You aren't signed in     Sign In    Help

The Hardest Captcha.

The Hardest Captcha. by Britt Selvitelle.
{ Original Description: Um ... }

Hello people of Digg (and more importantly, Flickr).

This has, for quite some time, been a great pet peeve. It's 2008, and with an almost certainty every spammer has, or can easily gain access to personal data. It is a fight that we will always be behind on, and like locking up your bike, the best one can hope for is that malice passes by.

More importantly, there is an abundance of incredibly interesting and fantastic people to be found. People whose lives and idea[l]s inspire conversation. By obfuscating what are already incredibly accessible means of communication, one is simply making it more difficult for people who would like to share these thoughts.

So for anyone who is interested, the mobile number in the photo is actually quite old. My latest contact info is:

phone: (415) 279-6244
email/jabber: anotherbritt@gmail.com
web: lukewarmtapioca.com
twitter: twitter.com/bs

This information is and always will be available via the web. I do believe this will make for an excellent article on social presence and privacy. I've gotten many SMSs (which I've responded to all of), and many phone calls (which I've let go to voicemail).

Also, as I predicted in my comment on the Digg article, I did see the Bond movie tonight. It was OK. I'll be, with great fever, hacking on Twitter all week, and at the beach this weekend with the pup. 

Comments

view profile

DazzlinDonna says:

Wow that is impossible to read! Would love to know where that captcha was used. Personally, I like using PuzzCAPTCHA because it thwarts the bad guys, but is fun for the user, and results in readable text.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

ackoblog says:

cnzf
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

translucent_blue says:

WTF?
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

tugstein says:

Hopefully that's not your real number... :]
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Eric Andersson says:

I like all the personal info.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

spo22a says:

Now people know your name, DOB and mobile?

i do hope they're all wrong
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Soliz Photography says:

I would hide that Cell number asap, unless it is fake?
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

kyboyn502 says:

hey, if that numbers right..your from KY..awesome
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

jesoki589 says:

dont want to be a smart ass but, i think the letters are
oop yea cnzj
you can see a stint of the letters in light gray near the top towards the right
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Habib. says:

cnzf, easything
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Mulling it Over  Pro User  says:

what
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

pazimzadeh2001  Pro User  says:

yea it's cnzf, but not it's not easy...don't pretend
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Alex P. Joseph says:

pzf
I can see it.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

K Heitz says:

once I figured out where the letters actually were it was pretty easy.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

cemre  Pro User  says:

remove your phone number.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Pentadact  Pro User  says:

Jeez, I'm so sick of androids clogging up comment threads like this.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

legendsaber says:

cnzf

Hard to pick out but once you see it it's kinda difficult to miss.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Britt Selvitelle  Pro User  says:

This is one of my greatest pet peeves. It's 2008: every spammer can easily attain your personal information. By obfuscating it, you are simply making it harder on people who want to talk to you about interesting things, such as a blog post, twitter update, etc.

For science's sake! It's all over the web. It's on the slides of every talk I give. That phone number is actually old but my latest contact info is:

phone: (415) 279-6244
email/jabber: anotherbritt@gmail.com
twitter: twitter.com/bs
blog: lukewarmtapioca.com
birthday: March 31, 1981

I also enjoy a variety of extra-curricular activities and am thinking about seeing the new Bond movie tonight.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

mvandemar says:

No, don't remove your number... real quick, while this is on Digg, rent a 900 line and call forward your number!
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Benj Haisch  Pro User  says:

Hahaha
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

danielguss says:

You are exactly one day older then me. haha
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

camera_obscura  Pro User  says:

I can't see anything. I could never get those magic eye pictures either.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

defektev says:

Why can't we just drop this crap of having everyone register to every lame ass site we want to browse for no more than 30 seconds? I personally never come near a site again that has stupid crap like this.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

known human says:

Yeah, they really make ya squint, don't they? I'm saying cnzf, which a few others figured out ahead of me.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Tom284 says:

did anybody here figure it out?

shoppingoak.com/freebies
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

2323232323 says:

Probably not brilliant to leave your cell and email in a picture that ended up on the Digg.com first page!
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ofenza Sojo says:

spiderweb. pretty obvious to me!
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Alex Winchester says:

wow.
56.. THOUSAND
views.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

cala 3 says:

spiderweb? nothing in that captcha is obvious to me. They're getting harder and stupider all the time. Most annoying.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

cooper000 says:

I see a schooner.......
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

c_snapper says:

i don't even know what i'm looking at lol
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

anothersaab  Pro User  says:

wait... there are 2 Britt's in this world? we're screwed...
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

JoBeDream says:

Well, Im a computer so what I see in that captcha best translates into BEEP BEEP *chugga chugga chugga chugga* \\server\crashed$
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

2323232323 says:

See you at the movies!
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

xclockwerkangelx says:

Took me longer than I'd like to finally figure out the answer to that captcha!

Sorry to see you're being hounded over information that can be found in a whois search if you own a domain (and don't set up private settings).
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

The Cannon with the Nikon  Pro User  says:

ha ha ha.. get on !!
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

aroundtheworls  Pro User  says:

Wow... and I thought the Youtube ones were difficult
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Vinnn  Pro User  says:

cnzf
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

messianic_tendencies  Pro User  says:

Viewed 107,786 times! Haha, gratz! You're on Digg! Now you're a celebrity! :D
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Matt McCullough  Pro User  says:

It's a sailboat
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

envirotex  Pro User  says:

cpzf + crazy
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

stevenfiche  Pro User  says:

It's the first captcha where you have to be under the influence and able to see through different dimensions in order to figure it out.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

arunk89 says:

The website would lose lot of customers.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

denlinkbarmann  Pro User  says:

haha i like how all of these people think your retarded and don't realize what you posted lol. nice contacts lol
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

fremmedgorelse says:

mmmm.....you work with sprint, or used to......nice nice.....hahaha but guess you only have to worry about spam to ur mail and weird harrassment over the mobile....here we have to worry about kidnappers, potential killers, stalkers and people asking for money saying they0ve kidnapped ur grandma....god bless USA innit?
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

dreeftone says:

had no problem reading that. kind of cool actually.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Yong Hwee says:

Epic fail.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

MikeonTV says:

What site is it from?
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Britt Selvitelle  Pro User  says:

@anothersaab: I've actually met 3.

@MikeonTV: I can't remember, hard as I try. Was taken quite some time ago.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

sh'm00n  Pro User  says:

"We won't share your email with anyone, honest."

...oh the irony at over 150,000 views.
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

vlbatcfcl says:

There's _Text_ in that bunch of seaweed?
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Britt Selvitelle  Pro User  says:

@sh'm00n: It's almost too much to bear!
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

ben.leyland says:

i love how it's the (required) "Human Test". if i can't see the letters, does that mean i'm not human?
Posted 8 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

culture_construct  Pro User  says:

the concept here is flawed. personal information is worth protecting if you don't like being spammed and harassed, not to mention having your identity stolen.
major issues facing us in this age and you're sticking your head in the sand and saying 'it's not true! it's not true!'
if you don't feel like making the effort, that's your call. I just happen to think it's absurd.
Posted 3 weeks ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Britt Selvitelle  Pro User  says:

@culture_construct: It's very much based on exchange vs. value. For me, the value of being able to easily contact someone is higher the the price/exchange. In this case, that price is a higher likelyhood of beeing spammer, harassed, or having your identity stolen.

I'm going to begin collecting data towards an article on this that may clear things up a bit in this regard.
Posted 3 weeks ago. ( permalink )

Would you like to comment?

Sign up for a free account, or sign in (if you're already a member).

[?]

Britt Selvitelle's photostream

951
uploads

Tags

Additional Information

Attribution Some rights reserved Anyone can see this photo

  • Taken on May 31, 2007
  • 43 people call this photo a favorite
  • Viewed 192,871 times
  • Replaced on May 31, 2007
Add to your map