Escaping Captcha

Signing up for free online services like Webmail and photo hosting doesn't usually have a catch. But, it often has a CAPTCHA. If you've signed up for anything free on the Net, you will probably have been asked to key in a random combination of letters and numbers, presented to you in a barely-legible font, distorted out of shape, in eye-straining colours. As you will have guessed, this is so the site knows you're a human, not a computer. CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart.

The problem is, Spammers and other Net abusers already have software which can read Captcha text even if it's barely legible to humans. However, what software doesn't have (and isn't going to get anytime soon) is the basic knowledge a human has and the ability to apply it.

Which is why this method works: contact_form.htm. As you will see, to submit our contact form you have to answer a question which is very easy - yet insoluble to all but humans. This form has been online for months with this one simple question to protect it - and not one Spam has penetrated.

If your Captchas don't capture, drop us an e-mail and we'll install Cookie Dude Questia for you!

Where's the Bouncer?

If you are based in the UK, you may have noticed that it's been a long time since any of your e-mails failed to reach their destination. At least, that's the way it seems... The fact is, many major (and some minor) UK Internet Service Providers no longer return undeliverable mail to the sender. Why? Well... They aren't saying... Which ISPs? Well, We don't want to name them here.

Not knowing whether or not an important e-mail has been received can cause serious problems. People aren't always around to e-mail you back and confirm they received what you've sent, which is why bounce messages are so important.

If you've not had an e-mail bounce back on you for a long time, click here: nosuch@domain-name-here.me.uk, hit Send and see if the message is returned to you. Sending an e-mail to a completely made-up domain name like this one should result in it being returned to your Inbox marked as undeliverable.

If you don't get bounce messages, it is advisable to complain to your ISP, but please do so following their complaints procedures. If such a process fails, or they refuse to give you a straight answer, you can complain to The Internet Services Providers' Association via ispa.org.uk.

N.B. if you only use Webmail via your browser, bounce messages are probably not something you should expect to receive.

Stand up for you right to bouncers!