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CAPTCHAs drive me crazy. Often the code is so warped I can’t decipher one of the letters or numbers. If I can read it, for some reason when I type the code in it’s usually wrong the first time. If I lose any of the data in the form I’ve just completed then I tend to get really frustrated. The math ones are better - I always know the sum of 2+4, but I suppose it could present a problem for some people.
I’ve noticed a new type of HIP (Human Interactive Proof) recently that shows an outline of an animal that you must identify instead, such as a dog, cat or cow. This is called KittenAuth, but apparently their image database is too small and automated systems have been able to get around it pretty quickly.
Microsoft now has a product in beta called ASIRRA (Animal Species Image Recognition for Restricting Access), which was developed in partnership with Petfinder.
It’s kind of fun; a grid of animal photos is shown, and you must identify cats and dogs. I’ve yet to have a problem identifying one or the other, especially since they show you an enlarged photo as you mouse over each one. The bad part is it makes me want another puppy, and they make it entirely too easy with the “adopt me” caption beneath each photo.
There’s an ASIRRA Wordpress Plugin you can download for your blog to reduce spam. It involves a few extra steps, but there are good instructions on the download page.
So far I don’t find the need for this on my blog; Akismet does a great job catching spam for me, but you may want to try this product if you are currently using CAPTCHA for your blog or forms.
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16 Comments
It’s funny…the Dark side of SEO lhates captchas too and love to break them. It’s funny how both white hat and black hat have such similar interests.
If this is really better than Captcha, I might try it.
White hats and black hats often have the same goals - we just go about reaching them differently
What a clever idea! Use a database of pre-classified photos that almost anyone in the world could tell apart. As long as there are enough categories to make the random-selection process difficult for spammers without making it too hard on users… it’s great. Too bad for dialup users, though
Just one more picture for them to download.
Nice post. I absolutely agree that some CAPTCHAs are impossible to decipher and often leave me squinting with frustration. ASSIRA and other image-based recognition should be the future with the greater possibilities for diversification since a picture’s worth a thousand words.
Very nice article, I will surely think of it in the future as I will start working on a new project, a revolutioning one I hope
Excellent post. CAPTCHA’s are really tough to decipher for an old guy like me. I was not aware of the ASSIRA option and will have to look into it.
All the best,
JB
Chadwyck - It is clever.
Search Engine Panel - Yes, I think image-based is the way to go too.
John - CAPTCHA’s are tough for most of us!
It’s getting so bad anymore that as a totally Internet addict, even I can’t figure out some of the CAPTCHAS for two or three tries. It get’s VERY frustrating.
I’m glad to see that something from Microsoft Research is related to Open Source. I think that’s interesting!
Vivevtvivas - I know - they’re warped and crammed together and are nonsensical words anyway, and like you I’ve had to try two and three times sometimes.
Thats neat and interesting. I think to fight spams, it could be little better than captcha by the sound of it. I am going to give it a try soon when I launch my new directory. I hope it works on that too.
Ross
@Trucking - let us know when you launch your new directory! We’ll try out your captcha/assira!
Ukraine is hate CAPTCHA too )) Thanks for the post, I’ll test ASIRRA on my personal blog.
Captchas can be cracked. I read a few Blackhat SEO blogs and it seems that if something is widely used… then it can be cracked.
Pretty scary.
@Stanislav - so this means CAPTCHA hatred is global!
@SMS kiirlaen - one of the features of the new Assira is that supposedly it can’t be cracked. I read the Blackhat Blogs too, and I know they can crack most of the Captchas, so I suppose they’re essentially useless these days. The “add the numbers” ones are kind of cool, though.
Personally, I’ve unsubscribed to blogs and sites that have difficult captcha. When it takes more than one try to get a comment submitted it ticks me off.