Check out more slices at Two Writing Teachers
Not again, I think as I type in the letters I think I recognize.
Please prove you’re not a robot. Really and truly, I am not a robot! How considerate of you to preface that with please. Well, you need to learn to write a little clearer. When you smash letters against each other they take on other letter shapes.
The characters you entered didn’t match the word verification. Please try again. Are you kidding me? Oh my, you are speaking to me in red letters now. Don’t get so huffy, I’m trying my best. So I tip my head a little to the right. Maybe that is an m or is it two n‘s together? I squint and think I see a new possibility of letter combinations.
Your comment was published. Finally, I passed the silly test and now they know I am not a robot.
They don’t know have discovered a few secrets. One thing I’ve learned is that the capitals don’t matter. I can use all lower case letters. For the longest time I was trying to match their letters. No more! And those numbers in the boxes, that are so dark I can’t even fathom what the number is, forget it. You don’t have to type in any of the numbers. However, it does not work in the reverse, you cannot just type in the numbers.
So, I will continue to prove I am not a robot, but I may have a permanent squinting problem and a twisted neck when this month is over.
elsie tries writing 
Elsie,
Somehow I missed this post. I wrote about fighting the anti-spam gods today, and several people gave me advice they had gotten here. So then I came hunting for your post. Hope it’s ok that I wrote about the same thing. If not, let me know and I will take mine down.
I wish it would all go away. Thanks for speaking for us all, Elsie!
I was beginning to think that maybe I am a robot or worse yet an inept human who needs new glasses. Thanks for sharing my humanity, for giving me a laugh, and for the tips.
I turned the captchas off on my blog because I was so tired of being declared a robot. I take it personally.
You crack me up, but what gets me even more is all the responses to this post–we are overjoyed at any trick to make those things less irritating!
I feel your pain. You’d think blogger would know I’m the same person since I’m typing from the same computer, but time after time I have to reenter the code. Thanks for the tips. I had figured out the numbers, but the lowercase letter tip is a good one.
Best. Post. Ever. THANK YOU! Amen.
I was laughing out loud as I read this Elsie! I had no idea I could choose to turn it off! Thanks – CAPTCHAs are forever removed from my blog!
THANK YOU. The CAPTCHA has been driving me crazy. I cannot see those numbers. I thought you had to use capitals if they were there. Thank you! Thank you!
I just had to report back in. I’m positively giddy tonight posting without capitals and no numbers! Thanks again!
I love that you posted this because I can’t tell you how many times I have entered in the wrong letters. Please, could you make them a little clearer because it really could be an n or an r. It’s the little things in life that writers notice!
I can definitely relate to this…not only on this site, but these security checks are everywhere now! And honestly what is their problem with robots?
Hilarious. You’re so right- they are so annoying.. borderline insulting .. and often they are so darn hard to read I question whether I may actually BE a robot.. or if I just need glasses. Funny stuff.
haha, this was so entertaining, Elsie! This is exactly how I’ve been feeling lately! (Tuesdays aren’t so bad, but this is maddening during the March Challenge!) I knew the numbers weren’t necessary, but I didn’t know about the capitals — thanks for sharing your tips! 🙂
Nice advice! I know — I hate this part of the commenting process. If I were a robot, I wouldn’t be writing comments with any personal detail! Thanks for clearing the air :).
What a relief to not have to type the numbers, just the letters–and no capitals! I have had to retry multiple times on occasion.
I love this!
I love this!
Geez, I better check if I even have the captcha thing on. You post made me laugh. What a relief I don’t have to try to figure out those faded numbers.
I was thinking I needed new glasses. I’d stumbled upon not using the capital letters, but ignoring the numbers makes me happy! Thanks
Thanks for the tip! You caught that frustration so well in your writing.
Oh my, thank you for the little tips…I never knew. Guess what I do? I look for all the word press accounts first, and you ! xo
Thank you for the tips. I have used the little round arrow to click until I can get a combination where both letters and numbers are clear enough. Sometimes I have fun making up what those letter combinations could mean.
I had to return to say that it has been much easier now that I haven’t typed the numbers. Thank you again for the hint.
I am with you…so frustrating! There was one post yesterday for which I simply had to give up!
Elsie, thank you for sharing – I absolutely agree – my neck and eyes will never be the same, I’m so glad to hear that I don’t need the numbers or caps. Sometimes I think only a robot could enter the correct sequence! If I remember correctly, there is a way to turn off the CAPTCHA. I’ll check with Michelle, but I’m pretty sure we turned off the requirement on my blog.
Yes, the blog owner can turn it off — I so wish more bloggers did! (It would make commenting quicker for sure!) Christy wrote a post about this later year too (http://readwriteinspire.blogspot.com/2012/03/captchas.html) — and she encouraged me to turn it off. I rarely get any spam commenters.
So go for it! Turn off the captchas! 🙂
Elsie – it works! It really, really works! It’s not that I didn’t believe you, but . . . I wasn’t to sure. However, I skipped the numbers and didn’t worry about capitals and it WORKED! Ah, thanks for this insight!
What do they say about great minds? 🙂 I was thinking about writing about this very subject. I began to think perhaps unknown to me I actually was a robot because of the number of times I had to re-enter that pesky number/letter sequence. I am glad to hear about the numbers and that capital letters. That tip will really help.
My sentiments exactly. I wonder why some blogs have that and others don’t. I’m glad you posted about this–made me feel better about my eyesight! And red pens went out a long time ago in my book!!!
Elsie, this post may be the most useful one of the month. I can’t wait to try skipping the numbers and now I know what the letters stand for in this acronym. Thanks for the tips in a post that both amuses and educates.
Hahhaa..I was totally laughing out loud while reading this. I totally can relate to your frustration. Especially while leaving comments during this slice of life challenge!!
Hey thank you Elsie. So you don’t need the numbers? I’ve been enlarging my screen to see them. And you dont’ need the right letters? I do get bounced out though. I hate that process. Good thing Worpress doesn’t have that.
I do think you need the right letters, you just don’t have to capitalize when they do. So now you can quit enlarging and ignore those numbers.