Anti-Robot Field - Clarification Please

[Dads_Taxi]

Hello,

Please could someone clarify the purpose of the anti-robot field. When completing my profile following the move to the new Forum, a box asked me to write 3x four letter words. Being polite I didn't use any of the well known but impolite four letter words, I just wrote 3 random words. My questions are - am I required to remember these words? Will I ever be asked to type them in to carry out some as yet undiscovered function of the Forum? Am I right in thinking that anyone who looks at my profile page, as well as discovering I don't actually drive a taxi, will be able to read my three words?

I ask only because this sort of thing will keep nagging at me. Engineers like to know why they are doing things, what purpose does it serve, what are the consequences of NOT remembering those three words? Anti-robot systems normally generate a string or two, and the non-robot has to prove his or her intelligence by reproducing them. This system of the non-robot proving their worth as an organic life-form seems to be a psychology test to record which three words will pop into their head!

Anyway, I thought I'd ask.

Thank you,

[florida4sun]

The anti robot field is just that, an attempt to stop spam bots (they are not very good at filling random manual fields). You do not need to remember the words.

[Albert the Frog]

It's to stop spammers blasting sites such as these using spam robots-because the words are random a robot cannot anticipate them so the site has a higher level of protection from adverts/spam etc.
I do not believe you have to remember them

[Dads_Taxi]

Aha, contradiction!

Martin, that answered my first question - I do need to remember the words. So, Q2, for what purpose? Q3, am I not correct in thinking that anyone who reads my profile can make a note of my 3 words?

[Dads_Taxi]

ps, I was adding a bit to last night's original question as you were both replying. I do get the idea of robot-deterrents, I was just after clarification of this particular system. Plus I'm a pedantic bu*g*r

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

It's purely to stop spam bots automatically signing up to the site (we were getting up to 30 a day before we added the three random word question). The spam bots know how the most popular forum software works and will be able to automatically create a new user on their own. If you introduce a random question like this that is a required item, this totally thwarts them as they don't expect it and obviously, being an automated program, don't know how to cope with it. They thus fail to create the new user.

The three words can be absolutely anything as long as they are each 4 letters long exactly. You don't have to remember them and they don't get used for anything other than blocking the spam bots. If I could find a way of hiding them on your profile then I'd do that but to be honest just have not had the time to look into it yet. There are no privacy issues with anyone else being able to see your words as they serve no purpose.

p.s. I've edited Martin's post above to say you don't have to remember the words, which is what I'm sure Martin meant to type in the first place. Sorry for the confusion on this.

[florida4sun]

Thunder fingers strikes again.

p.s. I've edited Martin's post above to say you don't have to remember the words, which is what I'm sure Martin meant to type in the first place. Sorry for the confusion on this.

[steph_goodrum]

Is this the same as the sites that ask you to input the randomly generated words etc that appear and that quite often are almost illegible?

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

Yes, it's the same idea and there for exactly the same reason.

Those ones you mention are called CAPATCHA's and the spam bots are even programmed to try and break them (which they are getting ever more increasingly successful at doing so). I'm not keen on using them too much as users often struggle to read them so a random questions like we have is not only easier for the user to deal with, but a LOT harder for the spam bots to cope with [msnsmile].

Is this the same as the sites that ask you to input the randomly generated words etc that appear and that quite often are almost illegible?

[Dads_Taxi]

Thanks John, all clear now. I completely understand your point of not having time to work out how to avoid the 3 words appearing in our profiles. Life is hectic enough.

I wish I'd thought of three really deep, Intriguing words now!


I'll certainly sleep better tonight with another mystery solved.
Cheers.