# Worst CAPTCHA ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 7, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-captcha-ever/621218 "2012-05-07T20:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-captcha-ever/621218/21 "2012-05-08T19:58:41Z")
All those will do is reduce web traffic. I cannot see any sign of an 11 in that at all. I also cannot see any numbers at all on the examples shown on that google link.Not in the teeniest slightest little bit. If you can see them, then all power to you, but it is pretty inaccessible, and for anyone with visual issues, well they are just complete shite - they will soon change to something more sensible just as soon as they start to lose business. Web users are simply not going to put in the work to decipher increasingly complex and stupid captchas - why the hell should they? Are we supposed to be post modern Daliesque nerds or something here? Am I being wooshed here? I have looked at them all, can’t see any damned thing, it has to be a piss take - some sort of ‘in’ internet joke? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-captcha-ever/621218/22 "2012-05-09T02:21:19Z")
On the right-hand side of the picture, on the white background. It’s a sign that says 11. EDIT: You’re not whooshing us, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-captcha-ever/621218/23 "2012-05-09T03:08:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Because why in the world would you think something as simple as a two digit number would be hard for a computer to read? My mind sure didn’t see the 11 until a few seconds later, and even then I only would have posted 11 because I wouldn’t know what else to try. Well, think about it. If it’s so damn hard for _people_ to figure it out, imagine what it must be like for a computer. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-captcha-ever/621218/24 "2012-05-09T03:21:42Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > On the right-hand side of the picture, on the white background. It’s a sign that says 11. > > EDIT: You’re not whooshing us, are you? Yeah, I’ve completely lost the plot here, too. **Casdave** are you saying you don’t see an “11” on the right side of the CAPTCHA on the OP’s link, or are you just having a bit of fun with us? ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-captcha-ever/621218/25 "2012-05-09T03:35:31Z")
Worst one I ever saw? “Republican MESSIAH”. True story. And, yeah, the “11” kinda jumped out at me. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-captcha-ever/621218/26 "2012-05-09T17:58:59Z")
What? The photo is the thing I’m supposed to be looking at? What is the point of that then? What is the other bit? I was trying to ‘see’ and 11 in that black and white image on the left side, I thought that the picture was just showing me what I was meant to see in the left side - sort of like a key or an answer to a puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-captcha-ever/621218/27 "2012-05-09T20:13:45Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > What? The photo is the thing I’m supposed to be looking at? > > What is the point of that then? What is the other bit? I was trying to ‘see’ and 11 in that black and white image on the left side, I thought that the picture was just showing me what I was meant to see in the left side - sort of like a key or an answer to a puzzle. You enter both values. The point of a reCAPTCHA is that one of the images has a known correct answer, and the other image is used to help digitize books (or whatever.) It’s not just a security device–it uses your input as a crowdsourced data to help with OCR problems, more or less: [Read more about it here.](http://www.google.com/recaptcha/learnmore) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-captcha-ever/621218/28 "2012-05-09T20:33:06Z")
I’ve never seen one that used what appears to be a photographic image before. Is that common? I’m convinced that the “correct” answer to these things should be a random string of characters resulting from two human fists pounding on the keyboard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-captcha-ever/621218.md?page=1)