Who's responsible for this pain - anyone know?

[Norma Holt]

I have just spent around 10 minutes trying to submit my application to join a media outlet. As usual I got the insert characters for security check problem. This was the second one in a row and I had given up on the first. Not to be outdone I tried and tried and tried and tr . . . . .

The characters are so distorted, so out of whack, often colored in such a fashion that they cannot easily be seen and unless you have perfect vision you can never get them in one. Well at least I can't. So who puts up these crazy challengers which waste valuable time and effort and may see many canceling, as I did on both, because of frustration.

Surely the security password does not have to be impossible to work out when one is signing up. After all who would take the time and trouble to attempt the puzzle unless a genuine potential customer.

Sorry folks but this has made me feel just a little uneasy so I wanted to get your opinions. Anyone else having these problems or am I just a one off.

[Lee MacRae]

I've been having the same problem. In fact, I have to mention that a big pain in the a$$ was trying enter the frankenstein letters to get a new password for this forum! 10 minutes doesn't seem like much but it really gets frustrating.

[getsmartt]

I assume you are talking about the CAPTCHA codes, unfortunately the spammers have developed some pretty awesome OCR software that can solve a lot of the easier to read ones, so people have started resorting to harder to read ones.

Eventually they will be obsolete, because they will be impossible to read by any normal human, and still readable by machine.

In the meantime we all suffer. At least some sites give you the option to have the code read to you.

[warriorprocessing]

Yea trying to get into yahoo answers today was a pain. I kept getting the code wrong.

[Writing Warrior]

LOL, Lee - Frankenstein letters is a perfect description!

I too get frustrated with the really distorted CAPTCHA codes, but what can we do?

[Killer Joe]

Yea, I hate those things too.

Luckily for me I found a trick to get around it. I just smear some Vaseline on the monitor over the Captcha and the letters morph back to normal.

The only problem is my fingers keep slipping off the buttons on the keyboard so I never end up hitting the right keys anyway.

Maybe it's time for a new sperm guard...

KJ

[Divisive Cottonwood]

There are very few captchas left that have not been broken by spammers - even Google's Gmail has fallen which is why it is the preferred email client for dodgy spam heads.

The biggest losers in all this are those with disability issues. As Norma pointed out, these are hard enough to get round even if you do have perfect vision.

[Norma Holt]

Originally Posted by Killer Joe

Yea, I hate those things too.

Luckily for me I found a trick to get around it. I just smear some Vaseline on the monitor over the Captcha and the letters morph back to normal.

The only problem is my fingers keep slipping off the buttons on the keyboard so I never end up hitting the right keys anyway.

Maybe it's time for a new sperm guard...

KJ

Ha! Ha! did you mean spam guard?

[Chris Lockwood]

Originally Posted by Norma Holt

The characters are so distorted, so out of whack, often colored in such a fashion that they cannot easily be seen and unless you have perfect vision you can never get them in one. Well at least I can't. So who puts up these crazy challengers which waste valuable time and effort and may see many canceling, as I did on both, because of frustration.

It's not just you. I have 20/20 vision according to last month's exam and have trouble with many of those. Sometimes I can't even tell how many characters there are since they blend together Dali style.

Whoever designed them should be locked in a burning building with the only escape route being a series of those captchas.

[ScottBoyd]

Unfortunately I learned that my imperfect eye site cannot decipher the code, and my ears cannot pick up the audio codes... what happens next year when the spammers software evolves? Real time finger prints and DNA tests sampled and analyzed on our keyboard?

Where is this going???

[Angela V. Edwards]

Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood

It's not just you. I have 20/20 vision according to last month's exam and have trouble with many of those. Sometimes I can't even tell how many characters there are since they blend together Dali style.

Whoever designed them should be locked in a burning building with the only escape route being a series of those captchas.

Well, I'm as blind as a bat without my contacts, but WITH them I also have 20/20 vision and I cannot read most of those things, either. I had the same problem yesterday that Norma was talking about in her post. I just COULDN'T get the right letters/numbers, no matter what I did.

[spressnell]

Boy I'm glad I'm not the only one. I had eye surgery recently and my eyes are still healing. I thought my vision was worse than I thought. I also gave up on some of the sites.


Shirley

[Norma Holt]

Originally Posted by ScottBoyd

Unfortunately I learned that my imperfect eye site cannot decipher the code, and my ears cannot pick up the audio codes... what happens next year when the spammers software evolves? Real time finger prints and DNA tests sampled and analyzed on our keyboard?

Where is this going???

Love it. I can just see the DNA detectives at work through the Internet. Maybe that's why Killer Joe is reaching for his sperm guard.

[SteveJohnson]

I installed the 'Mouse Gestures' for Firefox - it can be a pain getting used to, but it has this handy little feature that will magnify images when you click-drag across them in a certain direction (configurable). When I can't read a CAPTCHA, I just magnify it a time or two and then it's easy...most of the time

[Norma Holt]

Originally Posted by steveinidaho

I installed the 'Mouse Gestures' for Firefox - it can be a pain getting used to, but it has this handy little feature that will magnify images when you click-drag across them in a certain direction (configurable). When I can't read a CAPTCHA, I just magnify it a time or two and then it's easy...most of the time

Well, thanks for that. A few days ago I was playing around with the settings in Vista and activated a magnifier which now sits on the lower bar and activates every time I turn the computer on. Never thought to use it for this purpose though.

It will get more use now. Good one.

[Lesley Huntley]

This is a funny collection of Captchas I came across a while back. Some of them you think, that just CAN'T be real. But apparently, the mathematical equation IS actually a real Captcha! Must be for the Mensa website!

Top 10 Worst Captchas | IT Management and Cloud Blog

[Lee MacRae]

Originally Posted by Killer Joe

I just smear some Vaseline on the monitor over the Captcha and the letters morph back to normal.

The only problem is my fingers keep slipping off the buttons on the keyboard so I never end up hitting the right keys anyway.

Maybe it's time for a new sperm guard...

KJ

Vaseline and sperm? That ain't Captchas you're looking at!

[Chris Bailey]

Originally Posted by getsmartt

At least some sites give you the option to have the code read to you.

The few times I've tried having the codes read to me, it was worse than trying to decipher them visually.

Maybe I'm just not a good listener.

Perhaps they should incorporate capital punishment for spammers as a deterrent.

[TheRichJerksNet]

Norma,
This falls back on those CAPTCHA coders that dont have a clue as to how the internet works.. Ok that is a bit of a harsh statement but a few facts..

* A bot can not read images, no matter how good you think those bots are they can not read the coding behind a image. Images are created of nothing more than code.. Bots can not read that code and they can not even see it..

* Many people are under the impression that if they make thier images scared, twisted, blurred, and etc that is somehow makes the login (or where its being used) more secure.. This is nothing more than a myth.. If anything it ticks people off and they lose good valued customers.

Norma, if you have noticed on my site (which you have used a good bit, thank you) I use "Turing Numbers" this is my own coded system.. If you notice how easy the numbers are to read.. Well my turing numbers are just as secure as yahoo's CAPTCHA..

James

[looseleafpress]

What is sad is that sites spend all this effort to stop spammers and bots, that eventually work around the problem. There are easier ways to handle this without pissing off real users.

[Glenn Newsome]

sometimes the captcha has a button that says "change if you cannot read,etc.". I have click 5 or 10 times before I got one I could read easily.

[Gene Pimentel]

I think the better solution to a regular captcha graphic would be to use a LOGIC feature that would be much more difficult for bots to crack. Something like:
"What part of the body do you wear a hat on?" _______
"What animal quacks and has webbed feet?" _______
"How many days are there in two weeks?" _______

I know I've run across a few of these.


.
PR: wait... I: wait... L: wait... LD: wait... I: wait...wait... C: wait... SD: wait...
[IMG]chrome://seoquake/content/skin/close.gif[/IMG]

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet

Norma,
* A bot can not read images, no matter how good you think those bots are they can not read the coding behind a image. Images are created of nothing more than code.. Bots can not read that code and they can not even see it..

CAPTCHA busting tactics explained:


Google's CAPTCHA busted in recent spammer tactics - Security Labs Blog

[TheRichJerksNet]

Hi faxinator,
A bot still can not read an image... Sure it has been done for years that they get around captcha but again its not because the bot reads the image.

James

[getsmartt]

Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet

Hi faxinator,
A bot still can not read an image... Sure it has been done for years that they get around captcha but again its not because the bot reads the image.

James

I have to disagree James, The bot cannot read the code behind the captcha, but I have seen first hand some remarkable things done with OCR software.

JMHO

[TheRichJerksNet]

Hi James,
Yes due to some poor coding and poor planning some can be cracked.. This is the exact reason why I will be releasing a brand new product ..

Generate Secure Forms Without The Need Of Captcha

Many of you know how I feel about security and many of you know the high quality products I produce.. Soon I will release a new product that will let you generate any kind of form - opt-in, support, contact us, any kind of form -- just fill in the fields and click on generate and it will produce your forms for you and it will be 100% secure from bots without captcha -- Yes you will see brand new technology that will make your lives easier and your possible customers lives easier..

James

[Norma Holt]

Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet

Hi James,
Yes due to some poor coding and poor planning some can be cracked.. This is the exact reason why I will be releasing a brand new product ..

Generate Secure Forms Without The Need Of Captcha

Many of you know how I feel about security and many of you know the high quality products I produce.. Soon I will release a new product that will let you generate any kind of form - opt-in, support, contact us, any kind of form -- just fill in the fields and click on generate and it will produce your forms for you and it will be 100% secure from bots without captcha -- Yes you will see brand new technology that will make your lives easier and your possible customers lives easier..

James

Well done James, can't wait to see it. Yes your site is a lot better except that the colours (colors - excuse me) have my eyes flickering. Its techo's who think like you that we need more of.

God bless.

[Norma Holt]

Originally Posted by Lee MacRae

Vaseline and sperm? That ain't Captchas you're looking at!

This is so funny. It had me wondering too what Killer Joe was really looking at. I thought he was describing a new way to kill off Captchas.

Norma

[Norma Holt]

Originally Posted by Chris Bailey

The few times I've tried having the codes read to me, it was worse than trying to decipher them visually.

Maybe I'm just not a good listener.

Perhaps they should incorporate capital punishment for spammers as a deterrent.

I've had the same trouble. I think they are recorded so they too cannot be understood or even heard properly. So what is the point? Sooner or later companies will wake up to the fact that they are locking out their customers. Maybe then they will get a better system.
Maybe voice recognition through Skype or something. Oh, the mind boggles.

Norma

[Norma Holt]

Originally Posted by Glenn Newsome

sometimes the captcha has a button that says "change if you cannot read,etc.". I have click 5 or 10 times before I got one I could read easily.

You are lucky. At least it changed for you. I was clicking to change in one program and kept getting nothing but that my password was invalid. It wasn't. So I wrote to the company and got told their site was not functioning properly. But isn't it up to them to know that and not for their visitors to have to report it?

Norma

[jayden.fellze]

Are you talking about the captcha codes? Then, yes, they do seem to take a toll on your patience and time. When you are seriously trying to log into something, when this comes as an impossible-to-avoid process, you start wondering if it is worth spending time on this. Why not find some other means to check security, rather than testing one's vision? Would anybody suggest this to the concerned people?

[steve m]

I have to admit some I find really easy whilst others are hard.

[TheRichJerksNet]

Originally Posted by jayden.fellze

Are you talking about the captcha codes? Then, yes, they do seem to take a toll on your patience and time. When you are seriously trying to log into something, when this comes as an impossible-to-avoid process, you start wondering if it is worth spending time on this. Why not find some other means to check security, rather than testing one's vision? Would anybody suggest this to the concerned people?

This is the exact reason why I have a script that I am coding right now that will produce any kind of form you want and will be 100% secure without the need of captcha.. No spamming, No Bots, and Happy Visitors...

You will be able to produce any kind of form your need with no knowledge of html or php.. Fill in the fields and click generate to produce the form you want with security..

James

[lvcabby]

I have the same problem with them. Some of them have a link to change the security code and I just keep hitting the link to change it to one that I can read. If they stopped putting those lines through the code it would be alot easier. I feel your pain.

[Louis Raven]

Bots can read text and numbers on images.

My bro in-law has a torch like device with each character shape preset which defines colours and picks out the correct shape/character accordingly.

Louis

[Greg Cooksley]

Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet

This is the exact reason why I
have a script that I am coding right now that will produce any
kind of form you want and will be 100% secure without the need
of captcha.. No spamming, No Bots, and Happy Visitors...

You will be able to produce any kind of form your need with
no knowledge of html or php.. Fill in the fields and click generate
to produce the form you want with security..

James

Hey James,

Bring it on.......

Can't wait to see it in action.....

Pity you can't do something about this dreadful cookie problem
that Clickbank has.....

Regards

Greg