CAPTCHA Codes

CAPTCHA codes have been implemented into various websites for security reason, the main one being to stop bots, or automated programs, from performing various tasks like creating multiple accounts, positing multiple times, or trying to login to an account multiple times. This all seems like a good reason to have CAPTCHA codes in use, but the bottom line is CAPTCHA codes are just a plain old dick to have anywhere.

Here are a few examples of how annoying these things can be. Myspace has now implemented these codes all over their site to prevent bots from doing such things as message people, edit profile and group settings, and even post comments. It's cool and all having these to block out bots that spam, but if when can't send a simple message to a friend without having to enter some random word into a box so Myspace can make sure I'm not a bot really pisses me off. Now every time I have to make a change to my layout on a group forum on Myspace, I have to enter some randomly generated text into a box. And since the way Myspace is coded, I have to code my layout through their editor and having to guess and test different positionings of my layout and having to go through the CAPTCHA code every time is just a pain in the ass. Seriously, why would you put this security measure on the editing options? If someone were to hack into my Myspace, which will never happen, and wanted to mess with my layout, they can easily enter the CAPTCHA code in once, delete my whole code, and save it. CAPTCHA is just a waste of the "human" user's time and the "robots" can easily get past them if they wanted to.

It's not just Myspace, Facebook has these shits all over the place too, but it removes them after certain amount of time. If I wanted to setup a bot to add a million users on Facebook by itself it would be pretty easy. First you'd have to add about a hundred users by hand yourself and go through all their CAPTCHA crap a hundred times. After you do that about a hundred times they'll think you're a "human" user and stop giving you the CAPTCHA code to enter so all you have to do now is setup that bot and spam away! Of course I haven't tried using any bots on Facebook yet so I wouldn't know if they have any other security measures, but from I've seen there shouldn't be a problem at getting a bot to work on their site with any big difficulties.

If there's a CAPTCHA code you have to fill in order to sign into an account, the site developers need to seriously learn how to run things differently. The main reason that that CAPTCHA was placed there was to probably stop people from setting up a bot to try to log into your account multiple times. There's a simple solution to this, ban the guy's IP or something after five failed attempts or so. If he's the real owner of the account, there should be a "I forgot my password, please email it to me" link close by that he can use to retrieve his forgotten password.

CAPTCHA codes would be less annoying if they actually give you a word in plain and legible text to type in the box, but most are nothing like that. Many will have weird lines and shapes floating over the text to make sure that you're a "human" and I've seen some on Rapidshare that have cats and dogs hiding in the letters and you have to only enter the letters with the dogs, not the cats. This is probably the most annoying CAPTCHA code I've ran into. Seriously cats and dogs? The cats look just like the fucking dogs and every time you enter it in wrong it seems like they give you a new one that is a lot more difficult to read and pick out than the last one. After a good fifteen tries I finally was able to get it right and finally download my file. Those cAsE-sEnSeTiVe CAPTCHA codes were nothing compared to this abomination.

The bottom line is CAPTCHA codes are a waste of time and space. If you see a CAPTCHA code on a website, post it up here in a comment so I can check it out and maybe write a complaint to the site's tech support center.