Wednesday, September 2, 2009

30DoW - Screen CAPTCHA

Write in favor of something I dislike immensely. That is today's task. At first I thought "No problem." I'm Libra, after all. I see two sides to everything. Turns out, age does make you set in your ways. Conservative Christians? I couldn't even if there was a new car in it for me. Republicans? I could do it, but I'd have to go into political philosophy and Chris would surely correct me along the way. The pro-life movement? I don't even want to think about it.

So instead I'm going to go against my general nature and keep it light. I'm gonna go with word verifications, otherwise known as CAPTCHA's. I'm an old school blogger and commenter, so the uprising of the CAPTCHA has gone from a random annoyance to a regular irritant. But wait, I'm supposed to be writing in favor.

According to Wikipedia "a CAPTCHA is a type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer." Basically, it aids in filtering out unwanted ads, spam and automated postings to email, blogs, forums or wikis. The term "challenge-response" should not scare you away. They are designed so that "most humans can solve" them. Of course, you might not be able to read the first, second or third CAPTCHA, but eventually you will get the random letters and numbers correct. Unless of course you can't due to a disability or because it is simply too difficult to read. But do not worry. CAPTCHA creators have designed an audio CAPTCHA for your convenience. No doubt that anyone who has ever had voice activation on their cell phones are overjoyed to hear about how easy an audio CAPTCHA will be! So rejoice in the technology that serves as a constant reminder of how irritating us humans have become in this technological age. Be free of spam and trolls! But please remember that CAPTCHA's do not actually have to be real words, nor are they an internet fortune cookie. Do not make the mistake of trying to use them in a sentence or find meaning in the one you have been provided. They mean nothing and yet they do everything! (Unless the spammers are employing cheap labor or have developed character recognition software. Which is not only possible, but probable in this day and age. But let's not think about that!)

3 comments:

  1. HAHAHAHAHAH!!!

    "Do not make the mistake of trying to use them in a sentence..." had me laughing. Seriously, had me laughing out loud.

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  2. I have to tell you, I kind of love the captchas! It kind of feels like a game...one that is very easy to win. Poof! Instant self-esteem!

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