests can be easily tricked using impressions from the real finger prints. Whoever the people are who setup this twin in power surely would have the ability to handle such a thing. |
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They wouldn't be able to pass biometric tests. 'bout the only thing that they might pass is a DNA test. Some people actually have duel DNA. Their own and the DNA of a twin or triplet. Well there goes that plot element... oh well... back to the drawing board don't count it out yet. you are forgetting that biometric tests can be easily tricked using impressions from the real finger prints. Whoever the people are who setup this twin in power surely would have the ability to handle such a thing. Damn you, I just had my mind working the mechanics of the twin not being able to pass the biometrics and the problems that would cause, now you throw this at me... hmmmmm. Which direction to go. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: They wouldn't be able to pass biometric tests. 'bout the only thing that they might pass is a DNA test. Some people actually have duel DNA. Their own and the DNA of a twin or triplet. Well there goes that plot element... oh well... back to the drawing board don't count it out yet. you are forgetting that biometric tests can be easily tricked using impressions from the real finger prints. Whoever the people are who setup this twin in power surely would have the ability to handle such a thing. There are more advanced tests which can scan your blood vessels and capillaries. You can't beat those. |
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Things like fingerprint and retinal scans would not match.
Eta: I see this has been pretty well covered. So I bid you all a good evening and a pleasent morrow. (ttushooter grabs his tophat and overcoat and make his way to the door) |
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I'm considering writing a novel, I spend so much time writing for a living I figured why not write for fun... An idea I've been toying with for awhile. In any event, one of the plot twists I was thinking about was a head of state with a twin. The head of state dies in an act of war. As the nation rebuilds the remnants of the government press the twin into service as a form of continuity to impress upon the public that the leadership remains in place. Problem is all the state secrets and higher level military authorizations (such as nuclear codes) are locked down by a series of biometric identification methods. Would a twin have the same fingerprints, retina patterns, etc. Could they step in and pass the authentication procedures? What other high tech identification methodologies are there in use? Could an identical twin pass them? Don't need to know how they work, just an idea if a twin could pass biometirc verification or if there are key differences that would preclude that. I think Eagle Eye did this. |
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I'm considering writing a novel, I spend so much time writing for a living I figured why not write for fun... An idea I've been toying with for awhile. In any event, one of the plot twists I was thinking about was a head of state with a twin. The head of state dies in an act of war. As the nation rebuilds the remnants of the government press the twin into service as a form of continuity to impress upon the public that the leadership remains in place. Problem is all the state secrets and higher level military authorizations (such as nuclear codes) are locked down by a series of biometric identification methods. Would a twin have the same fingerprints, retina patterns, etc. Could they step in and pass the authentication procedures? What other high tech identification methodologies are there in use? Could an identical twin pass them? Don't need to know how they work, just an idea if a twin could pass biometirc verification or if there are key differences that would preclude that. I think Eagle Eye did this. Never heard of it, thanks for the heads-up. Will look into it, don't want to rehash a plot... in the very least I would want to give it a unique twist |
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As mentioned, they would not match.
In terms of other technologies: Facial recognition is considered biometrics, iris scans are commonly used these days vice retina scans, and we also have something called gait recognition that I have not personally seen used. Voice is available as well. |
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gait recognition that I have not personally seen used. Gait? Does it measure how fat you are or something? |
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As mentioned, they would not match. In terms of other technologies: Facial recognition is considered biometrics, iris scans are commonly used these days vice retina scans, and we also have something called gait recognition that I have not personally seen used. Voice is available as well. Thanks. The nation would not necessarily be the US. Would it be safe to assume that most other advanced nations such as Western European powers, Japan, Israel and the like would have much of this technology? I would assume it is not unique to our command and control structure. |
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Never heard of it, thanks for the heads-up. Will look into it, don't want to rehash a plot... in the very least I would want to give it a unique twist Bleh, don't let that deter, there's barely anything that hasn't been done at some point by now. Just make the story good and don't worry about that. |
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gait recognition that I have not personally seen used. Gait? Does it measure how fat you are or something? How you walk I believe, apparently it is pretty unique and hard to mimic somebody's movements. |
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On all counts no. None of their biometric signatures would match. The odds of it being possible are silly high.
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Let us know what you come up with! Well I'm envisioning a massive cover-up conspiracy to keep lawful power out of the hands of a psychotic "Speaker" type who would destroy the nation and a lot of soul searching and moral dilemmas faced by those sworn to protect the nation and constitution but have to help perpetuate a massive lie to keep the lawful successor out of power, and the aforementioned threats to the state when the leader can not fully employ all of the state's resources because he is locked out. |
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They wouldn't be able to pass biometric tests. 'bout the only thing that they might pass is a DNA test. Some people actually have duel DNA. Their own and the DNA of a twin or triplet. Well there goes that plot element... oh well... back to the drawing board don't count it out yet. you are forgetting that biometric tests can be easily tricked using impressions from the real finger prints. Whoever the people are who setup this twin in power surely would have the ability to handle such a thing. Maybe in 1995 but not anymore. |
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Let us know what you come up with! Well I'm envisioning a massive cover-up conspiracy to keep lawful power out of the hands of a psychotic "Speaker" type who would destroy the nation and a lot of soul searching and moral dilemmas faced by those sworn to protect the nation and constitution but have to help perpetuate a massive lie to keep the lawful successor out of power, and the aforementioned threats to the state when the leader can not fully employ all of the state's resources because he is locked out. While it definitely sounds most intriguing, I'm not sure I can buy that the military won't just crack into its own stuff using whatever method necessary since there's nothing to stop them from doing so and they sure as hell have a good reason. |
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gait recognition that I have not personally seen used. Gait? Does it measure how fat you are or something? How you walk. |
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As mentioned, they would not match. In terms of other technologies: Facial recognition is considered biometrics, iris scans are commonly used these days vice retina scans, and we also have something called gait recognition that I have not personally seen used. Voice is available as well. Thanks. The nation would not necessarily be the US. Would it be safe to assume that most other advanced nations such as Western European powers, Japan, Israel and the like would have much of this technology? I would assume it is not unique to our command and control structure. Much of the tech is open source and commercially available, but I am only familiar with US only systems. Your Google-fu would be no less valid than mine. |
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Let us know what you come up with! Well I'm envisioning a massive cover-up conspiracy to keep lawful power out of the hands of a psychotic "Speaker" type who would destroy the nation and a lot of soul searching and moral dilemmas faced by those sworn to protect the nation and constitution but have to help perpetuate a massive lie to keep the lawful successor out of power, and the aforementioned threats to the state when the leader can not fully employ all of the state's resources because he is locked out. While it definitely sounds most intriguing, I'm not sure I can buy that the military won't just crack into its own stuff using whatever method necessary since there's nothing to stop them from doing so and they sure as hell have a good reason. The military may or may not know the twin is standing in, if they do know it would be at the highest levels and they might share sympathy with wanting to keep an anti-military leftist from taking power via succession. Clearly the Secret Service would have to know and the spook community... maybe a shadow government utilizing the twin as a front to buy time until the next election. Not really a truly rogue government looking for power, but using the twin as a means to an end... prevent the psychotic next in line from taking power on a temp basis and providing stability until the next legitimate election can be held. Still trying to work it all out. Kind of like Tom Clancy rewriting "Dave." |
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As mentioned, they would not match. In terms of other technologies: Facial recognition is considered biometrics, iris scans are commonly used these days vice retina scans, and we also have something called gait recognition that I have not personally seen used. Voice is available as well. Thanks. The nation would not necessarily be the US. Would it be safe to assume that most other advanced nations such as Western European powers, Japan, Israel and the like would have much of this technology? I would assume it is not unique to our command and control structure. Much of the tech is open source and commercially available, but I am only familiar with US only systems. Your Google-fu would be no less valid than mine. Problem is I never know what on google and wiki is pure BS and what is at least somewhat accurate. Thus asking here as folks would have somewhat of a better idea than I do. |
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I am an identical twin.
At my twin brother's office there is a biometric machine (hand print reader - place hand, palm down with fingers spread, on the scanner) one must use to enter the building from the parking garage. My brother's hand is registered with the machine. Incidentally, I can insert my hand into the reader and get the green light to enter the building. This is the only biometric machine I have ever encountered so I can't speculate on other machines, but in this instance, with this particular machine, it works. I guess its obviously got something to do wiith the type/sensitivity of the machine. |
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The military may or may not know the twin is standing in, if they do know it would be at the highest levels and they might share sympathy with wanting to keep an anti-military leftist from taking power via succession. Clearly the Secret Service would have to know and the spook community... maybe a shadow government utilizing the twin as a front to buy time until the next election. Not really a truly rogue government looking for power, but using the twin as a means to an end... prevent the psychotic next in line from taking power on a temp basis and providing stability until the next legitimate election can be held. Still trying to work it all out. Kind of like Tom Clancy rewriting "Dave." No shit, that is EXACTLY what I thought when I read your OP. I can buy that. Just make sure you've also got an explanation for the Speaker of the House not "getting drunk" and "having an automobile accident" or something along those lines. Offing him/her would probably require significantly less effort and spin than getting and keeping the imposter in place. |
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as a writer, when in doubt––invert.
dunno if this works for the project you're imagining, but reading through the thread with your idea in mind, the first thing that came into my head was "who died––the actual head of state or the twin?". that is, we presume that the actual guy––president bob––died in office. then comes...the twin in some sort of substitute capacity (dumas-style). but what if president bob wasn't actually bob when he died? to go full melodrama here, let's say that his name is actually joe, and he has a twin named bob. bob didn't want to be president––he wanted to be a tibetan rugmaker in thailand or something. but bob is the 'electable' one, since joe killed a hooker once by doing lines of coke off her ass. so, since bob doesn't really care, he 'trades' lives with joe––joe becomes bob, gets elected, and so on. then he dies. this isn't actually a proposal for a plot line, but you see where i'm going––play against expectations. a good example of this is the movie 'shattered' with tom beringer. older movie, but worth a watch. when in doubt, invert. |
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The military may or may not know the twin is standing in, if they do know it would be at the highest levels and they might share sympathy with wanting to keep an anti-military leftist from taking power via succession. Clearly the Secret Service would have to know and the spook community... maybe a shadow government utilizing the twin as a front to buy time until the next election. Not really a truly rogue government looking for power, but using the twin as a means to an end... prevent the psychotic next in line from taking power on a temp basis and providing stability until the next legitimate election can be held. Still trying to work it all out. Kind of like Tom Clancy rewriting "Dave." No shit, that is EXACTLY what I thought when I read your OP. I can buy that. Just make sure you've also got an explanation for the Speaker of the House not "getting drunk" and "having an automobile accident" or something along those lines. Offing him/her would probably require significantly less effort and spin than getting and keeping the imposter in place. Probably something along the lines of the nation is at war and security is beyond stringent... Not trusting the regular security she contracts her own that are loyal to her, perhaps with ties to foreign influence a la George Soros. Or maybe the Secret Service is in on the cover-up and feel they must keep her alive to not draw too much speculation... so they are dancing on a sword's edge. A massive cover-up to keep the lunatic out of power, but keeping the lunatic around to maintain their own credibility as an organization. It is late and I'm going through tons of plot twists in my mind, just a working principle now... lots of work to be done before I'll even start an outline. |
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I wonder when we will start using biometric systems to "enroll" citizens in the United States.
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I wonder when we will start using biometric systems to "enroll" citizens in the United States. Probably after the next terrorist attack. It'll be for our own good. |
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fingerprints do not match. not sure about the rest. This checked it myself against 3 sets of twins and one set of triplets...friction ridges all had distinct differentiations. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted: Actually, their fingerprints are different, if nothing else. Very interesting topic. http://multiples.about.com/cs/funfacts/a/twinfingerprint.htm |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: They wouldn't be able to pass biometric tests. 'bout the only thing that they might pass is a DNA test. Some people actually have duel DNA. Their own and the DNA of a twin or triplet. Well there goes that plot element... oh well... back to the drawing board don't count it out yet. you are forgetting that biometric tests can be easily tricked using impressions from the real finger prints. Whoever the people are who setup this twin in power surely would have the ability to handle such a thing. Damn you, I just had my mind working the mechanics of the twin not being able to pass the biometrics and the problems that would cause, now you throw this at me... hmmmmm. Which direction to go. |
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I recall a novel set in the 80's where a man was very good at covert ops. When the opfor got their hands on him, they did a myelogram, essentially mapping his nervous system. They told him about it as they released him, letting him know his usefulness was now severely degraded. Author could have been Brian Freemantle, but I'm not sure anymore. This sound familiar to anyone?
Edit to topic: If they were doing this in the 80's, what are the odds they are doing it today? |
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Some background reading for you:
Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein. This is a book about a guy who has to serve as the double for a prominent political figure. The article referenced by the link also mentions some other books and some movies with similar themes. |
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I think you can stick the dead guy's eyeball on a ball point pen, hold it up to the scanner....
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