Sunday 16 September 2012

Google introduces 'Bacon number' -- What's the largest degree of separation you can find?


Google wants to make playing “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” easier.
The search engine has launched a new tool known as the Bacon number. By typing in any actor’s name followed by the words “Bacon number,” Google will tell you the degree of separation between that actor and Mr. Bacon.
This tool stems from the party game, which tests movie buffs’ cinematic knowledge by challenging them to find the shortest way to connect any random actor to Bacon. With the new Google tool, you’ll never lose the game again! Well, that’s no fun. Who wants to play a game no one can lose?
That’s why we’ve decided to reverse the rules. Using the Bacon number tool, we challenge you to find the largest degree of separation between Kevin Bacon and a famous person of your choosing. Be warned: this is surprisingly hard. For example, you’d think Kim Kardashian would have a high Bacon number, but there’s actually only a two degree separation between the two. (Thanks, Denise Richards.) Here’s what we found:
Paul Wesley: I had to throw a Vampire Diaries cast member in here because I’m just too big a fan not to mention this show any time I can. Sadly, Wesley’s Bacon number is only two.
Christopher Nolan: I was particularly proud of this find. The Dark Knight Rises director’s Bacon number is three.
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi: Thanks to a cameo in The Three Stooges, Snooki’s Bacon number is three. I was hoping that turning to reality TV stars would help me win.
RuPaul: The RuPaul’s Drag Race host has a Bacon number of two! Who knew? Reality TV lets me down again!
Jai Courtney: This was when I started to get frustrated that I couldn’t find at least a four. So I started picking younger up-and-comers. Courtney can next be seen in Jack Reacher opposite Tom Cruise and he’ll play Bruce Willis’ son in A Good Day to Die Hard. But he hasn’t been in much yet, so I was hoping for something high. Alas, his number was only three.
Bela Lugosi: Not to be morbid, but my last hope was dead people. But even the original Dracula has a Bacon number of three.
So, the largest degree of separation I could find was three. Pathetic, I know — especially given that as of June 2011 there are 32 people in the IMDb database with a Bacon number of eight. Can you find any of the 32, PopWatchers?

No comments:

Post a Comment