(Credit:
Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)
Captcha, or Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart, is a method used by many Web sites to fight against computer-generated input. As computers get smarter, Captchas hves become more of a nuisance because most of them are now tough for us humans to pass.
I recently blogged about a new and more humane way to create a Captcha by using 3D images and the implementation of that method at Yuniti.com. I've just run into a different approach, similar to the Asirra tool revealed by Microsoft in 2007, that seems even easier for humans to pass while remaining impossible for machines to figure out.
It's called Captcha the Dog from a Web site of the same name. Like the 3D-based Captcha, this method uses images instead of text for the challenge. However, the challenge is always the same: clock on the one different object on the screen, i. e., click on the photo of a dog among eight photos of cats.
With Captcha the Dog you are required to do this multiple times in a row. Each time, the position of the dog is changed and if you click on the wrong picture once, the process starts over from the beginning.
Once you have clicked on the right one enough times, all the photos will be those of cats. This is when you know you have passed the Captcha.
As it is currently impossible for a computer to distinguish between these photos, it's virtually impossible for a machine to randomly select the right image multiple times in a row.
This method of Captcha costs $25 per year with customized images. Beyond that, you can get its codes for free. The new method is said to be compatible with any browser (including that of the iPhone) and can be implemented within 15 minutes without the use of cookies.
This seems a simple yet effective alternative to the text-based Captcha that's so popular and so frustrating to use. However, like other image-based Captcha methods, Captcha the Dog doesn't currently offer a way to support people with disabilities. However, the site states that its new version will offer an audio component for vision-impaired people.
Try out the new Captcha method at Captchathedog.com and leave your thoughts in the comments.
The newly implemented Captcha method that's based on 3D images.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)I wrote a blog about a new way of creating Captchas by using 3D images that Taylor Hayward, a blogger, came up with and thought it would be really cool when implemented. Now, 3D Captchas seem to have become a reality--however, not from Hayward.
Incidentally, the folks at YUNiTi.com, a social Web site, have been working on the same idea for a few weeks and have implemented the method on their Web site.
The site announced Wednesday that it has created a 3D Captcha method that is unbreakable by current computer technology, yet much easier for humans to identify.
Captchas is short for Completely Automated Public Turing tests to tell Computers and Humans Apart. This is a way to make sure the input is not generated by a computer.
Similar to Hayward's idea, this new technology relies on our ability to identify objects in 3D instead of using alphanumeric characters. YUNiti's 3D Captcha, however, has three objects in the challenge and extends the list of images to any object, not limiting it to animals as in Hayward's idea. This increases the challenge's level of complication to prevent computers from successfully making the correct guesses.
I tried a new Captcha at the Web site and it worked very well. You just need to click on the placeholders for each object, then you are presented with a list of objects to choose from. After four mouse clicks, I passed the Captcha the very first time.
Marcos Boyington, co-founder and primary software engineer of YUNiTi.com, told CNET News that he and his brother came up with the idea without knowing of Taylor Hayward's method. Boyington believes this was joint discovery of the same concept by people in different parts of the world. He said he is seeking contact with Hayward to talk about collaboration opportunities.
The new 3D image-based design for Captchas.
(Credit: Taylor Hayward)If you have registered a new e-mail account or tried to retrieve your, say, Gmail password, you'd be familiar with the use of Captchas, the challenge-response method to verify that the input is not generated by a computer.
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(Credit:
CNET Networks)
I dig goofy T-shirts and this one stole my heart this morning. It comes from Web 2.0 invite service Crusher (review), and emulates the style of a captcha, which are those often times impossible-to-read pictures of warped and stretched words you need to translate to prove your humanity on most Web sites. Unlike real captchas though, solving this one won't help translate old books, or separate your Web identity from that of cold and calculating robots.
Related: Web Shirts: 20 rad T-shirt sites
Like many other suburban American males who grew up in a certain era, I [hearted] Led Zeppelin. And while my ardor's diminished considerably since adolescence, they're one of very few bands I discovered decades ago that I still enjoy today. (In contrast, I can't believe I actually own a half dozen Doors LPs.)
So when Led Zeppelin announced a one-show reunion (with their original drummer's son on drums) to celebrate the life of Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records cofounder who signed them, I expected it'd be popular. But apparently the registration site for tickets got so much traffic, they've extended the deadline a week. 25 million individual registrations have been reported. For 18,000 tickets.
Of course, as a friend pointed out this morning, some of these requests are probably automated programs sent out by scalpers and other opportunists--the registration site does not have any CAPTCHA system to weed out robots from humans. (CAPTCHA systems display an image file with letters and ask you to type the letters. The acronym stands for "completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart.")
Even so, with that kind of demand, I think the odds of a full tour are pretty good. Registration's here. Good luck.
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