Be in the Know
- A developer made a light CAPTCHA that sees if you’re human by having you play Doom (which we hope means mini-games are becoming the new standard).
- Bed Bath & Beyond introduces a new brand, Simple Essentials, as they work towards new modern image.
- In anticipation of the new Space Jam movie, Kraft releases themed pasta and Space Jammies (you know you want them, too).
- ICYMI: Porsche eyewear is looking good with Patrick Dempsey as their brand ambassador.
Your CAPTCHA Crash Course
You have probably used them a million times or have implemented them on your own website – the good ol’ CAPTCHA.
Maybe you’re a web newbie. No judgment. Let’s review what CAPTCHAs are used for:
- Maintaining poll accuracy
- Limiting registration for services
- Preventing ticket inflation/bulk buys
- Preventing false comments
Basically, wherever a bot can lurk, you want a CAPTCHA to fend them off. Sounds good right? Sometimes they can get in the way of a beautiful user experience or become clunky. BUT there are plenty of options nowadays.
Let’s break ‘em down!
Text-based CAPTCHAs: The OG human verification methods. These CAPTCHAs can use known words or phrases, or random combinations of digits and letters. Different methods will distort or colorize them.
Image-based CAPTCHAs: These were developed to replace text-based by using recognizable graphical elements, such as photos of animals, shapes, or scenes. While easy for humans to understand, they can pose accessibility issues for visually impaired users.
Audio CAPTCHAs: The alternative for accessibility to visually impaired users. These are often used in combination with text or image-based CAPTCHAs. Audio CAPTCHAs give a userr an audio recording of a series of characters to enter.
Math or Word Problems: Ew. Math. Luckily these keep it basic like “3+4.” Another variant is a word problem, asking the user to complete a sentence.
Not CAPTCHAs, but like, kinda:
Social Media Sign In: This requires users to sign in using a social profile such as Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn. Details will automatically fill in using single sign-on (SSO) functionality provided by the social media website.
No CAPTCHA ReCAPTCHA: These usually provide a checkbox saying “I am not a robot” which users need to select – and that’s it. If the test fails, reCAPTCHA provides a traditional image selection CAPTCHA as a fallback. Google is a huge fan of these (so are we) and has a variety of fast and “invisible” reCAPTCHA options.
Imperva, a cybersecurity company, gives the full scoop on CAPTCHAs in their article (no human verification needed).
Q for You
Snazzy Maps
Sometimes you just want a map prettier than a Google preset. Snazzy Maps has amazing style editing with over 4,000 preset styles if you don’t want to build your own.
Aimed towards web designers and developers, all styles are licensed under creative commons and completely free to use. While the pin dropping is manual (there is not currently a bulk data feature), it’s still a great way to display locations as stylishly as possible. Go get snazzy with it.
Work with us
Wanna know how to sausage is made? Well, we won’t just tell you…but we can make it for you.
Carney is the agency of expert butchers serving up The Daily Carnage to you! Let us know how we can help you achieve your email, design, and digital goals.
Watch
A Mixed Bag
It makes you wonder what took so long? M&M’s characters are almost always hanging out together in their commercials. Well, now they’re all together in their packaging.
The ad starts off in the point of view of the candies before revealing they are all in the same bag together. Candy lovers can get their fix by having classic, peanut butter, and peanut M&Ms at the same time.
“Every email is a customer survey of your target market, by testing they vote on what resonates best with them.”
Kath Pay
