Browser checker

Is anyone else being sidetracked by a browser checker when going to the Hauptwerk website?

Yes, that was the case.

It was there for a few seconds the first time I accessed Hauptwerk.com. But subsequently, it seemed to be happy and didn't show up again. It appears to be related to cookies (?) — if you block them, or after you clear them, it comes back. Also comes back if you clear your browser cache.

I only get when going to this site so they must have changed something about this site.

I only get when going to this site so they must have changed something about this site.

It appears to be some kind of security check. I had to satisfy one of those image-based Captcha challenges — which are fine, but I usually need a magnifying glass to make out the hard to see traffic lights or boats or whatever

[micdev]

Hi,

It is indeed a security check to limit the traffic (mostly generated by bots). This solved the problem we had last weekend when the site was taken down every few hours. A less intrusive solution is been analyzed.

Thanks François

I do get a bit confused about the Captcha images, since they often require me to identify items that are not familiar.

By trial and error I have worked out that "crosswalk" means zebra crossing, although the ones in the photos seem to be missing their Belisha beacons. I believe some cities in the USA have a high-pressure water system in order to reach fires in tower blocks (as opposed to high-pressure pumps as used in most of the world) and that you connect to this through hydrants; this requires hills nearby so that the reservoir feeding them is sufficiently elevated. Where I live taxis are black (except for minicabs, which look like regular cars), but from my travels I have seen that in Brighton they are turquoise, in Senegal they are black and yellow and look as if they have been put together from wreckage (you have to count the wheels first, then pay the driver so that he can buy fuel for your journey), in Japan they are spotless and driven by a man in a uniform with a peaked cap and white gloves, in India they are called autorickshaws, are yellow and black and have three wheels - similar vehicles in Thailand are called tuk-tuks - and in the Philippines they are decorated along the lines of Christmas trees; I have never been anywhere where they were yellow. I have never seen anything resembling the buses in Captcha photographs. For some reason all the boats shown are on trailers on the road, and never on water.

Can't the Captcha system work out where the user is located and display images appropriate to their culture (in my case British)?

"Can't the Captcha system work out where the user is located and display images appropriate to their culture (in my case British)?"

Reminded of that old joke. "The United States and Great Britain. Two nations separated by a common language."