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Impossible Captcha with non-keyboard characters

Why can't you make it easier on the eyes and show the words clearly, so that I can be able to read it without having to refresh it until I can understand the words?

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The point of reCAPTCHA is to help digitize/translate old text, see here: http://www.google.com/recaptcha

Sorry if you have to go through a couple till you get it right, it is helping to treasure old text books.

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  • Understandable. The trouble is, the old text tends to be significantly easier to read than the other, captchasized word.
    – user142148
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 2:29
  • @Kyralessa: I'll show you an instance where the old text is an 0_O.
    – Manishearth
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 2:34
  • Really? That's odd. The reCAPTCHA gives you two words, but only actually knows what one of them is; the other is a word that the OCR couldn't figure out. In my experience, the one that the computer did figure out is usually easier.
    – Taymon
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 2:35
  • @Taymon: No, ReCaptcha generates one captcha on its own, and the other one is a (sometimes) modified version of a scanned word that OCR couldn't figure out. It's pretty easy to differentiate between them. I shouldn't tell you this, but you can type anything you want for the scanned word. Just don't do it, that'll confuse the system because it gives each scanned word to multiple people. I've had to do it when I got a scanned block with a physics formula in it.
    – Manishearth
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 2:41
  • @Kyralessa: Here you go: i.sstatic.net/q86XO.png
    – Manishearth
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 2:42
  • @Manishearth I'm actually aware that it will accept anything for the scanned word (since the whole point is to decode the words, what would it check against?), but I didn't know the details of how the other word was generated.
    – Taymon
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 2:44
  • The duplicate question is so funny:)
    – Jeremy Thompson
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 2:49
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    @Taymon: Oh, the other word is generated by taking a random string of letters, arranged in a manner so that they look like an english word (basically enough vowel-consonant ratio--not "gtrwbm" or something). Then they run various modifiers randomly with random parameters. The modifiers skew, wavy-fy, add black splotches and lines, etc. Basically, take a random non-word, randomly crumple it and paint over it.
    – Manishearth
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 3:06
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    @Manishearth: The reCAPTCHA you've linked to twice seems like an insanely easy one to me. It's a house number; the answer is 225. You couldn't make that out?
    – Cody Gray
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 3:10
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    @TheEstablishment oh, I could make it out(evident from the 225 entered below it).. Just was one of the quirkiest one's I've seen :)
    – Manishearth
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 5:08