2496: Mine Captcha - Revision history

172.70.38.126: Link was broken

2025-02-01T23:06:30Z

Link was broken

108.162.226.66: /* Trivia */

2024-11-14T03:40:49Z

‎Trivia

FaviFake: (whoever) Contributed (to this article) had a love for (useless) parenthesis (!)

2023-07-21T12:46:10Z

(whoever) Contributed (to this article) had a love for (useless) parenthesis (!)

172.70.86.15: /* Explanation */ Had a go, did many rearrangements to mostly try to solve comma-forest issues. Could really do with separating concepts further, though. Perhaps splitting the para, more, thematically.

2023-07-20T22:36:21Z

‎Explanation: Had a go, did many rearrangements to mostly try to solve comma-forest issues. Could really do with separating concepts further, though. Perhaps splitting the para, more, thematically.

ColorfulGalaxy: I don't know how to fix

2023-07-20T21:01:50Z

I don't know how to fix

172.69.22.227 at 19:11, 20 October 2022

2022-10-20T19:11:49Z

Theusaf: Reverted edits by Donald Trump (talk) to last revision by CRLF

2022-05-26T20:02:22Z

Reverted edits by Donald Trump (talk) to last revision by CRLF

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Donald Trump: Reverted edit by anti-crap user

2022-05-26T18:52:06Z

Reverted edit by anti-crap user

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CRLF: Reverted vandalism with User:CRLF/OneClickUndo.js

2022-05-26T18:05:23Z

Reverted vandalism with User:CRLF/OneClickUndo.js

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Donald Trump: Crapped page

2022-05-26T16:50:04Z

Crapped page

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@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 *The solved puzzle as it would look if played as a real minesweeper game, except the mines would be represented by flags. The empty square top right corner has 0 bombs next to it. This is not written in the game but indicated as this field has been pushed down:
 :[[File:2946_Mine_Captcha_Solved.png]]
-*The original game can be played here: [https://minesweeper.pro/ World of Minesweeper]
+*The original game can be played here: [https://minesweeper.online/game/795721480 World of Minesweeper]
 **It is possible to build a 4x4 CAPTCHA game there:
 :[[File:2946_Mine_Captcha_Example_of_4x4_game.png]]

@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 *The solved puzzle as it would look if played as a real minesweeper game, except the mines would be represented by flags. The empty square top right corner has 0 bombs next to it. This is not written in the game but indicated as this field has been pushed down:
 :[[File:2946_Mine_Captcha_Solved.png]]
-*The original game can be played here: [https://minesweeper.online/ World of Minesweeper]
+*The original game can be played here: [https://minesweeper.pro/ World of Minesweeper]
 **It is possible to build a 4x4 CAPTCHA game there:
 :[[File:2946_Mine_Captcha_Example_of_4x4_game.png]]

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 This comic, like [[1897: Self Driving]], references the approach of using human-entered {{w|CAPTCHA}} inputs to solve {{w|machine learning}} problems, particularly those involving image classification.
-In order to prevent automated programs from using web services, Google offers a protection called {{w|reCAPTCHA}}, which performs various tests to see if a user is human or machine. (One of these tests is a "I'm not a robot" checkbox which must be checked in order to proceed, although ticking the box is merely a formality, and later versions of reCAPTCHA can simply perform the tests quietly in the background without needing user consent).
+In order to prevent automated programs from using web services, Google offers a protection called {{w|reCAPTCHA}}, which performs various tests to see if a user is human or machine. One of these tests is a "I'm not a robot" checkbox which must be checked in order to proceed, although ticking the box is merely a formality, and later versions of reCAPTCHA can simply perform the tests quietly in the background without needing user consent.
-If the reCAPTCHA system suspects that the user may be an automated bot, it presents an image recognition challenge that only humans should be able to pass. This has the desired effect of denying access to robots, but it also has a side benefit that the human input can be used to train Google's image recognition software. The challenge usually features a square grid of images, typically things one might see while driving - eg. "check all squares containing a STOP SIGN". If the user clicks the correct squares, they are permitted to continue.
+If the reCAPTCHA system suspects that the user may be an automated bot, it presents an image recognition challenge that only humans should be able to pass. This has the desired effect of denying access to robots, but it also has a side benefit that the human input can be used to train Google's image recognition software. The challenge usually features a square grid of images, typically things one might see while driving - e.g. "Check all squares containing a stop sign". If the user clicks enough correct squares, they are permitted to continue.
-{{w|Minesweeper (video game)|Minesweeper}}, on the other hand, is a logic puzzle game in which the player is presented with a grid of unrevealed squares, and must deduce the location of mines that have been secretly hidden on random squares. The game provides clues by marking some squares with the number of mines (up to a maximum of 8) that are adjacent to that square; by carefully considering the possibilities, a player can deduce which squares must contain mines, and mark them with flags to avoid clicking on them. Revealing a mine loses the game.
+{{w|Minesweeper (video game)|Minesweeper}}, on the other hand, is a logic puzzle game in which the player is presented with a grid of unrevealed squares and must deduce the location of mines that have been secretly hidden on random squares. The game provides clues by marking some squares with the number of mines (up to a maximum of 8) that are adjacent to that square; by carefully considering the possibilities, a player can deduce which squares must contain mines, and mark them with flags to avoid clicking on them. Revealing a mine loses the game.
-In this comic, Randall combines the two concepts to create a "Mine Captcha", which is presented in the form of a reCAPTCHA challenge but actually appears to be a mini game of Minesweeper. To be more precise, it is actually the ''opposite'' of regular Minesweeper. This challenge invites the user to click on the mines, as opposed to Minesweeper's aim of clicking only upon unrevealed squares that are ''not'' mines. Furthermore, within the terms of a reCAPTCHA, there are no ''pictures'' of mines displayed, to click upon. This is also the case for Minesweeper, as they only appear once the game is solved (or failed), all remaining hidden during play and thus needing to be deduced where they all are.
+In this comic, Randall combines the two concepts to create a "Mine Captcha", which is presented in the form of a reCAPTCHA challenge but actually appears to be a mini game of Minesweeper. To be more precise, it is actually the ''opposite'' of regular Minesweeper. This challenge invites the user to click on the mines, as opposed to Minesweeper's aim of clicking only upon unrevealed squares that are ''not'' mines. Furthermore, within the terms of a reCAPTCHA, there are no ''pictures'' of mines displayed, to click upon. This is also the case for Minesweeper, as they only appear once the game ends, all remaining hidden during play and thus needing to be deduced where they all are.
 A real-world Mine Captcha would be somewhat ineffective for a variety of reasons. Firstly, not every human would recognize a game of Minesweeper and therefore wouldn't understand what they are being asked to do. Even if they do recognize the game, they may not know the logical method for deducing the locations of mines. Additionally, even for skilled players, there is a trap in that the Captcha's objective is the reverse of regular Minesweeper; they might therefore get tripped up by muscle memory and click on something that is not a mine, which would fail the challenge.
-Another issue is that games of Minesweeper can sometimes involve a degree of luck, as it is possible to generate a puzzle which does not give sufficient information to unambiguously deduce the location of every mine (Though this may not be a problem since Randall's Minesweeper is only a 4x4 grid). In these situations, the most a player can do is click the uncertain square and hope for the best. If the Mine Captcha is poorly implemented in this way, this would increase false negatives in human detection due to some humans failing the captcha purely due to bad luck. (Some variants attempt to eliminate this problem: ''[https://pragmada.x10hosting.com/mindet.html Mine Detector]'', for example, is a variant game which provides better information, such that it's almost always solvable without guessing except at the highest difficulty level).
+Another issue is that games of Minesweeper can sometimes involve a degree of luck, as it is possible to generate a puzzle which does not give sufficient information to unambiguously deduce the location of every mine. This may not be a problem since Randall's Minesweeper is only a four-by-four grid. In these situations, the most a player can do is click the uncertain square and hope for the best. If the Mine Captcha is poorly implemented in this way, this would increase false negatives in human detection due to some humans failing the captcha purely due to bad luck. Some variants attempt to eliminate this problem: ''[https://pragmada.x10hosting.com/mindet.html Mine Detector]'', for example, is a variant game which provides better information, such that it's almost always solvable without guessing except at the highest difficulty level.
-Finally, a Mine Captcha would actually be fairly easy for an artificial intelligence (AI) to solve, since it is a logic puzzle - as long as the AI can read the numbers, it can simply use an algorithm to eliminate all impossibilities until it has the correct answer. (Indeed, for a 4x4 grid, it's even easier than that; a computer could quickly brute-force the problem by trying every possible arrangement of mines until it has the correct one).
+Finally, a Mine Captcha would actually be fairly easy for an artificial intelligence to solve, since it is a logic puzzle: as long as the AI can read the numbers, it can simply use an algorithm to eliminate all impossibilities until it has the correct answer. With a 4x4 grid it's even easier than that: a computer could quickly brute force the problem by trying every possible arrangement of mines until it has the correct one.
 It seems that Randall predicted that an AI might try to solve the captcha itself, as he rendered each numeral in a different style; this is similar to obfuscation methods used in text-based captchas to prevent automatic text recognition software from reading the captcha. However, it would not be very effective in this case as the same numbers have the same color; an AI could simply recognize the color instead, which is even easier for an AI than trying to read a number.
@@ Line 74: / Line 74: @@
 *The solved version of the puzzle showing where the mines are in this comic:
 :[[File:2946_Mine_Captcha_With_Bombs.png]]
-*The solved puzzle as it would look if played as a real minesweeper game, except the mines would be represented by flags. (The empty square top right corner has 0 bombs next to it. This is not written in the game but indicated as this field has been pushed down):
+*The solved puzzle as it would look if played as a real minesweeper game, except the mines would be represented by flags. The empty square top right corner has 0 bombs next to it. This is not written in the game but indicated as this field has been pushed down:
 :[[File:2946_Mine_Captcha_Solved.png]]
 *The original game can be played here: [https://minesweeper.online/ World of Minesweeper]

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 {{w|Minesweeper (video game)|Minesweeper}}, on the other hand, is a logic puzzle game in which the player is presented with a grid of unrevealed squares, and must deduce the location of mines that have been secretly hidden on random squares. The game provides clues by marking some squares with the number of mines (up to a maximum of 8) that are adjacent to that square; by carefully considering the possibilities, a player can deduce which squares must contain mines, and mark them with flags to avoid clicking on them. Revealing a mine loses the game.
-In this comic, Randall combines the two concepts to create a "Mine Captcha", which is presented in the form of a reCAPTCHA challenge but actually appears to be a mini game of Minesweeper. (To be more precise, it is actually the opposite of regular Minesweeper, since the challenge invites the user to click on the mines - in Minesweeper, you are supposed to ''not'' click the mines. Furthermore, on its own terms it is unsolvable as a reCAPTCHA, since the user is asked to click on all ''pictures'' of mines. However, as in the real Minesweeper, there are no pictures of mines displayed (in Minesweeper, these only appear when the game is over). Taking the game as playable, however, in both cases you still need to know where the mines are, so it is still solved the same way). <!-- Parenthesis in parenthesis? Please fix it. -->
+In this comic, Randall combines the two concepts to create a "Mine Captcha", which is presented in the form of a reCAPTCHA challenge but actually appears to be a mini game of Minesweeper. To be more precise, it is actually the ''opposite'' of regular Minesweeper. This challenge invites the user to click on the mines, as opposed to Minesweeper's aim of clicking only upon unrevealed squares that are ''not'' mines. Furthermore, within the terms of a reCAPTCHA, there are no ''pictures'' of mines displayed, to click upon. This is also the case for Minesweeper, as they only appear once the game is solved (or failed), all remaining hidden during play and thus needing to be deduced where they all are.
 A real-world Mine Captcha would be somewhat ineffective for a variety of reasons. Firstly, not every human would recognize a game of Minesweeper and therefore wouldn't understand what they are being asked to do. Even if they do recognize the game, they may not know the logical method for deducing the locations of mines. Additionally, even for skilled players, there is a trap in that the Captcha's objective is the reverse of regular Minesweeper; they might therefore get tripped up by muscle memory and click on something that is not a mine, which would fail the challenge.

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 {{w|Minesweeper (video game)|Minesweeper}}, on the other hand, is a logic puzzle game in which the player is presented with a grid of unrevealed squares, and must deduce the location of mines that have been secretly hidden on random squares. The game provides clues by marking some squares with the number of mines (up to a maximum of 8) that are adjacent to that square; by carefully considering the possibilities, a player can deduce which squares must contain mines, and mark them with flags to avoid clicking on them. Revealing a mine loses the game.
-In this comic, Randall combines the two concepts to create a "Mine Captcha", which is presented in the form of a reCAPTCHA challenge but actually appears to be a mini game of Minesweeper. (To be more precise, it is actually the opposite of regular Minesweeper, since the challenge invites the user to click on the mines - in Minesweeper, you are supposed to ''not'' click the mines. Furthermore, on its own terms it is unsolvable as a reCAPTCHA, since the user is asked to click on all ''pictures'' of mines. However, as in the real Minesweeper, there are no pictures of mines displayed (in Minesweeper, these only appear when the game is over). Taking the game as playable, however, in both cases you still need to know where the mines are, so it is still solved the same way).
+In this comic, Randall combines the two concepts to create a "Mine Captcha", which is presented in the form of a reCAPTCHA challenge but actually appears to be a mini game of Minesweeper. (To be more precise, it is actually the opposite of regular Minesweeper, since the challenge invites the user to click on the mines - in Minesweeper, you are supposed to ''not'' click the mines. Furthermore, on its own terms it is unsolvable as a reCAPTCHA, since the user is asked to click on all ''pictures'' of mines. However, as in the real Minesweeper, there are no pictures of mines displayed (in Minesweeper, these only appear when the game is over). Taking the game as playable, however, in both cases you still need to know where the mines are, so it is still solved the same way). <!-- Parenthesis in parenthesis? Please fix it. -->
 A real-world Mine Captcha would be somewhat ineffective for a variety of reasons. Firstly, not every human would recognize a game of Minesweeper and therefore wouldn't understand what they are being asked to do. Even if they do recognize the game, they may not know the logical method for deducing the locations of mines. Additionally, even for skilled players, there is a trap in that the Captcha's objective is the reverse of regular Minesweeper; they might therefore get tripped up by muscle memory and click on something that is not a mine, which would fail the challenge.