"Captcha" ????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. 77

   DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years ago

   Why, all of a sudden the last two days, am I having to fill out one of those annoying "Captcha" forms when creating a new hub?
   And NO, I'm not on a different computer or device; I'm not on any browser other than the two between which I normally vary...
   
   It used to be, fill out your starting tags, click 'continue,' and then on the 'spam warning' page, simply hit 'continue' again...
   Now, there's another step???
   
   I HATE those things!  They are so jumbled up and hard to read, and I often miss, and have to try again...and no, not because I'm a 'bot' that can't interpret the characters, but because I'm an aging human whose eyesight is not as good as it once was.  These fuzzed-out, overlain, crazy-alignment letters and numbers are a serious problem for senior citizens!
   
   Why was this added????  It is a major annoyance.

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      relacheposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Probably because it's one of the more effective spam deterrents currently available online.  It may seem annoying to some but the fact that it stops non-human submissions is something this site could definitely use in the wake of the recent spam attack.

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      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      As do I and most others. Fortunately for me, I seem to be able to read HP's and I don't do hubs that often. Relache is right. Because of the spammers, we pretty much have to put up with the captcha crap everywhere.
      
      As a side note. When I run across those captchas that I can't read, which is often, I give the ctrl+ a real work out.

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      Stacie Lposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I can't read them very well so i just keep clicking till I see one I like

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2. 87

   rebekahELLEposted 12 years ago

   I'm sure it's there to discourage spammers.
   
   It can be annoying, but if it serves its primary purpose, I'm all for it.

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3. 82

   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   Totally agree Dzy!
   
   I sometimes need to make ten or more attempts before I succeed. I really cannot recognise the distorted letters, especially when they appear in nonsense words, so I can't guess the ones that are not obvious.
   
   Captchas have me in tears most of the times I am faced with them.
   
   This seems yet one more reason not to even try to write on here any more.

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4. 82

   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   What does Ctrl+ do?

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      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Try it right now.

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         paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         And while we are at it,
         
         ctrl- will bring the size back down.
         
         ctrl0 will reset to default.

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            2uesdayposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            That is useful info for me as for some reason my laptop at times enlarges the text without me pressing the Cltr+. I did not know about the Crtl0 so had been putting it right with Crtl- good to have an alternative.
            
            Some Captcha boxes have an option to hear the letters you need to type.

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            cryptidposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            That's a great tip. No more going over to that little wrench in the corner when I can't read something.  My productivity will skyrocket!

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            snakeslaneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            This is handy to know thanks .

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         DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Oh--good to know--thanks for that, paradigm...learn something new every day!

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5. 82

   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   Ooooeeerrr missis, I never knew that!

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      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Neither did I until someone told me.

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6. 85

   cryptidposted 12 years ago

   I don't think anyone likes captchas, but if HP thinks it will stop spam it seems like only a minor inconvenience.  I do agree they are hard to read sometimes.

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7. 67

   psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

   I don't mind a visual verification, but Captcha is the worst, hardest, most annoying way of doing this.

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   1. 77

      DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed, psycheskinner--especially for me, as I am troubled with "eye floaters," that in and of themselves often distort what I am looking at...it makes it even harder to read these things.

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8. 76

   Aficionadaposted 12 years ago

   I'm excited to see that they can be made audible.  I don't know what I thought the volume icon was for, but that had never occurred to me!  Usually, if I can't read it confidently, I do the same as Stacie L.

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      WriteAngledposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I tried the spoken variant a couple of times, but could not make out what was being said at all.
      
      The only things like this that I can use without total frustration are where you have to perform a simple sum and input the answer. I suppose, though, that people with number blindness would find those impossible.
      
      Perhaps the solution is to have all three types available so that people can choose the one that is least uncomfortable for them.

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      1. 76

         Aficionadaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I reacted with excitement at the thought of the letters being audible, but I haven't tried them at all yet.  I'll have some opportunities for that soon.  I would guess that, in addition to the possible mechanical sound, varying worldwide pronunciations could add layers of frustration.
         
         I like the idea of having more than one form of spam deterrent.  I don't know how practical it would be to add other options, but the concept is very appealing.

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9. 75

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   It really isn't an issue with captchas that you can't read them,until you get rejected 5 or 6 times.
   
   I guess. Get it wrong, guess again. Only very seldom do captchas get harder at each attempt.
   
   I also no longer have perfect vision, but I can see better than a computer program, and many captchas allow room for mistake.

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10. 74

    melbelposted 12 years ago

    I haven't come across this yet, but perhaps this is something that should be implemented for newer hubbers or hubbers known to spam and well, more seasoned hubbers. Not that I want to scare away the new crowd or anything, but I just think it's strange that YOU are all getting captchas.
    
    Whenever I get a captcha on a site I frequent, I usually take it like I've done something wrong. Sometimes I'll get it on Blogger when I make a lot of posts in a short period of time.

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       relacheposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Neither have I actually.

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       Dale Hydeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I have not had the wonderful opportunity to experience the use of the captcha on this site yet. That is stated with humor. As a person who has had vision problems due to a torn retina recently, with floaters and some blurred vision in one eye as a result of the emergency surgery and the tear, captchas are a nightmare at times.
       
       I will say this, good luck if HP thinks this will stop spammers. Captchas are created to stop bots, not human spammers.
       
       On one of my websites I had comments open where anyone could comment. Spammers flocked in. I then put Capchas up to attempt to slow these human critters down. That did not work, as they continued to spam the site. Only when I set my settings that you had to be a member to post in comment did my spammers pop off the site. No problems since then. Just registering with the site is not enough. You get an email and have to confirm your email address before you become a member. Once I have that confirmed, you spam, you are easily blocked from the admin end of the site.

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       paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Blogger did that to me once. I immediately departed for the day.

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11. 64

    Lisa HWposted 12 years ago

    I came across it for the first time (on this site) last night.  I'd been saving up a few days' worth of writing and posted three Hubs all in a brief time.  Also, I've had some extra time over the last few days, so I had a few times when I'd sit and just answer a bunch of questions. I just figured HP's system "thought" I was a spammer.  (Mildly insulting, in some small way - not to mention kind of a shock -, after over four and a half years of pretty much walking the straight and narrow, though.      ... but I certainly understand.     )

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    wordscribe43posted 12 years ago

    Yeah, I came across the captcha last night for the first time.  I thought maybe it had to do with how long it had been since I published a hub.  I'm all for it though... whatever little extra deterrent for those spammers isn't a bad thing, imho.  I do wish they'd utilize the math problem type captchas instead though.  They are ever so much easier to deal with.  I have to re-captcha about 5 times, generally speaking...  Then I get ones with punctuation in them and am never sure if I'm supposed to include, say... the period.

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    1. 64

       Lisa HWposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I have trouble with the ones that make you wonder if there really are little "e's" squeezed between the letters - or if they aren't little "e's" at all (and they seldom are - and yet I always add them in because they sure look like little "e's" to me.     I don't really mind the capchas - but I do mind those kind that have those little "e's".  Why do they have to use those??!!! 

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    Mark Ewbieposted 12 years ago

    I just published something and did NOT get a captcha.
    
    So I wonder what the rules are?

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       Patty Inglish, MSposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Stick men don't need captcha becuase they are so unique?

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          Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Hey Patty, well it's a theory - I'll go with it.

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14. 83

    Marcy Goodfleischposted 12 years ago

    I created a title yesterday that had one, but when I created one today, it didn't show up.  Only showed up once out of several titles in past two days.

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       paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I guess HP has grown to know and love you.

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