Personally, I hate web squiggles almost as much as I can’t stand the labels they now put on fruit. I don’t know about you, but I find these jumbles of numbers and letters relatively difficult to decipher. Placed there, right when you want to finalize a transaction or a comment, you are given a challenge test in graphics. Half the time, I fail that test. (Thankfully, they give you another chance.) I’m told by the doctors that my eyesight is reasonably good, but the lines through the characters often make the identification hard to determine. I simply get it wrong.
The web squiggles are placed there to determine if this message or comment happens to involve a human being. Professional spammers use computers to spread their garbage around the net. (Note: Sometimes, they can even enlist our own computers to do the nasty deed, especially if we are linked to the web for any length of time.) The spammers have not yet figured out how to program their way around the squiggles, and there are still enough unprotected sites that they don’t have to.
This blog used to be hosted by blogger, but their introduction of squiggles was one of the reasons I decided to leave and host the site independently. This past week, I faced the squiggles decision once again when our companion site, wikiSenior.com, endured another spam attack.
Wiki sites are extremely vulnerable to spam because they are structured to allow anyone on the web to add a comment or entire article. That openness makes them sitting ducks for spammers. At first, the wiki was forced to ask people to register, albeit using any name they could conceive. (Donald Duck is still available.) But the spammers leapt that hurdle.
Now, just about every spam block has been placed on the wiki site . . . except for squiggles. The squiggles are all programmed and ready to go, but I just couldn’t take that step without trying a more gentle challenge first. You are very welcome to add your insights and experiences to wikiSenior.com, but permit me to apologize for the intrusion of challenge tests.
If anyone has heard of other options for blocking spam, I’m all ears. Thanks for your interest.