| >> | A curious user 7sep2015(mo)22:26 No.23225 OP P1| Captchas I always wondered (since I first heard about this thing being an alternative to the classic captcha) why isn't the site using the far less annoying reCAPTCHA ? |
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| >> | !///SWFAnts #ADMIN# 7sep2015(mo)23:38 No.23227 SWF P2R1| reCAPTCHA was new around the time I launched the site, I didn't know about it in 2008 until after I had already implemented my own captcha. Then I simply preferred to continue using it. You have more control over it and don't have to rely on external services that might go down at any time (however unlikely it may ne). It also prevents Google from tracking you, they log all sites where your IP uses reCAPTCHA (if you're logged into your Google account they can log your surfing behavior even better). That doesn't matter too much nowadays though since I had to put Google Analytics on the site (because Google gave swfchan crap rating in their search engine otherwise) so you get tracked by Google here anyway, but the general point still stands. Another reason is that it's not very good to use reCAPTCHA too much. Their original purpose (to translate books into electronic text) is pretty much gone. Now it just provides convenience for site admins since they don't have to implement their own captcha and tracking data for Google. Since reCAPTCHA has become so big there are actually many ways for bots to get around the whole thing and thereby lose its purpose as a "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart". People work as well as they can to get algorithms that can solve the captchas automatically, if they succeed the reward is huge since it would unlock so many sites. Biggest problem is however that there are many companies that you can just pay a small amount of cash to have them solve the captcha for you, using humans. This is done by cheap workers in poor countries or even more cheaply by having fake captchas on porn sites that the visitors have to solve in order to see the porn. Google Accounts can earn reCAPTCHA's trust to not even receive a captcha as well, so just the captchas that are actually received needs to be solved. Overall I think it's better for each site to implement their own captcha because that means that each site's captcha has to be cracked individually. reCAPTCHA provides very good captchas for sure but what's the point when you can just pay some company a buck and have humans solve hundreds of reCAPTCHAS for your bot? |
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| >> | A curious user 8sep2015(tu)00:34 No.23231 OP P3R2First of all, thankyou for your indepth response, and I respect your opinion. However I still have a question, regarding the last thing you mentioned "what's the point when you can just pay some company a buck and have humans solve hundreds of reCAPTCHAS for your bot" considering the same thing can happen with normal captcha's (being solved by cheap workers in poor countries) - I ask you : what's the point in trying to defend against it ?
If someone wants THAT much to bypass it, they will do it, reCAPTCHA or not, but still, the 99.9% of users who visits the site wouldn't, and so they'd have to wait and solve them and eventually get a little annoyed by it (and if you are like me, and view lots of flashes in a single "Session" - more than a little annoyed); but instead if you'd use a less intrusive one, you'd get the mass of your visitors happier (i know I'd be!), and who knows, maybe you could use it as a "reson" to increase the quantity of ads a little, and so they wouldnt mind it as much in the long run.
Another thing i was wondering - regarding the need of a captcha altogeder - why did you implement it/why it needs to be here ? People downloading flashes in bulk ? Bots ?
Either way, it was just a sugestion, and in the end you decide what you think it's best for the site. Thanks again for answering ! |
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| >> | !///SWFAnts #ADMIN# 8sep2015(tu)01:06 No.23233 SWF P4R3| The reason is because of bots leeching the flashes, I'd like the bandwidth to go to humans instead instead of automated leeches of competing sites. I know it's happening since some sites end up leeching 404.swf sometimes, here's an example: clitgames/video/huge-boobs-titfuck-3279.html (insert dot com before the first slash) Since the captcha is custom-made it's a lot harder to find a company that will solve a bunch of swfchan's captchas for a buck, they usually only have systems which are built for big players like reCAPTCHA. Someone going through a bunch of trouble for bypassing swfchan's captcha automatically is unlikely since it'll require a lot more know-how than just running a spider that downloads the flashes. I know it's hypocritical to have this captcha system to prevent bots when swfchan gets many of its flashes from bots as well, but since I know how easy it is to spider sites I have more reason to try and protect against it. Maybe I could loosen up the whole captcha thing a little if the current Patreon thing becomes successful and I upgrade the site's bandwidth. |
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| >> | A curious user 8sep2015(tu)10:10 No.23251 OP P5R4| It would be great if you could do that. Also would making a login system help in any way ? I mean imposing that you first make an account to access the site flashes, or to increase the number of flashes you can view before completing a new captcha ? I know you added this stuff for the Patreon program, but wouldn't it be useful for all users ? |
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| >> | !///SWFAnts #ADMIN# 8sep2015(tu)16:02 No.23259 SWF P6R5| I'd like to avoid requiring visitors to log in as much as possible so I don't think there will be any kind of accounts for regular users. Their IP and/or a cookie value provides enough identity. |
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