Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Hello, coworker!

Has anyone else noticed that Blogger's word verification routine now has you decoding address numbers from Google Maps street view photos instead of text from scanned books?

Are they cruelly exploiting us unpaid toilers in the digital salt mines, or cleverly crowd-sourcing an easier way for you to find your destination? I can't make up my mind...

18 comments:

Duke said...

I use the same technique in my email shown on my blog, the text is in a photo format and I'm guessing it can't be picked up by a program used to gather emails.
But what do I know.

Tango said...

It's always done that, Tam. Previously, it just wasn't the house numbers. The words that you deciphered were words Google wasn't sure about in their book digitizing project. You were helping their OCR process! It's just obvious that now it's StreetView.

Tam said...

Tango,

Oh, I know; that's why I said "now". I'll clarify. :o

Tango said...

I've always wondered what it would take for the masses to sabotage the results...

Anonymous said...

Hey, Tam - Off topic as usual, but check today's Day by Day--how are your anti-aircraft skillz with that .38-44? Hmmm? B-). JohninMd(help?)

AuricTech said...

Are they cruelly exploiting us unpaid toilers in the digital salt mines, or cleverly crowd-sourcing an easier way for you to find your destination?

"It's a floor wax and a dessert topping!"

Anonymous said...

It's BLOGGER. Both.

Anonymous said...

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

rickn8or said...

And thank you (and other bloggers) that have decided to dispense with that tomfoolery.

NotClauswitz said...

So what's with all the Tolstoy-length Russki SPAM in the Spam-bucket? At least it catches 'em.

Kristophr said...

Just put in random numbers, and then the verification word.

Kristophr said...

And, for something completely unrelated ... Mis-heard O Fortuna lyrics.

Anonymous said...

Someone needs to quote the old adage:

If you're not paying for it, you're not the customer. You're the product being sold.

-SM

Drang said...

Who you callin' a cow orker?!

Joel said...

Since the franchise wars of 2010, everyone has worked for Google.

Also, Rephrase for all to see abandon to put in an appearance you quit. If you indigence to exempt from smoking in the clear, this can unquestioned you pointed in the rightist direction.

Just saying.

Tam said...

Joel,

Seeking motor the best friend!

Anonymous said...

On a certain anonymous message board, the popular thing to do is guess which word/image in the captcha is our assignment to read and entering a word that rhymes with "bigger" in its place.

The Freeholder said...

It seem that the word with a background is the one they're not sure of. I know that I always enter a subtle misspelling of that one and always get accepted.

My question is "Does anyone believe Google when they say "Do no evil" these days?"