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I am NOT a robot. I am a human being that was born in the 1970s; a decade which immediately followed the landing of humans on the moon. The ‘70s were also characterized by bell-bottom pants, the Rubik’s cube, Post-it notes, Sony Walkmans and the floppy disk.
Although things like the mobile phone and digital UPC codes were just beginning to take hold, most people would consider that the 1970s were a time of digital advancements for our social benefit. Users of these technologies, such as email, were most definitely people. Today, as people race to keep up with technological advancements, we must remember that not all users of a computer or a telephone or even a credit card, are human.
Given the increasing numbers of computer hackers and scammers, many software programs now implement safety measures which can solidify that a user is indeed, human. These safety measures are often simple — you (the human) must simply copy a code in a box or check the boxes which show pictures of a car or something similar, like a crosswalk! Sounds easy right? But why, then, am I having so much trouble solidifying the fact that I am a human? I can see the pictures which I think show crosswalks but then as soon as I check off a picture with a crosswalk, the whole display of pictures seems to change, and I am confused. Did the instructions say check all the pictures of the 8 pictures shown which have a crosswalk or did they say that I should keep checking the box of the pictures with crosswalks until no more crosswalks appear? And then the pictures seem blurry to me and I wonder if I made a mistake? Do I have to keep checking off boxes of crosswalk pictures or am I done? Did I fail the test? Am I really a robot?
And then soon, I did indeed fail and all of a sudden I am being tested again only this time I must select the boxes of pictures which have a traffic light and suddenly I realize that I have submitted my choices and forgotten the box which had a very small traffic light in the tiniest bit of the corner of the image. &*!! I must log out and sign in again and repeat the exercise, even though I just wanted to check to see when my library book is due.
This time I replicate the box of letters and numbers which must be typed exactly! I can’t see it though and don’t know if it is a lower-case letter “l” or the number 1? What font did the program use? Why doesn’t the sign-in prompt recognize my computer and realize that at this point, since I am sweating and stressed, that I am a living and breathing human being?
Honestly, since I’ve made so many mistakes, I MUST be human. Finally, I have successfully found my glasses or removed them and held my laptop within 2 inches of my face and discovered that the ‘x’ is NOT capitalized and I have been taken to the screen which allows me to enter my credit card information…No doubt, Charlie’s Angels would have been able to do it faster!!!
Microsoft (’75)! Apple (’76)!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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