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

shkspr.mobi

451–460 of 700 posts

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

#451

I'm not American and I often see captchas that ask about "cars" or "trucks". And they use similar images. I sometimes don't pass through those. My question is, when I see a truck and I'm being asked to select all cars, should I select the truck or not? For me a truck is a car. Is it not one?

I think trucks are cars. I would pick any automobile, really even anything with 4+ wheels and a motor. I generally pass those.

The ones that get me are the street sign / street light ones. Do the poles count? What about a tiny edge of the sign that is barely visible in a neighboring square? Ugh.

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

#452

To add some balance, they should include "identify all the roundabouts" so that folk from the USA are equally disadvantaged.

You can further improve this by adding a load-balancing mechanism: > Click on the side of the gun where the bullet comes out from Pretty much 50% of Americans will find this impossible while the other half will have no problem whatsoever.

Trick question? The bullet typically comes out the end, the cartridge/casing comes out the side/top.

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

#453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are pelicans too. Because pelicans have bright yellow flashing balls and ...

As listed by others, popular crossing types in this group (the UK has a set of rules for how this should work and then local government can do paperwork to get something else appropriate if none of the existing designs are suitable) Zebra has striped road markings, with flashing yellow marker lights so that vehicle users have plenty of advance warning of the crossing. Pedestrians have right of way on these crossings…

In the US we have deer crossings, moose crossings and even the occasional duck crossing or goose crossing.

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

#454
post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am American, and it confuses me, which perhaps proves the point. In particular, why is it necessary to point out that parking is prohibited from 11 to 1 on Tuesday, when stopping of any kind is already prohibited on a superset of that time (7:30-4 M-F)?

It's not M-F, it's school days, i.e. not in school holidays?

I read “tow-away school days” and “No stopping M-F” as separate regulations, because they are divided by a horizontal line.

I don’t drive anymore (and when I did, it was mainly in suburbs) so perhaps I’m just not familiar with conventions?

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

#455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, big annoyance of mine is invites to events/streams/etc that start at 10:00 "mountain". What the fuck is that?

It’s the western time zone where Denver, Salt Lake City, Santa Fe, and El Paso are. The region is extremely mountainous and high elevation, and hence is often called the “mountain west,” as opposed to the Pacific Coast (which has a lower elevation and mostly smaller mountains by comparison).

Nobody should have to know this, frankly.

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

#456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently Europeans are bad at this too. Or do you think the French “socialist” party whose members have done things like lead the IMF is really socialist?

Depending on context, the word "socialism" is polysemic in practice in a lot of places in Europe. As long as people are aware that the S for "Socialista" in Spanish governing party PSOE is used in the sense of "social-democrat", and not in the same sense as the 2nd S in USSR standing for "Socialist", it's fine.

Social-democrats are socialists though. They are one of the many subgroups.

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

#457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on context, the word "socialism" is polysemic in practice in a lot of places in Europe. As long as people are aware that the S for "Socialista" in Spanish governing party PSOE is used in the sense of "social-democrat", and not in the same sense as the 2nd S in USSR standing for "Socialist", it's fine.

Indeed, you’re right. But isn’t this just restating my point? Americans don’t reliably distinguish between various left-of-center ideologies in their language, but that’s not uniquely American, because neither do Europeans.

I've heard lots of Trump supporters saying Biden is Communist; he seems just right of center to me. But it's about "othering", and USA have had a decades long programme making Communists into evil bogey men, so it's understandable from that perspective.

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

#458
post #302

I understand the purpose of CAPTCHAs when used as a security measure, but recently it seems like there has been a huge proliferation of them in all sorts of random places and it’s becoming very annoying. Even Google has taken to occasionally popping up CAPTCHAs just so I can see search results! (“suspicious activity on your network” - I’m using a reputable, top-tier UK mobile provider) Is there grounds to legally cha…

> Even Google has taken to occasionally popping up CAPTCHAs just so I can see search results! The most annoying one for me recently has been stackoverflow. The most basic use of stackoverflow (other than arriving through a web search) is to use its own search bar to search for something. Every time I do so, it asks for a captcha. It would make some sense to ask for a captcha when asking or answering a question, but w…

Probably too stop automated abuse and reduce unnecessary searches. Search can be expensive.

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

#459

To add some balance, they should include "identify all the roundabouts" so that folk from the USA are equally disadvantaged.

For Americans - "identify cyclist driving through the downtown"

Cyclists ride. They do not drive. Drive implies you aren't the prime mover in the mechanism (i.e., an engine is doing the work, and you're merely performing the task of executive signaling and control to that set of movers and systems carrying you along do so. The inflection point is actually legal in nature; in that once you slap a motor on it, you require licensure, because you're driving now. This is also why I disagree with driving being a privilege granted by the State; I'm not big on large edifi telling me I can only utilize mechanical devices at their whim, but such is life, yes, I've had the argument before, no I'm not going into it now).

A cyclist, however is the mechanism. You can make the argument that it's silly, but I'll bet you more people will look at you funny for saying cyclists drive than for saying the operator of a motor vehicle rides especially given the legal baggage that comes with driving.

Aside from that, they're quite easy to identify. They're usually the ones either breaking traffic laws, or being ignored/cursed at because their mere existance increases the volatility of motor vehicle traffic patterns in urban environments.

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

#460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s the western time zone where Denver, Salt Lake City, Santa Fe, and El Paso are. The region is extremely mountainous and high elevation, and hence is often called the “mountain west,” as opposed to the Pacific Coast (which has a lower elevation and mostly smaller mountains by comparison).

It's the assumption that everyone on the planet should know or care about this. "Mountain" could describe anywhere. The Himalayas, the Alps, Norway.

Not trying to change your mind, just to answer your question.
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