MySpace support in the case where I could have done with it was non-existent. I found a way around the issue myself and have no ineed of their support. It must be a company-culture/resourcing issue. For myself (in purely personal context) I wouldn't use it, however as free advertising it has some merrit. Regards. Tristram Llewellyn tristram.llewellyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Technical Support Sight and Sound Technology -----Original Message----- From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carol Pearson Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 4:25 PM To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: CAPTCHAs - was Myspace Well, if they ignore customers who need help, I may as well steer clear. Thanks. <Grrr!> -- Carol ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vanja Sudar" <vanja@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 4:14 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: CAPTCHAs - was Myspace >I agree with you that there are valid reasons why captas need to be >implemented for all the reasons you stated in your message. It sure help >reduce spam and bots automatically singing up for services. But there are >ways around it. Like you mentioned, audio alternatives and in case of >facebook emailing support who gets back to you and sets up an account for >you. What OI don't is company like MySpace who totally ignore the issue and >just don't provide any solution at all. Even if they emailed people back >and said that they are sorry and that they will create an account like >facebook or even if they just say that they're sorry that they can't do >anything at the moment would be a lot better than just total ignorance like >they and some other companies display. As much as I can see a need for >visual verification, there's no excuse for totally ignoring the issue >either. > Vanja > http://www.sudar.co.uk > http://mashupradio.net > MSN/windows live messenger: sudar23@xxxxxxxxxxx > AIM: vanja121 > Skype: vanja121 > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tristram Llewellyn" <tristram.llewellyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 3:29 PM > Subject: [access-uk] CAPTCHAs - was Myspace > > > I don't want anyone to get the idea I am defending faceless corporations > like MySpace, Google etc. but the issues that lie behind the use of > CAPTCHA technology is a very real one and not some random or not so > random attempt at excluding the visually impaired population. On the > one hand these online services are under very serious attack from > botnets trying to harvest information which if successful can hurt all > of us. On the other hand it is really very difficult to find a text > only method of telling a human apart from a computer or bot or otherwise > automated information gathering mechanism. So far as I know nobody has > been able to come up with a purely textual method for telling a human > apart from a computer (sort of a Turing test but from the point of view > of the computer doing the sorting out). For now different organisations > have found different ways around eg. using audio CAPTCHA or in some > cases some other intevention that can catch these difficult cases. > > I think sometimes when people are confronted with this difficulty or > similer end up throwing around terms like DDA and "discrimination" quite > liberally without realising that there is another side to the equation. > Whilst the frustration at not being able to do what is important is very > real, the issues that lie behind the CAPTCHA are also too and this is > behind what people perceive as inertia to do something. > > I speak from personal experience of having difficulty with the visual > CAPTCHAs with my level of sight and it is not as if I am unaware of the > difficulty from a user perspective either. There are also some really > stupidly implemented CAPTCHAS which are so easy that an OCR program as > part of a determined attempt would break the system (and indeed have). > Audio CAPTCHAs are only a partial solution and again speech recognition > being as advanced as it is can also be used in order to break the > CAPTCHA system as well. > > > Regards. > > Tristram Llewellyn > tristram.llewellyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Technical Support > Sight and Sound Technology > > ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- > ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] > ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: > ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > ** and in the Subject line type > ** unsubscribe > ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the > ** immediately-following link:- > ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] > ** or send a message, to > ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq > > > > ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- > ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] > ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: > ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > ** and in the Subject line type > ** unsubscribe > ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the > ** immediately-following link:- > ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] > ** or send a message, to > ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq > ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq