Impossible CAPTCHA : It Doesn’t Really Matter if You are Human or Not

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CAPTCHA is an acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Human Apart”. In a broader sense, CAPTCHA is defined as:

Type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer. The process involves one computer (a server) asking a user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade…

["simple" is the key word here]

CAPTCHAs present a very controversial topic: you can’t do without them as a webmaster and you can’t stand them as a user.

Some CAPTCHAs are just impossible to figure - no matter who you are (a robot or a human), you won’t pass the test. Here’s my gallery of impossible CAPTCHAs:

Read fast:

Read on: Impossible CAPTCHA : It Doesn’t Really Matter if You are Human or Not

Usability | 32 Comments » | 2009-05-18

How (and Why) to Maintain Several Online Identities

Ok, before you start calling me a spammer or anything like that, I’ll say there may be totally legit reasons why you would want to keep several online identities, for example:

• You may want to separate business life from your personal life (really having your husband/wife and your clients on same Facebook account may be tedious);
• You don’t want your partners and clients to know about your other projects (why would I want the SEO world to know that I own a creepy celebrity blog on blogspot and promote it on Myspace… and no, you don’t want to see that Myspace page!).

You know me as Ann Smarty, that’s my SEO pseudonym, and if you search this name on Google you will see only my professional profiles, professional comments and professional articles. But my SEO business is only part of my Internet life and I don’t want you to know (trust me, you don’t want to know that either:)) what stuff I stumble from my “private” StumbleUpon account and what comments I leave (or used to leave) on fellow Myspace profiles.

OK, I guess now you are intrigued to know that but that’s not the point.

The point is that if you want to live several online lives, that’s totally OK and here are some tools for that (yes, there are tools for that either!) Read on: How (and Why) to Maintain Several Online Identities

Reputation Management, Social Media Marketing | 21 Comments » | 2009-05-07

Baiting for Links with Fake Websites

I love original and unique ideas that promote themselves. Creating content that spreads is art and you are unable to generate dozens of unique and catchy ideas weekly: sometimes a person creates something truly unique once in a lifetime.

Still, there are some tactics behind crafting something that becomes viral. One such tactic is making fake mini websites that feature some sensation or weird concepts.

Those websites create their own imaginary world around them (for example, describe the life in a non-existent country) or share some spoofed scientific research or experiments or claim to describe an event that never happened, etc.

The best thing about those sites is that they don’t require much time or effort and are eagerly shared. Very often all you need is to contact a power blogger or even a journalist and share your hoax and it will work like a charm.

Let’s have a look at just a few examples to get an idea and inspiration: Read on: Baiting for Links with Fake Websites

Link Building, Viral Marketing | 28 Comments » | 2009-04-23

Search Cloudlet Adds Twitter Tag Clouds

I recently shared on SEJ my latest favorite FireFox addon Search Cloudlet that generated a tag cloud of Google and Yahoo SERPs. I have also suggested its possible implication for keyword context research.

The interesting part of this whole thing is that the tool developers appeared to be based in my home country - Ukraine. Naturally, we got into contact and arranged to keep each other up-to-date of search news.

So today I received a message of them (it is hard to believe but we still communicate in English ) sharing the tool awesome feature: it now works for Twitter. Read on: Search Cloudlet Adds Twitter Tag Clouds

SEO Tools | 13 Comments » | 2009-03-13

Take Daily SEO Dose at DailySEOTip.com

It is funny I’ve started a new project but haven’t shared it with my best friends - SEOsmarty readers (no, actually it is sad)…

From now on, apart from seeing me regularly on Search Engine Journal, you’ll be able to read my posts at DailySEOtip.com - a new blog I’ve started together with my boss and good friend Loren Baker. Read on: Take Daily SEO Dose at DailySEOTip.com

SEO Ethics | 29 Comments » | 2009-02-28

Amazon.com Navigation Menus Evolution

I’ve lately had to deal with a huge database-driven website. What troubled me most was the huge navigation menus - and I am wracking my brain over the ways to optimize it both for users and search engine bots.  It is always the hardest - to organize huge number of links into one easy-to-navigate and clear menus.

I am researching the topic now, drawing the site structure on a sheet of paper and still have to come up with the “perfect” solution.

Now, the best way to educate yourself is to learn from examples. Therefore I decided to look into one of the most successful (in terms of performance, not implementation) examples dealing with the huge database of products and sections: Amazon.com

Below, I am giving the history of Amazon.com navigation menus evolution without going into any extra ramblings. Your thoughts, resources and opinions are much appreciated! I promise to do a follow-up here or at SEJ linking to everyone whose comments I’ll be referring to! Read on: Amazon.com Navigation Menus Evolution

On-Page SEO, Usability | 25 Comments » | 2009-02-11

Monetize Your Twitter Account! (Really?)

Today in the morning I was pinged by one of my Facebook friends with some cute news: a start-up called Magpie (aff link) offers you to monetize your Twitter account and earn money for Tweeting the ads.

My instant reaction was “Nah…” The whole idea of earning money from friends sounds somewhat not good. But curiosity won, I went ahead and signed up. You can estimate how much you will be earning by clicking the “Start” tab.

So far I have no real data to share as I spread 0 Tweets and thus can’t see any statistics but here’s what the service looks like both from outside and inside: Read on: Monetize Your Twitter Account! (Really?)

SEO Ethics | 20 Comments » | 2009-02-01