Google buys reCAPTCHA to improve book-scanning technology
It finds hard-to-read text scanned from old newspapers and books. Because the ink and paper isn't in such good shape, spambots have a hard time reading the words, but people usually don't have too much trouble. And when you're entering a word in the box, you're actually helping reCAPTCHA's software to get better at reading these old texts.
Now if your'e starting to see why a company like Google, which has been scanning old and new books like mad over the last few years, might be interested in reCAPTCHA, you're not alone. Google announced today that it's acquiring the company. Web sites that use reCAPTCHA to protect themselves and their users from spam and fraud will continue to be able to use the service, because honestly, reCAPTCHA wouldn't be as useful to Google if the company were to shut off that part of the service.
via Business Insider
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
