[thelist] CAPTCHA

[steven streight]

CAPTCHAs should not be routinely used, except when spambot floods make moderation not feasible.

That said, the smartest thing I've ever heard is quoted below.

Why can't CAPTCHAs be actual words a human can guess, when the type is so distorted?

And why can't a picture be the CAPTCHA that you have to express in words. Show a photo or drawing of a house, with no ALT IMG description of course, and user has to type in "house" in the text entry box?

Or even add "What do you see in this picture? State the color, then what it is, eg, blue castle".

How could a bot interpret a picture and a color?




Steven E. Streight 
http://www.pluperfecter.blogspot.com



> I've been pleasantly surprised when I've been offered a series of
> characters that form 2 real (if unconnected) words so that if I can't
> make out one of the characters at least I can guess what it is.
> 
> I know you're not supposed to use real words for passwords but I can't
> see that doing so in a captcha could pose any real threat.
> 
> We read words as pictures rather than spelling them out. Could spambots
> attempt this?
> --
> 
> Kind Regards
> 
> 
>   Chris Price
>   Choctaw