Re: CAPTCHA - Problems and Alternatives - blog Comments and Spam

    I wanted to throw in some comments on 
http://www.w3.org/TR/turingtest/#logic, since that's an area where 
I've done some work (see 
http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/wordpress/wp-gatekeeper.html), and 
hear what others have to say.
    Some users pointed out to me that many "logic" puzzles-- even 
those as simple as "What is Eric Meyer's first name?" or "What color 
is an orange?"-- are usually somewhat dependent on the responder 
being aware of certain cultural idioms and expectations.  They also 
require an understanding of English, of course, but that's a whole 
other can of worms.  When using "trivia" puzzles, the problem is 
increased, since not everyone will have heard the tested bit or 
trivia.
    My point is that it might be worth adding a sentence to the 
"Problems" section of http://www.w3.org/TR/turingtest/#logic that 
finding culturally-neutral questions, such that anyone who 
understands the question's language can answer the question no matter 
where they're from, can be a challenge.

-- 
Eric A. Meyer  (eric@meyerweb.com)
Principal, Complex Spiral Consulting   http://complexspiral.com/
"CSS: The Definitive Guide," "CSS2.0 Programmer's Reference,"
"Eric Meyer on CSS," and more    http://meyerweb.com/eric/books/

Received on Tuesday, 29 November 2005 16:17:09 UTC