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CAPTCHAs don’t prove you’re human – they prove you’re American (2017)

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Re: CAPTCHAs don’t prove you’re human – they prove you’re American (2017)

#351

Post by DarkWiiPlayer »

1f60c wrote: post #344
DarkWiiPlayer wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so if you don't pass, say, by using TOR or even just a VPN, you don't even get a chance to prove you're not a bot? Cool, really cool, I can't see that being illegal at all. EDIT: This comment is stupidly worded, please see clarification below.

Why would it be illegal? Being able to access a website (be it Twitter, Hacker News, or your hometown newspaper) is a privilege, not a right.

My comment was poorly phrased. My point is that this can quickly lead to legal problems, when such a captcha restricts your access to something you do have a legal right to.

Say I buy a new phone and it stops working after 3 weeks. I want to contact the seller, but they only have a web contact form and I fail to get past the captcha.

This is already getting very close to being a huge legal problem, and the only reason why it's probably not that bad is that technically that website is supposed to give at least a contact address so I could just send them a letter which, while hugely inconvenient, is legally still a good enough way for me to contact them.

I'm sure if you spend a while longer you could find a few cases where the problem is even worse (also considering more than just one legal system).

So what I should have said: Using this technology to block users from the wrong endpoints could end up being illegal.

For context: I'm talking German laws here.

Re: CAPTCHAs don’t prove you’re human – they prove you’re American (2017)

#352

Post by hinkley »

jpambrun wrote: post #343
chithanh wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That the laptop shuts down when below minimum operating temperature is a Good Thing™. For example, the battery performance changes greatly (reduced capacity and discharge rate), and the battery may even take permanent damage when charged at low temperatures. Also it is a very bad idea to bring a laptop indoors from the cold and immediately turning it on. Condensing water can cause short circuits (people who wear glas…

I am in Montreal, Everyday I got to school during winters I had to subject my laptop to -20c for 45min before coming back to a warm indoor. It's not like we have any alternatives. It's true for our phones as well. OP's points still stands. I would add that if your product can't stand this constant hot-cold cycle, don't get in the Canadian market. If you are selling here, we can assume you have accepted the reality of…

Are you carrying your naked laptop around outdoors in below zero temperatures? Maybe a bag that nestles against your body would be a better idea.

Re: CAPTCHAs don’t prove you’re human – they prove you’re American (2017)

#353

Post by DanBC »

1f60c wrote: post #344
DarkWiiPlayer wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so if you don't pass, say, by using TOR or even just a VPN, you don't even get a chance to prove you're not a bot? Cool, really cool, I can't see that being illegal at all. EDIT: This comment is stupidly worded, please see clarification below.

Why would it be illegal? Being able to access a website (be it Twitter, Hacker News, or your hometown newspaper) is a privilege, not a right.

Disability discrimination laws have been in place for decades now.

Re: CAPTCHAs don’t prove you’re human – they prove you’re American (2017)

#355

Post by 2rsf »

nottorp wrote: post #275
2rsf wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the batteries more than anything else, most phones will loose their battery capacity in cold weather.

Wil lose. One O. Losing capacity is one thing, shutting down and refusing to start after 10 min outside is another. What use is a phone if i can't call 112 because it's cold? Edit: Also remember that I've had Apple laptops before, and only this newer model deems it necessary to shut down.

yes, one O.

That's a battery technology limitation, you wanted a lightweight high capacity and low memory effect battery? the cost is bad temperature range. Otherwise pull out an old phone with NiMH batteries for your 911 calls

Try to use an eInk device in cold weather, its response time becomes terrible down to almost unresponsive. Again that's a technology limitation.

Re: CAPTCHAs don’t prove you’re human – they prove you’re American (2017)

#356

Post by ClumsyPilot »

scrollaway wrote: post #322
nottorp wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wil lose. One O. Losing capacity is one thing, shutting down and refusing to start after 10 min outside is another. What use is a phone if i can't call 112 because it's cold? Edit: Also remember that I've had Apple laptops before, and only this newer model deems it necessary to shut down.

> What use is a phone if i can't call 112 because it's cold? You're right, we should just ditch them. What use are they?

Yes, literally. If my phone would not work at 10C, I would replace it immediately, then burn it.

The point of a mobile phone is to be usefull outdoors, and sometimes your life depends on it. There are no two ways about it in my view.

Re: CAPTCHAs don’t prove you’re human – they prove you’re American (2017)

#357

Post by idop »

Rillen wrote: post #216
Rillen wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is really really weird from you comparing it to cancer of the internet. Catpcha was not invented to make the internet worse and solving one is not a real hurdle to you. I'm not sure why you 'sat down for minutes' to solve any of them, you might just be really bad in comparison to a lot of other peoples. Nonetheless, this helps YOU it makes YOUR experience better by making it harder for bots. Have you ever seen a…

It would be interesting to see why someone would downvote it. Since when are captchas a bigger issue than spam bots and fraud users? and yes i also think that those tasks are actually helping our society. Adding models for self driving cars, for security/emergency breaking systems etc. So whats the issue?

I did not downvote you, but I assume it's because you're wrong. Depending on your browser settings, addons, etc. CAPTCHAs may be nearly impossible to solve. That is to say, you ARE solving them correctly, but Google thinks otherwise, and punishes you with ever more pictures that fade in and out ever more slowly. So the fact that they're easy to solve or work well for you means nothing. Other people are having real issues with it, and not because they are unable to solve them.

Re: CAPTCHAs don’t prove you’re human – they prove you’re American (2017)

#358

Post by chithanh »

jpambrun wrote: post #343
chithanh wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That the laptop shuts down when below minimum operating temperature is a Good Thing™. For example, the battery performance changes greatly (reduced capacity and discharge rate), and the battery may even take permanent damage when charged at low temperatures. Also it is a very bad idea to bring a laptop indoors from the cold and immediately turning it on. Condensing water can cause short circuits (people who wear glas…

I am in Montreal, Everyday I got to school during winters I had to subject my laptop to -20c for 45min before coming back to a warm indoor. It's not like we have any alternatives. It's true for our phones as well. OP's points still stands. I would add that if your product can't stand this constant hot-cold cycle, don't get in the Canadian market. If you are selling here, we can assume you have accepted the reality of…

As others pointed out, that was likely intentional. Apple designed this safety mechanism into the laptop, so they would not have to deal with such warranty claims.

Also the temperature change is not a problem while the laptop is non-operating. The alternative therefore is to wait for 10-15 min before turning it on.

Re: CAPTCHAs don’t prove you’re human – they prove you’re American (2017)

#359

Post by ChrisRR »

mschuster91 wrote: post #198
mkl wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, American fire hydrants are very different from NZ ones too. Ours are under a yellow steel panel flush with the ground, so not something self-driving cars need to identify.

> Ours are under a yellow steel panel flush with the ground, so not something self-driving cars need to identify. Why not? I would suppose it's forbidden to park over these, so identifying them makes sense.

In the UK, the panels are in the pavement or grass, not in the road

Re: CAPTCHAs don’t prove you’re human – they prove you’re American (2017)

#360

Post by hinkley »

chithanh wrote: post #335
kodisha wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, the entire laptop was dead. Booted into some black screen of death, with glitches. I never saw something like that before or after that.

Possibly condensing water caused some transient short circuit. If your laptop survived, you were lucky.

Kids these days.

Anybody remember when rental movies had warnings about letting them warm up before playing them if they were exposed to cold temperatures?

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