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Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

quora.com

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Re: Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

#561

Post by cotelletta »

golergka wrote: post #549
fabioborellini wrote: post #438

Isn't this a typical Quora answer? Full of filler and shitty hard-to-verify details that provide no value to the answer ("the language is encrypted twice", what the hell), and very little effort on answering the actual question (what is the purpose of CAPTCHA). And the community rules try to block people from writing firm "you're full of shit"-like answers, even though every other answer of Quora is full of lies like…

> And the community rules try to block people from writing firm "you're full of shit" That's what you get when you value niceness over competence. Just look at any typical discussion of "Linus' rants" here on HN - people (or, I must clarify, americans) seem to care more about whether you hurt someone's feelings rather than if you're right or not. I don't know a better environment for professional bullshitters to thri…

It absolutely is. By appealing to nicety, you can screw people over subtly enough that it doesn't register to observers as offense, and then act offended yourself when you get pushback.

You can also add in some fundamental attribution error, as in "I am just looking out for everyone. You are being difficult. They are engaging in bad faith."

Re: Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

#562

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #340
rococode wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually pretty interesting to see how the captchas have evolved as, presumably, Google decides "OK, we have enough data to consistently identify this thing" and moves on to the next challenge. I recall the modern (non-text) captchas used to be cars pretty much every time. Then, the images started getting grainier as they apparently wanted to improve their recognition in different conditions. Then crosswalks and…

Those really grainy images, they always seemed like they had to have noise added on purpose? It was like really badly processed film grain, but if the images were enlargements then wouldn't they be pixelated? Stuff you get now often requires cultural information, like "sidewalk" isn't a cross-cultural name, I'd guess almost everyone knows it, but meh. What classes as a store, is a lawyers office a store? Also, I seem…

North American food is what amused me, I was thinking how many are going to get that one right outside North America.

Re: Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

#563

Post by rtkwe »

Mirioron wrote: post #422
rtkwe wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again I still don't see how not wanting Google to track you should qualify as a disability under the ADA.

Nonono, disabled people might be barred from using a service because of excessive recaptcha. That's what he means. I also think he really meant CVAA rather than ADA though.

Looks like they provide an appropriate alternative for people with vision disabilities: https://support.google.com/recaptcha/answer/6175971?hl=en

That only really leaves blind deaf people out, at which point we might be reaching the limits of any technology to provide access to everyone without a tooooon of work.

Re: Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

#564

Post by throwmeback »

echelon wrote: post #370
defertoreptar wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just throwing this out there. Have you considered that maybe you are a robot?

I know this comment is in jest, but please don't joke on Hacker News as you would on Reddit. Posts like this add little informational content, spawn a thread of joke responses, and take time away from hundreds of people who are here to read high signal commentary. Sorry to be so profoundly un-fun. edit: I'm being downvoted, but consider the comment chain this has generated.

I mean, even Reddit feels less and less like Reddit nowadays...

Re: Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

#565

Post by PaulHoule »

eridius wrote: post #43

Lately I've been getting reCAPTCHA prompts all the time even though I'm not browsing in incognito mode and haven't cleared cookies. All I'm doing is running a very basic ad blocker, using Safari (which blocks third-party tracking), and very rarely loading a Google site. The most interaction I have with Google is when I end up having to use my corporate Google account as SSO for some other site. Given that I'm not doi…

Technically it's a good strategy. It would be much more complex for bots to leave a trail consistent with that of a real user.

Some financial and government benefit web sites query web trackers as an extra factor in the enrollment process.

Re: Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

#566

Post by PurpleBoxDragon »

rtkwe wrote: post #310
Bonooru wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the argument boils down to "how do you fill out the captcha if you use a screen reader"?

They already have an accommodations for the visually impaired with the audio captchas. https://support.google.com/recaptcha/answer/6175971?hl=en

What about the deafblind?

Re: Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

#567

Post by ebg13 »

fabioborellini wrote: post #438

Isn't this a typical Quora answer? Full of filler and shitty hard-to-verify details that provide no value to the answer ("the language is encrypted twice", what the hell), and very little effort on answering the actual question (what is the purpose of CAPTCHA). And the community rules try to block people from writing firm "you're full of shit"-like answers, even though every other answer of Quora is full of lies like…

> the actual question (what is the purpose of CAPTCHA)

This assessment isn't quite right. The actual question is about how the captcha differentiates between a human and a bot at the box checking stage.

You're right, though, that it is both full of filler and also doesn't address the question as posed at all.

> Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

It can, by taking over the mouse...except...

LUCKILY, the top answer (on my screen at least it's https://www.quora.com/Why-can-t-a-bot-tick-the-Im-not-a-robo...) does actually try to answer the question.

I feel like the OP submission might have just been some sort of submarine self-promotion for the "CEO of ".

Re: Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

#569

Post by jopsen »

johannes1234321 wrote: post #360
jopsen wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My personal blog has a spam filter for comments.. it's either that or captcha.. or sign in with Google/Facebook.

Often a trivial non-standard thing like "what's the name of the author" works well enough. Especially outside the English language. Spammers won't spend the time to bother adopting their scripts for that. If this somple thing comes from a popular WordPress plugin the equation for the spammer changes, of course.

> If this somple thing comes from a popular WordPress plugin the equation for the spammer changes, of course.

Exactly :)

Re: Why can’t a bot tick the 'I'm not a robot' box?

#570

Post by Liquix »

PaulHoule wrote: post #565
eridius wrote: post #43

Lately I've been getting reCAPTCHA prompts all the time even though I'm not browsing in incognito mode and haven't cleared cookies. All I'm doing is running a very basic ad blocker, using Safari (which blocks third-party tracking), and very rarely loading a Google site. The most interaction I have with Google is when I end up having to use my corporate Google account as SSO for some other site. Given that I'm not doi…

Technically it's a good strategy. It would be much more complex for bots to leave a trail consistent with that of a real user. Some financial and government benefit web sites query web trackers as an extra factor in the enrollment process.

It'd be a good strategy if we were aiming for a totalitarian Google-sponsored police state..

Making (online or offline) life more difficult for people who don't want to use company X products could escalate to the point where you either accept the yoke and are admitted to the walled garden of "society" which company X has firmly cemented themselves under -- or you say no and find yourself unable to drive/fly/get a job/go to college/buy groceries in your town. It sounds like a big leap to make right now, but is a real possibility if Amazon/Google/FB don't get broken up soon.

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