XtraFile
XtraUpload v2 - CAPTCHA Tests
Posted by admin | Filed under XtraUpload
CAPTCHA’s are a double-edged sword for most users. I personally hate them a lot, but I concede that they are required to help prevent something I hate even more, SPAM. SPAM comes in many forms:
- Emails
- Comments
- IM Chatter
- Others
While these are activities most of us use on a daily basis you might notice that none of the above functions involve XtraUpload at all. ‘What could SPAM have to do with XtraUpload?’ you might ask. While SPAM is most prevalent in the above part of our daily lives, there exists a SPAM that aims to kill puppies and steal from the poor. That form of Spam is Server Spam, excess traffic, useless requests, and the like. “But Matt, that’s not spam! Your a lying sack of crap!!!”. Wait, please allow me to explain myself.
Spam is annoying, right? Spam is unnecessary, right? Spam is excessive, right? Ever heard the adage, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its a duck.”? I’m sure you have. Well is Server Spam all of the above? I think it is. Server Spam is like a DOS attack, but much less effective in taking down a server. Its just there to slow everything down and make the user experience less enjoyable, while not breaking any laws.
In XtraUpload this comes in the form of automated, mass downloads clogging up the pipes connecting a server to the internet. This greatly reduces the responsiveness of a server and the overall experience for everyone that actually wants to use the service. Granted a DOS attack is more effective, but in many places it is also illegal. Server Spam is just in the realm of legality, because it doesn’t shut down the service, just slows it down.
The question you have in your head now is most likely “WTF? Are you serious?”. Ok that was 2 questions.
The reason for this description is to explain why XtraUpload needs a download Captcha. Download CAPTCHAs are the little images you need to replicate in letter form before you can download a file in XtraUpload. In XtraUpload v1.6 these captchas are huge, cumbersome, and sometimes very hard to read. Not only that but there is no way to generate a new captcha if the one you have is useless.
In XtraUpload v2 the Captchas are small, colorful, and very easy to read. And if for any reason you cant read the one you got generated, you can just hit the refresh button to get a new one. Very simple, very effective.
As many would agree, its the details that matter most.
-Matt
