Wednesday, December 10, 2014

CAPTCHAs Gone Wild!


I received quite a shock when I went to send out the notices for being included in our [Sites ToSee #419].  For by the time it was all over with, there was only five out of the original ten remaining.

You see, I just cannot abide with the hated word-verification spam-protection thingy being engaged.  It is for this reason that I leave comments beforehand to check if it is (because some have it to where the insidious monster does not show itself until after an attempt to leave a comment is made) so that a site can be included in the series.  Lo and behold, there was the CAPTCHA box now clearly in-place on five of the ten.  Therefore, I was legally-obligated to remove the offenders from the lineup.

Oh, but the fun I was having was not to end there.  For when I went to leave comments on [Adullamite’s] and [Ann’s] respective sites, there was the hated word-verification thingy clearly in-place!  Now, I could understand why Adullamite might do this.  For he is the epitome of a cantankerous ol’ (rather ancient, actually) true Scot, but Ann has expressed her hatred for CAPTCHAs at least as much I have.  So, what was going on?

I still don’t have a definitive answer, but the great increase in word-verification engagement seems to be coming from Google/Blogger.  For after I contacted Adullamite via email about the problem, he told me that he had not put it there and instructed me to go ahead and leave the comment without completing the CAPTCHA requirement.  Since he says a lot of things on a regular basis, I was somewhat skeptical, but after I went ahead and hit the publish button (without completing the CAPTCHA requirement) the comment went through.  The same thing happened when I went to again leave a comment on Ann’s.

Now, for all of you who insist upon being anti-social, Google/Blogger has made it mandatory for all anonymous commentators to have to successfully decipher a CAPTCHA code.  This went into effect several weeks ago, and I have not received a spam comment since.  Whereas, I was receiving dozens almost every day beforehand.

Okay, there are some spammers willing to actually register a screen-name (albeit fake).  So, it might not be a bad idea to still have comment moderation in-place, if you are so inclined.

Alas, I recently asked someone to change to comment moderation to make it easier for me to leave comments, and he insisted that he did not have the time to sort through the good and bad.  Please forgive me for saying so, but that is nonsensical.  For when I was receiving dozens upon dozens of spam comments a day, 99.9% of them went into the spam folder automatically.  Since mistakes are bound to happen, I would highly recommend checking to see if an alleged spam comment really is one before deleting the contents of the spam folder.  That is, unless you really could not care less about interacting with your readers and possibly developing a relationship with them, of course.

P.S.: It appears that only sites with their comment location set as a pop-up window have been effected by the current Google/Blogger word-verification glitch.  For this site has not had a problem, and I have it set to “embedded” while both Adullamite and Ann have it as a pop-up window.  So, if you would like to find a fix as soon as possible, go to your Google Dashboard>Settings>Posts and Comments.  At the top of the Comments section, you will see where you have several options for “Comment Location.”  If you now have yours set on “Pop-Up Window,” change it to “Embeded,” and that should do the trick until the current glitch is corrected (hopefully).

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20 comments:

  1. Hi Jerry, even though I have opted to NOT use the word verification (and have had it off for quite some time now...more than a year...but I have only been blogging since Feb 2012), it seems to have reappeared on its own from time to time without my knowledge. I cannot stand it, I find it annoying, which is why I don't put my fellow bloggers and readers through having to use it.

    And another thing about this silly CAPTCHA thing. Now some of the letters or numbers are ridiculously difficult to read for HUMANS. I mean, if the people don't want spam, why not just moderate comments...period? This is what I do, I just moderate comments. One is because I don't publish spam comments and another is because I wish to keep my blog family friendly.

    At any rate, these CAPTCHA things are getting ridiculous, what do they think, that a robot can read or something, and this is why they make the letters and/or numbers almost illegible?

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Linda!!! Back before my eyesight started becoming so poor in comparison to how it used to be, I did not mind playing with CAPTCHs. In fact, I even looked upon them as being a puzzle to solve while giving myself a gold star when I was able to complete one the first try. CAPTCHAs are now a nightmare for me most of the time, and with my hearing not being as good as it could be, the audio option always sounds too garbled for me to understand. Furthermore, with my general energy level dropping lower and lower, CAPTCHAs are another step that I do have the strength to take much of the time anymore. In any event, I applaud all like you who do not want to make it any harder on legitimate commentators than it absolutely has to be.

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  2. don't like the word verification either but when it stops spammers he
    I always had comment moderation on except one time i turned it off,, and I got the weirdest spam so I put it quickly on again

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Marja!!! Those weird comments were coming from Australia--right? (LOL?)

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  3. i finally switched mine to 'embedded' although i've had trouble with that setting before and lots of folks prefer the 'pop-up'. still, so many didn't know they could bypass the horrid word ver and i was tired of getting comments about it appearing, so i switched to avoid it. :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear TWG!!! I think that was a wise move. Hopefully, the problem will be fixed and you can switch it back much sooner than later.

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  4. This is being talked about a lot in the Blogosphere and some people are saying you can just avoid the Captchs or word verifications and post your comment anyway. I've been doing this and it's been working.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Stephen!!! I was told the same thing about skipping the CAPTCHA step some time ago, and it never worked for me. The same thing happened much earlier today when I was qualifying some new sites for the Sites To See series. So, I think it all depends upon if the word verification really is meant to be engaged or if it is there because of a glitch.

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  5. I just noticed this after a three-day absence from the 'net! It stinks, I agree. As for "Google/Blogger has made it mandatory for all anonymous commentators to have to successfully decipher a CAPTCHA code," that explains why I get WV when I leave anonymous comments -- I can't sign in on my phone -- from my telephone.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Silver Fox!!! Since smart phones are generally much smarter than I am, I don't have one. Besides, I have not left the property in over a year, and no one calls me, anyway. Sigh. (LOL?)

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    2. Yeah, I don't have a smart phone either.

      But why don't you leave the property?

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    3. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Silver Fox!!! The best way to describe my condition is that I feel like I have been suffering from a fairly sever case of the flu since 1993. I was finally diagnosed with having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 3-4 years ago, but since no one apparently knows what causes it (let alone how to cure it) it is still a mystery to me. Now, I can still function, but with me always feeling so horrible (not to mention absolutely exhausted) I don't leave the property because of it just being too stressful. In fact, the only times I leave the house is to take trash out to the trash can and to help bring in groceries after my wife and her mother go get them. Some days are better than others, though.

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  6. I also tried leaving my comment without entering the captcha and it does work. I'll have to pass that info on to my readers so they don't keep trying to type it in. If I can't figure out how to remove that then I'll switch to embedded

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Ann!!! Since the problem is on Blogger's side, you may not be able to fix it on your end--other than switching to embedded for the time being.

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  7. It just happened automatically on my blog, too. I didn't do anything to make it happen; but it doesn't really worry me too much. Having to type in a digit or three isn't a great imposition for me...and if if stops anonymous posters posting garbage in my blog, which sometimes they do...using not very polite language...I find it offensive; and I would hate it to offend my readers. As soon as I find such unwelcome comments left on my blog I swiftly delete them. So...to me it's no imposition...and as I wrote at the bottom of my latest post on my blog...I apologise to those of you who find it annoying. I've tried to rectify the situation; to bring it back to how it was only just a few days ago, but to no avail.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Lee!!! Well, as I have tried to explain in great detail in reply to some other comments left on this, CAPTCHAs are a HUGE imposition to me anymore. A great many others find it simply annoying, and they tend to shy away from commenting after finding word verification on a site, with that usually leading to them avoiding the site all together. So, it's good of (and for) you to not want to make it harder than it has to be to leave a comment on your site.

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  8. Thanks for the tip - that comment bug has been affecting my blog for a while. I just changed it to embedded for the time being.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my dear Al!!! I didn't realize that it has being going on for some time now. Maybe it has been on some longer than others? By the way, I just added your wonderful photography site to the list for future inclusion in our Sites To See series. Be assured that I will let you know when it is actually included, which will be awhile because of how many were already on the list.

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  9. Addendum; What is the difference, really, Jerry...any comment I write and post on your blog has to be approved before it appears. It really is the same thing, isn't it...just a different outfit.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Lee!!! The difference is that I don't require my readers to have to solve a blurry alphanumeric scramble in order to leave a comment, and if your eyes were as bad as mine have become, you would realize what a nightmare that can be--especially when you often cannot understand what the audio option is saying. Now, I suppose I could remove the comment moderation since Blogger is automatically requiring all anonymous comments to successfully complete a CAPTCHA, which the spam-bots evidently cannot do, but I have been doing pretty good at checking for comments fairly often. Hey, I am replying to you just around an hour after you came and went!

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Since the Blogger spam filter has been found sorely lacking lately, I will start moderating comments. Be assured that I am only interested in deleting spam. So, if you feel a need to take me to task over something—even anonymously, go ahead and let 'er rip, and I will publish it as soon as I can.