# reCaptcha is the Worst **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 15, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598 "2012-08-15T20:05:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/21 "2012-08-16T05:17:09Z")
Argggh. I had to fill out a form, on one of my suppliers websites, that took about 10 minutes and a lot of cutting and pasting. At the bottom was a reCAPTCHA. It was stupidly difficult and I got it wrong. Which lead to the whole page being wiped clean, and another 10 minutes of cutting and pasting. Bad page design PLUS reCAPTCHA. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/22 "2012-08-16T06:01:12Z")
> [@nogravity](#): > > Go and read what’s directly on their [site](http://www.google.com/recaptcha/learnmore) > > Some of the pertinent info: Well it sure its nice that Google is getting something out if the collective frustration of millions of people. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/23 "2012-08-16T08:22:38Z")
Watch out - if you pronounce the ReCaptchas out loud, you may summon shambling horrors from the darkness between the dimensions. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/24 "2012-08-16T09:52:34Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > Argggh. I had to fill out a form, on one of my suppliers websites, that took about 10 minutes and a lot of cutting and pasting. At the bottom was a reCAPTCHA. It was stupidly difficult and I got it wrong. Which lead to the whole page being wiped clean, and another 10 minutes of cutting and pasting. Bad page design PLUS reCAPTCHA. Next time, before hitting “submit,” you will copy all of the text to the clipboard, right? Just in case, like? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/25 "2012-08-16T10:53:04Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Next time, before hitting “submit,” you will copy all of the text to the clipboard, right? Just in case, like? I don’t think that helps. Forms contain a bunch of different text boxes, radio check boxes and things selected from a list. You can only select one text box to copy to the clip board and the check boxes and lists cannot be copied to the clip board. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/26 "2012-08-16T11:09:05Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > I don’t think that helps. Forms contain a bunch of different text boxes, radio check boxes and things selected from a list. You can only select one text box to copy to the clip board and the check boxes and lists cannot be copied to the clip board. Right you are. But if the data entry is a single text box, like this post I am about to make, ^A, ^C is simple and good first-level insurance. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/27 "2012-08-16T11:42:13Z")
After watching [this TED video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ht4qiDRZE8) I’ve grown to tolerate it. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/28 "2012-08-16T11:48:30Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > After watching [this TED video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ht4qiDRZE8) I’ve grown to tolerate it. Nope, still think they do it poorly. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/29 "2012-08-16T11:54:44Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Nope, still think they do it poorly. With six minutes between your post and gamerunknown’s post, and a video length of 16 minutes, I’m going to use my Columbo skills to say that you _probably_ didn’t bother to actually watch the video. I mean, I didn’t either, but I would have waited 16 minutes before making a post about it. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/30 "2012-08-16T12:23:05Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > With six minutes between your post and gamerunknown’s post, and a video length of 16 minutes, I’m going to use my Columbo skills to say that you _probably_ didn’t bother to actually watch the video. > > I mean, I didn’t either, but I would have waited 16 minutes before making a post about it. I watched about a minute and a half of it and decided that even thinking about reCaptcha any longer would just make me needlessly upset. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/31 "2012-08-16T13:08:18Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > Watch out - if you pronounce the ReCaptchas out loud, you may summon shambling horrors from the darkness between the dimensions. If you happen to do that, ask them to bring all of my missing socks with them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/32 "2012-08-16T13:15:14Z")
> [@nogravity](#): > > Go and read what’s directly on their [site](http://www.google.com/recaptcha/learnmore) > > Some of the pertinent info: This sounds like bullshit to me. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/33 "2012-08-16T13:15:52Z")
I stronly prefer the game “Are you a human?” [http://areyouahuman.com/](http://areyouahuman.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/34 "2012-08-16T13:29:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This sounds like bullshit to me. Agreed. Why the need to distort the entry into some blurred mess. I’m pretty sure the original time it appeared in print it didn’t look that way. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/35 "2012-08-16T14:13:14Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I stronly prefer the game “Are you a human?” [http://areyouahuman.com/](http://areyouahuman.com/) Oh good Lord. The little game was cute, but I checked out their “accessible” version and the sound was like two minutes long and utterly unintelligible. (Also the game requires cultural knowledge that I am willing to bet not everyone in the entire world has.) ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/36 "2012-08-16T14:34:34Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Oh good Lord. The little game was cute, but I checked out their “accessible” version and the sound was like two minutes long and utterly unintelligible. (Also the game requires cultural knowledge that I am willing to bet not everyone in the entire world has.) The cultural knowledge thing I’m sure can be overcome–just make it more abstract, for example, in terms of basic shapes instead of things like “coolers.” As for the accessible version, the sound and the intelligibility of it–I have no idea what you’re talking about. What’s the “accessible” version you’re referring to? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/37 "2012-08-16T14:35:50Z")
Never mind, I found it. I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about the game. Capchas for the blind are a whole nother question. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/38 "2012-08-16T14:39:07Z")
The accessible version is the one meant for visually impaired people; click the little wheelchair icon. I agree that it sounds completely unintelligible. I like the overall concept, though. It just needs some work. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/39 "2012-08-16T15:15:48Z")
One time my reCaptcha challenge was a blurry double integral. Sadly, the input box does not accept TeX. reCaptcha is a cool idea, but it is an utter failure of an experiment. Unfortunately, they made it really easy to use (for programmers), and now every website in existence seems to have one of those fucking things on its forms. I generally have to try six or more times to get something remotely legible. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598/40 "2012-08-16T15:17:16Z")
Wow, perhaps now ReCapchas will be easier knowing now that I only have to get one word correct. I often find them nearly impossible to decipher and perhaps because the other one is unknown. So I’m just going to look for one work I can recognize and put the closest thing I can for the other, perhaps better/faster then hitting reload so many times. Thanks [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recaptcha-is-the-worst/631598.md?page=3)