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Archives / 2005 / January

  • Is a CAPTCHA test really the way to go?

    5 Comments

    CAPTCHA tests have become more and more popular. These visual confirmations needed to do some action, post a reply, register somewhere, ... can now be seen a lot more then a year ago.

    The description of a CAPTCHA test:

    A CAPTCHA test is a program that can generate and grade tests that:

    • Most humans can pass.
    • Current computer programs can't pass.
    But is this really such a good solution? I have just read a post about the Windows Genuine Advantage Program giving blind users problems, because they have to provide the key, which can only be read, which is a problem for blind users.

    Something that I immediately thought of was the CAPTCHA test... If this gets widespread, all blind people will basicly be unable to do anything. They cannot see the test, their browsers can't help and then can't register, reply or anything else where there's such a test.

    There isn't a real solution to it, you can't give the blind any information about the test, because that would beat the purpose of the test. IF someone invents software to help blind people with it, spammers can use it as well, so I don't see a solution to help blind people with CAPTCHA, besides not implementing one.

    Your thoughts?

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  • Personality Tests

    3 Comments

    Following Firoz Ansari and taking the Intelligence Quiz my result is:

    Your Dominant Intelligence is Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
    You are great at finding patterns and relationships between things. Always curious about how things work, you love to set up experiments. You need for the world to make sense - and are good at making sense of it. You have a head for numbers and math ... and you can solve almost any logic puzzle. You would make a great scientist, engineer, computer programmer, researcher, accountant, or mathematician.

    Makes sense since I'm a coder :p

    And while I'm at it lets take the Number Quiz as well:

    You Are the Reformer
    1
    You're a responsible person - with a clear sense of right and wrong. High standards are important to you, and you do everything to meet them. You are your own worst critic, feeling ashamed if you're not perfect. You have the highest integrity, and people expect you to be fair.

    Can you see I currently have some spare time, but just not enough to do anything usefull? The Element Quiz:

    Your Element Is Earth
    You excel at planning and strategizing. You could be a champ at chess or Survivor. Well grounded, you are able to be realistic and rationalize. On the inside, you have a hard core. It's tough to phase you. You are super productive, and you are able to think anything through. Focused and super charged, your instincts are a good guide for your next step.

    And according to the Age Quiz I'm five years older than I really am :p

    You Are 25 Years Old
    25
    Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

    And that's enough for today's quizes :)

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  • Adding Search to my Blog

    14 Comments

    Important Notice:
    If you want to add this to your blog, read:
    http://www.google.com/services/terms_free.html
    http://www.google.com/stickers.html
    http://www.google.com/permissions/guidelines.html

    As noted in the comments to this post, the code below violates their agreement. You can fix this by putting a Google logo of the stickers site next to your search, you can't modify the logo! If you use a search, you can only put Google on your site, not together with MSN.

    If you do all of this, you're fine. Now you have three choices:
    1. You don't care and use it like this in minmalistic form, some say your site will be removed from Google when doing so.
    2. You make the changes I just said, and everything is fine, it just doesn't look that much finished anymore :)
    3. You remove it all together. (my choice) 
    The choice is yours, never complain to me if Google removes your site :p

    Now back to the post.

    After reading Heather's post about searching and taking a look at Geoff Appleby's JavaScript function I decided to add a Search box to my blog as well.

    Here's a step by step explanation on how to add it:

    • Go to your blog's Admin section.
    • Go to Options.
    • Go to Configure.
    • Add the following to 'Static News/Announcement': 
      1<h3>Search</h3> 
      2<input class="BlogSearch" type="text" name="searchBox" id="blogSearchText" value="" onkeypress="return blogSearch(event, this);"> 
      3<input type="button" value="Search" onclick="return blogSearch2('blogSearchText');" class="BlogSearchButton"> 
      4<script type="text/javascript"> 
      5 
      6function blogSearch(event, oInput) { 
      7 var keyCode = (event) ? event.keyCode : keyStroke.which;
      8 if (keyCode == 13) { 
      9    top.location = 'http://www.google.be/search?q=' + escape(oInput.value) + '+inurl%3Acumpsd+site%3Aweblogs.asp.net'; 
      10    return false; 
      11 } return true; 
      12} 
      13 
      14function blogSearch2(oInputId) { 
      15 var oInput = document.getElementById(oInputId); 
      16 top.location = 'http://www.google.be/search?q=' + escape(oInput.value) + '+inurl%3Acumpsd+site%3Aweblogs.asp.net'; 
      17 return false; 
      18} 
      19</script>
    • Replace cumpsd with your blog url.
    • Save.
    • Admire your new search.
    If you want to use MSN as a search engine use the following code (and replace cumpsd with your own url): 
    1<h3>Search</h3> 
    2<input class="BlogSearch" type="text" name="searchBox" id="blogSearchTextMSN" value="" onkeypress="return blogSearchMSN(event, this);"> 
    3<input type="button" value="Search" onclick="return blogSearchMSN2('blogSearchTextMSN');" class="BlogSearchButton"> 
    4<script type="text/javascript"> 
    5 
    6function blogSearchMSN(event, oInput) { 
    7 var keyCode = (event) ? event.keyCode : keyStroke.which; 
    8 if (keyCode == 13) { 
    9    top.location = 'http://search.msn.com/advresults.aspx?q=' + escape(oInput.value) + '%20cumpsd&FORM=SMCA&adv_f=all&adv_dom=weblogs.asp.net&adv_depth=&adv_dt=html&adv_dt=pdf&adv_dt=ppt&adv_dt=msword&adv_dt=x'; 
    10    return false; 
    11 } return true; 
    12} 
    13 
    14function blogSearchMSN2(oInputId) { 
    15 var oInput = document.getElementById(oInputId); 
    16 top.location = 'http://search.msn.com/advresults.aspx?q=' + escape(oInput.value) + '%20cumpsd&FORM=SMCA&adv_f=all&adv_dom=weblogs.asp.net&adv_depth=&adv_dt=html&adv_dt=pdf&adv_dt=ppt&adv_dt=msword&adv_dt=x'; 
    17 return false; 
    18} 
    19</script>
    Update: Fixed script to work with Firefox as well (removed window.navigate and fixed event parameter and keyCode)
    Update2: Added escape(), MSN version and site: restriction
    Update3: Fixed MSN version, had a typo in the function name and id
    Update4: Added important notice about Google terms. (This does mean I have informed you of it and you don't have to comment here about legal issues...)

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  • Trying Microsoft Fingerprint Reader

    11 Comments

    Today I got the chance to experiment with the Microsoft Fingerprint Reader and I love it!

    I believe this is very usefull for elder people who can't remember any passwords at all. For example, I can now setup a computer for my grandmother, and the only thing she has to do when use it, is touch the reader briefly.

    Yes, I already hear people saying, why not set it to logon automatically for her or use a password manager? Well, I don't want to have it login automatically, because it could have multiple users, like her grandchildren. And I didn't use a password manager, well, because I had to change to test this, which is in essency a sort of password manager.

    Bringing up the point about her grandchildren, it can be configured to detect who touches the reader and log in to the right account as well, and also allows fast user switching by a touch.

    The installation was very easy and clear, with graphics explaining how to register your fingerprint with the reader. Everything is very dummy-proof, making it perfect for a normal user on a normal XP installation.

    As a normal user mostly uses IE, it doesn't matter if it doesn't work 100% in Firefox (as I have read somewhere). I like the simplicity, the wizard to create a new website logon is also very clear, indicating which field is the username field, the password field and the logon submit button.

    It does say it shouldn't be used for corporate networks, but as this is mainly a home product, that's not a big problem. It's really a usefull tool.

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  • BlogCast - Alternate Data Streams

    3 Comments

    Some time ago I saw something about Alternate Data Streams, but I can't find the source anymore to give credit :(

    Alternate Data Streams are a "feature" of NTFS, making it possible for one file to store data in multiple streams, attached to the file.

    I have made a small BlogCast about Alternate Data Streams, demonstrating them using a cmd, and a C# program.

    It's 8 minutes in length, 6.2 MB in size and I also included the used source code.

    This is my first attempt at a BlogCast, and in English, if you have any comment on how to improve it, please tell me :)

    Read more...