9 ms·

Slightly creepy, they want to track users around your site to see if they go page to page like a human or like a bot. (Instead of just checking before form-subm

Slightly creepy, they want to track users around your site to see if they go page to page like a human or like a bot. (Instead of just checking before form-submit or some other action.) But if you already have Google Analytics you're probably not giving up any more information by adding this.

fotbr 8y ago
Great. That means that if you're after a specific piece of information, and you don't waste time clicking on "ooh shiney" stuff on your way to find that piece of information, you get flagged as a bot and treated as hostile. Why do we want this version of the web again?
- wild_preference 8y ago
  Abuse exists, so there is then demand to prevent it. Your anger would be better directed at the bad actors who ruin things for you, like how you need to buy a lock for your door. How much time in your life has been wasted by slotting a key into a hole? Ugh, doesn't anyone know this isn't the world I asked for?
  - rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago
    Gotta feed the machine right? Just so you know, the more you protect your privacy, the more websites, everywhere, will have Recaptcha requires that you work for Waymo even though you do not want to work for them (you know, describing road signs, identifying potholes, finding traffic lights, etc). Want some privacy? OK, waste 2-3 minutes every 10 articles and work for Google. Don't want to work for Google? OK, disable all privacy protection and you're good to go. Paying a subscription to the website will, often, not even prevent Recaptcha from popping up. That's dystopia, both feet in, but somehow it's OK because some "guys" are abusing the system o_0
    - wild_preference 8y ago
      I can enumerate why anything in the world is suboptimal. It's not a very strong point on its own. But notice that you haven't suggested an alternative. You're just lamenting one of the few, generalizable, cheap resources a website operator has to avoid abuse in a world where it's only getting easier and easier for bad actors. Your analysis is just as thorough as "but somehow it's OK to put locks on every door because some guys are abusing the system o_0?!" Food for thought: Is everyone encumbering their life with keychains for the fun of it? How do the trade-offs look? Do locks play any role beyond feeding the locksmith industry? What other options do people have and how do they compare with buying a $17 lock for their front door and installing it with a few screws?
      - rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago
        The alternative is simple: decentralize the Internet, regulate Google for abuse of dominant position. Its size and power makes it completely unavoidable now and force users to work for them. One cannot have basic access to Internet websites and services without providing Google with personal data or work for them. If Google wasn't so big and did not collect/treat such a huge amount of personal data, we would a choice between multiple providers. To read some articles, I am required to help Google improve its self driving company (Waymo "identify cars in the picturs", its OCR algo (Google Books, "write the two words"), its Maps service ("find house numbers" on Street View), etc. This free work makes Google increasingly competitive vs the alternatives, so Google can continue offering "free" services (like Recaptcha) and further compel users to work for them. You simply don't have a choice.
      - Wowfunhappy 8y ago
        Is the current situation with reCaptcha v2 really all that bad?
  - 908087 8y ago
    "Don't blame the police state for the random beatings you receive, blame the 'bad men' they're here to 'protect' you from!"
sli 8y ago
I can block GA with uMatrix and things continue to work. If I block this with uMatrix, I'm likely permanently gated from whatever I'm trying to access. If Gitlab updates, I won't be able to access my repos, because they (for some reason) make me solve a reCAPTCHA before doing anything on my own repos.

fotbr 8y ago

Great. That means that if you're after a specific piece of information, and you don't waste time clicking on "ooh shiney" stuff on your way to find that piece of information, you get flagged as a bot and treated as hostile. Why do we want this version of the web again?

wild_preference 8y ago
Abuse exists, so there is then demand to prevent it. Your anger would be better directed at the bad actors who ruin things for you, like how you need to buy a lock for your door. How much time in your life has been wasted by slotting a key into a hole? Ugh, doesn't anyone know this isn't the world I asked for?
- rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago
  Gotta feed the machine right? Just so you know, the more you protect your privacy, the more websites, everywhere, will have Recaptcha requires that you work for Waymo even though you do not want to work for them (you know, describing road signs, identifying potholes, finding traffic lights, etc). Want some privacy? OK, waste 2-3 minutes every 10 articles and work for Google. Don't want to work for Google? OK, disable all privacy protection and you're good to go. Paying a subscription to the website will, often, not even prevent Recaptcha from popping up. That's dystopia, both feet in, but somehow it's OK because some "guys" are abusing the system o_0
  - wild_preference 8y ago
    I can enumerate why anything in the world is suboptimal. It's not a very strong point on its own. But notice that you haven't suggested an alternative. You're just lamenting one of the few, generalizable, cheap resources a website operator has to avoid abuse in a world where it's only getting easier and easier for bad actors. Your analysis is just as thorough as "but somehow it's OK to put locks on every door because some guys are abusing the system o_0?!" Food for thought: Is everyone encumbering their life with keychains for the fun of it? How do the trade-offs look? Do locks play any role beyond feeding the locksmith industry? What other options do people have and how do they compare with buying a $17 lock for their front door and installing it with a few screws?
    - rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago
      The alternative is simple: decentralize the Internet, regulate Google for abuse of dominant position. Its size and power makes it completely unavoidable now and force users to work for them. One cannot have basic access to Internet websites and services without providing Google with personal data or work for them. If Google wasn't so big and did not collect/treat such a huge amount of personal data, we would a choice between multiple providers. To read some articles, I am required to help Google improve its self driving company (Waymo "identify cars in the picturs", its OCR algo (Google Books, "write the two words"), its Maps service ("find house numbers" on Street View), etc. This free work makes Google increasingly competitive vs the alternatives, so Google can continue offering "free" services (like Recaptcha) and further compel users to work for them. You simply don't have a choice.
    - Wowfunhappy 8y ago
      Is the current situation with reCaptcha v2 really all that bad?
- 908087 8y ago
  "Don't blame the police state for the random beatings you receive, blame the 'bad men' they're here to 'protect' you from!"

sli 8y ago

I can block GA with uMatrix and things continue to work. If I block this with uMatrix, I'm likely permanently gated from whatever I'm trying to access. If Gitlab updates, I won't be able to access my repos, because they (for some reason) make me solve a reCAPTCHA before doing anything on my own repos.