Grumble over web form security measures

[Rectify]

Tbc this is not a grumble about security - love that

But those picture boxes that come up when you're trying to put info into a form and send it omg they drive me crazy. I'm running with buses as my example here...

Firstly, the ones that say click on any buses but there's one bus covering many squares. What if there's only a smidge of bus on one square? Do I click that or it's not enough bus to warrant it? I always feel like those ones aren't clear and I don't like it.

Second, I just now put in a form and the security test came up with different things in each square. There were five buses but I was working quickly and only clicked four of them then entered. As I hit enter I saw the fifth bus and realised my mistake - but the form was still accepted even though I didn't do it correctly!! grr Very secure indeed.

Third, the ones where you have to click the buses but you also have to wait because once you click then more/different pics will come up. No. I don't want to wait for that. So aggravating.

 

[GadAbout]

That's not a security feature. That's an anti-bot feature. It's a form of "captcha."

Still doesn't make it delightful for you, but just so you know.

You would do the world a service if you would find the "Contact Us" link on these websites and explain how troublesome you find their "captcha" feature. Many sites are now merely requiring a checkmark in a box to prove you are human.

 

[Rectify]

That's not a security feature. That's an anti-bot feature. It's a form of "captcha."

Yeah, since I don't know much about it they all seem the same...about security. Thanks for the info.

You would do the world a service if you would find the "Contact Us" link on these websites and explain how troublesome you find their "captcha" feature.

Actually I might start doing that from time to time.

Many sites are now merely requiring a checkmark in a box to prove you are human.

If that would provide the same level of security, or near enough, then I don't understand why they don't just ask for that :/

 

[All-Rounder]

I noticed if Im blocking tracking too powerfully some websites will give me captcha, even google search upon proxy use. VPNs are good, though.

 

[grimmy]

Omg those things suck as much as self service check outs.

 

[Rectify]

if Im blocking tracking too powerfully some websites will give me captcha

I do block ads and various other things using add ons, so that's interesting.

Omg those things suck as much as self service check outs.

Hehe I agree about the self-service but I still use them because then I can get through without interacting.

 

[oregano]

Sometimes there will be a glitch in the captcha, so you will wind up stuck in "captcha jail", where you keep having to go through photo after photo after photo and finding that you "failed" the captcha each time, so you never get to do what you want. I wonder when the point will arrive that bots using good enough AI will outrun the "I'm not a bot" security measures that humans think up, and the internet will finally and irrevocably shatter.

By the way, if you want to know more about the idea behind the captcha, google "Turing test". At the very dawn of computing-the era when a computer filled entire buildings-a mathematician named Alan Turing wondered if one day computers would outsmart the humans who created them, and devised a formula to distinguish carbon intelligence from what became silicon intelligence. His work is at the root of the captcha system. Turing is one of the great unsung geniuses of our time, sadly he is likely better known for being thrown in jail by Scotland Yard after being caught having sex with another man than for his work anticipating artificial intelligence.

 

[tlc]

I agree, I've been burned by the captcha for little bits of something in neighboring squares, and therefore it didn't work.

For the longest time I wasn't able to get into more and more sites and I thought it was my old browser. Nope. It was the fact that dialup wasn't fast enough to keep up with the captcha system. I can do it fine on the same old browser using my Iphone for connection.

 

[Rectify]

I just thought of something else - what about when you get the captcha where you have to copy the letters but they've made the letters so hard to read that every time you get them wrong. Oh that makes my blood boil.
Gotta go out but will be back to read comments and commiserate with other cranky people later

 

[grimmy]

Hehe I agree about the self-service but I still use them because then I can get through without interacting.

Yeah I get away with not interacting as much as possible but I could theoretically get stuck on self service tills for the rest of my life so I usually go for a human. Lol

 

[Progster]

I agree that capchas are extremely irritating.

I just thought of something else - what about when you get the captcha where you have to copy the letters but they've made the letters so hard to read that every time you get them wrong. Oh that makes my blood boil.

I just keep clicking the show new letters button (there usually is one) until it gives me clear ones. They do get clearer.
Another frustrating thing is that I look up a lot of information in quick succession, on RYM for example, and it gives me a captcha page. Hate that. I hate that it forces me to interact with it. I prefer to delete past hour's history and refresh, rather than engage with it. I hate cookie notifications that force you to agree to see the page, too. Especially when they are going to send you the cookies whether you agree to them or not. What's the point?

Yeah I get away with not interacting as much as possible but I could theoretically get stuck on self service tills for the rest of my life so I usually go for a human. Lol

A few days back I visited a supermarket that I knew but hadn't visited for a while. Arrive at where the checkouts should be, but no checkouts. Nobody there, no cashiers attending the checkout, very confusing. Then I notice that instead of a checkout and a person to operate it, there is a row of machines, and one member of staff standing at the end of it, watching. Almost completely cutting out humans from the process. I didn't know how to use the machine and didn't feel comfortable being watched while I figure it out.

 

[grimmy]

That's all it is your right pay once to install the machines then you can make 10 members of staff redundant, greedy...

 

[Rectify]

"captcha jail"

Yes! That's like the letter ones that have so many squiggly lines around them to increase the difficulty that you actually cannot complete them all. Argh.

Alan Turing was a very interesting person and it was amazing what he worked on and accomplished. I don't claim to understand it, or even want to. I must also admit that almost all I know about him was from the recent movie about his work during WWII.

sadly he is likely better known for being thrown in jail by Scotland Yard after being caught having sex with another man than for his work anticipating artificial intelligence

That was really a tragedy and I felt so angry for him when they showed that in the film.

 

[Rectify]

Yeah I get away with not interacting as much as possible but I could theoretically get stuck on self service tills for the rest of my life so I usually go for a human. Lol

There is a supermarket here I hardly go to and they have terrible self-service so I usually avoid them. It's hard to stay calm on those ones - something always goes wrong with them while you're using them AND the voice that goes with it repeats itself and is so loud. I hate it.

 

[grimmy]

There is a supermarket here I hardly go to and they have terrible self-service so I usually avoid them. It's hard to stay calm on those ones - something always goes wrong with them while you're using them AND the voice that goes with it repeats itself and is so loud. I hate it.

I find the whole process humiliating lol

 

[Mary Terry]

I hate the captcha stuff, too. The pictures are so tiny that it's hard to see the bicycles, buses, crosswalks or whatever images they post.

The self-serve checkouts in grocery stores are bad, too. The danged machine gives you about a split second to "place item in bag" before it freezes you out and requires a monitor to get it going again. And God help you if you move a filled bag from the platform and put it in your cart because there isn't enough room on the platform for your purchases. The machine almost accuses you of shoplifting. A couple of weeks ago, I accidently dropped a gallon of milk on the floor while trying to scan my own groceries which spilled all over the floor, necessitating a cleanup crew worthy of an oil spill at sea. I was surprised they didn't make ME clean it up. Any day now I'm expecting grocery stores to require me to restock their shelves before I leave with whatever I bought.

 

[Rectify]

before it freezes you out and requires a monitor to get it going again

That's the bit I hate too. It always seems to happen at least once.
Me frustrated 'machines unhappy with me...again.'

But if I'm being honest there is something I enjoy about the process when it works (except for the shop with the loud voice, of course). I like looking up my veggies and putting the groceries in the bags how I like them.

I have found myself thinking a couple of times it would be a good job for me -EXCEPT it wouldn't because as a check out chick you would be rushed and have to talk to everyone who came through.

Any day now I'm expecting grocery stores to require me to restock their shelves before I leave with whatever I bought.

 

[tducey]

I also am not fond of the captcha thing either. I also am meh on passwords. I know about privacy and whatever but passwords leave me with a meh feeling.

 

[Rectify]

I also am not fond of the captcha thing either. I also am meh on passwords. I know about privacy and whatever but passwords leave me with a meh feeling.

Passwords have become crazy complicated with so many. The only way I can manage is with a password manager. So, I guess I don't manage, it does.

 

[oregano]

I write passwords on slips of paper and file them in an old index card box. 100% hack proof.