GOTCHA!

What a powerful feeling? Sigh! of having captured someone and having all the authority not to release him till he has correctly filled in the alphabets and numbers as per the image shown.

This is exactly what 'CAPTCHA' has been upto. An acronym for ' Completely Automated Public Turing test to tellComputers and Humans Apart", it is used in computing to ensure the responses are not generated by a computer. From the wikipedia:

"The process usually involves one computer (a server) asking a user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade. Because other computers are unable to solve the CAPTCHA, any user entering a correct solution is presumed to be human". They are used to protect systems from email spams and stops automated postings to blogs and forums.

Not underestimating it's value from a security point of view, but it definitely is a complete nuisance from a user's viewpoint. It would definitely make sense if the words were much simpler or If the distortion of the words were simple enough for the users to see beyond the distortion and make some sense. Take a look at these images below and try your luck in figuring them out?

It definitely is a good way to kill time for those who have that in plenty. But for people you have a lot of work to do, it is a big hindrance especially because most of the times these letters and numbers are distorted way beyond recognition. So you spend almost 15 minutes till you are finally able to type in correctly and move on to the next page. Yes, it does have an audio aid but not all computer are aided with speakers unless it a laptop or an apple machine.

Technology has always been there to make life simple and easy. I am really not sure if CAPTCHA comes any bit close to that.

(source of this comic strip:geekandpoke.typepad.com)