reCAPTCHA

Regular comment-leavers in this space will recall that, for many years, I’ve employed a simple, easy-to-read mechanism as an “are you human?” test to help cut down on spam. A recent uptick in the amount of comment spam — and weird comment spam it was — has prompted me to switch to using reCAPTCHA, a similar mechanism that has three distinct advantages over the old system:

1. It’s harder to design automated attacks for.
2. It has an listen-to-audio-option, make it more accessible.
3. When you use it, you’re helping to digitize books.

I’m particular fond of point number three. Apologies to those that find this new mechanism a barrier to commenting.