greatbear: (f.u.)
Phil ([personal profile] greatbear) wrote2011-06-02 05:21 pm

Captcha me if you can

This shit is getting out of hand. First is was just smeared and wavy-gravy text. Then the silly made-up words that trip up my brain's internal autocorrect. Now the obscuration of the text has been getting so out of hand to the point where I have to refresh the captcha half dozen times or more to get something readable enough to enter, much less without errors. I'll get Greek or even Cyrillic characters, shit in sub-and superscript, equations, and shit like this:



I realize that these things have been getting tougher to decipher for us because automated solving of these things has gotten more sophisticated. But this is getting way out of hand, and this is far from the worst I have encountered. I propose that for every one of these stupid-assed messes of a captcha that shows up on someone's screen, some web programmer gets an automated, open-handed bitch slap. What say you?

[identity profile] fuzzbearmark.livejournal.com 2011-06-02 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
with my bad eyesight I often have a lot of trouble with captchas - I HATE THEM!!!

[identity profile] normalcyispasse.livejournal.com 2011-06-02 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
No kidding! I understand how the Captcha has been an elegant solution, but now it has become so convoluted that this arms race is deterring actual people from participating in fora and the like.

[identity profile] dendren.livejournal.com 2011-06-02 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
agreed, bitch slaps for the Captcha programmers!!!

[identity profile] kirbymiles.livejournal.com 2011-06-02 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
I have never had one that bad before so yes I agree - A good Bitch Slapping is in order :)

[identity profile] rcfozzie.livejournal.com 2011-06-02 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Was thinking along the same lines the other day when one was irritating the hell outta me...

[identity profile] putzmeisterbear.livejournal.com 2011-06-02 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't mind scrolling a couple of times to get one I can read, but characters that aren't even on my keyboard? And that's the most readable out of the six I've just scrolled through? grumble... grumble...

[identity profile] cpj.livejournal.com 2011-06-02 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Capchas are pointless nowadays because spammers pay girls in China 10 cents per message they post, bypassing the human filter.

[identity profile] danlmarmot.livejournal.com 2011-06-02 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
10 cents is a lot... the going rate is 2 to 3 cents.

[identity profile] ptownnyc.livejournal.com 2011-06-02 11:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Look, I'm not the stupidest guy on earth, but most of the time lately these things have been so mystifying they stop me dead. I just don't have the brain processing to figure it out.

[identity profile] budmassey.livejournal.com 2011-06-03 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
I'm glad it's not just me.

[identity profile] franklanguage.livejournal.com 2011-06-04 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
Word; I knew they were getting more difficult to solve, but I resolved not to take it personally.

[identity profile] mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com 2011-06-03 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
Agreed! It's ridiculous. I have to deal with this daily when I post our Craig's List ad. It's almost impossible to read.

[identity profile] geometrician.livejournal.com 2011-06-03 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
I am finding that I have to reload for a different word more and more often. It is getting pretty sucky.

[identity profile] sultmhoor.livejournal.com 2011-06-03 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
At least that one, Recaptcha, is helping digitize old books.

[identity profile] holy13nation.livejournal.com 2011-06-03 07:47 am (UTC)(link)
I also am glad it is not just me.
However I tend to simply not bother if I have to reload more than once.

[identity profile] teddyb.livejournal.com 2011-06-03 08:39 am (UTC)(link)
What they said.

I understand the reason for them, but I am getting more and more frustrated with things I can't read.

[identity profile] fingertrouble.livejournal.com 2011-06-03 11:13 am (UTC)(link)
Yes I've noticed that - and +1 on the bitch slap.

Also those who put max/min number or US format required on telephone fields, or insist on a zip format code for international orders, or who don't know London doesn't have a state or province, to name a few...

[identity profile] erstexman.livejournal.com 2011-06-05 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
I ran into a situation recently where I had to go through 4 of these things before I got one right. You are correct in that this is getting crazy. SURELY there is some alternative solution to this madness...