Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Wed, 2 Nov 2011 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101215/03505112285/dailydirt-weve-got-droids-youre-looking.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101215/03505112285/dailydirt-weve-got-droids-youre-looking.shtml

Software called Decaptcha is getting better at solving CAPTCHA challenges. Decaptcha can't foil CAPTCHAs from Google and reCAPTCHA, so it's not going to help digitize books (but maybe someday it will). [url]

Google's indexing spider, GoogleBot, can now execute AJAX or JavaScript to get into dynamic commenting systems from Facebook and Disqus. When GoogleBot achieves self-awareness, hopefully it won't judge the human race from what it's read in blog comments... [url]

Socialbots are infiltrating social networks and collecting as much personal information as they can, using fake accounts with attractive profile pictures to befriend unsuspecting people. If a man you've never met before suddenly gives you flowers... (or pokes you on Facebook) Guess what? It's probably spam or an ad for something. [url]

To discover more interesting robot-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101215/03505112285 Tue, 4 Oct 2011 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110908/23440015860/dailydirt-games-arent-just-fun-anymore.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110908/23440015860/dailydirt-games-arent-just-fun-anymore.shtml genius who can unlock the ninth chevron. Here are a few more examples.

• The game Foldit gets players to predict the structure of protein molecules, and it actually helped solve the structure of a protein-cutting enzyme in about 3 weeks. The cheat codes for the game probably helped... [url]
• DARPA has a game that lets players track down submarines -- essentially teaching software for autonomous anti-submarine robots while they play. Sounds a bit like The Last Starfighter, but for submarines. [url]
• From some of the same folks who brought you reCAPTCHAs, there's a game that helps you learn another language, and at the same time, help translate websites into almost any other common language. "I am a jelly donut" -- for everyone! [url]
• To find some cool online games, check out what StumbleUpon has found to play. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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