Hi. Yeah. This service is totally awesome. I have created an account on the website, but I haven't used it yet. Best regards: Søren Jensen Mail & MSN: s...@coolfortheblind.dk Website: http://www.coolfortheblind.dk/
On 11/08/2009, at 23.57, Cara Quinn wrote: > Hello All, here is one of the rare occasions when I feel it is > absolutely a necessity to post an off-topic note to these lists, as > I believe this is truly of the utmost import to the blind / VI > community. > > the below article / plea is by Bernard Maldonado, of The Solona > Captcha Service. > > http://www.solona.net > > My sincere apologies to those of you who'd rather not receive > this. Please do feel free to delete this rather lengthy note if you > so choose… > > to all other readers, I do hope you'll give this note your serious > attention as this is truly a beneficial service to us, in the extreme… > > thanks so much for your time and do have a lovely day / evening, > wherever you may be!… > > Sincerely, > > Cara Quinn > > --- > > I'm not going to beat around the bush in this article. > > The bottom line is that I have failed to attract Volunteer Operators > for Solona. I am basically still a one man show! I am thankful for > 'Xavier' from London who does serve when he can, but his schedule is > full with work-related activities. > > My original marketing strategy did not work, so I have a new plan > and hopefully it will work better in future months. > > In fact, the best response was from an article published by Dean > Martineau from Top Dot Enterprises in his Top 10 Tech Tidbits for > Thursday Newsletter. I am very grateful for his willingness to > include a piece about Solona. Even though I didn't get any > volunteers from that group, it was a really effective campaign, and > I would like to recognize Dean's Newsletter as a great resource. > > I realize now that many people need to be reached in order to yield > a small number of volunteer operators. The process of getting > volunteer operators is simply taking more time. I still believe > that the process will work. > > The main problem is that I cannot continue to provide night time > Captcha Solutions by myself. Why? It's not healthy, and it has a > profound impact on my daily productivity. Inconsistent sleep > patterns are difficult for me to tolerate on a regular basis. > > Moreover, it is not fair to the users who submit captchas that never > get solved. Luckily, I don't miss many, but I certainly do miss > some. I took pride in providing service at all hours of the day and > night, but now I realize that I'm harming the integrity of Solona > since the quality of my service during these night time hours is > lower than during the daytime. > > I am going to start turning the status to "Off" during my sleep > hours, which are basically from 11 PM CST to 6:30 AM CST. > > The Status will be "On" during all other hours as much as possible. > > This is the only way I can sustain a high quality service for Solona > Users until there are more operators in the proper time zones to > provide around the clock attention. > > I consider this a move in the right direction. It means that Solona > will continue to provide high quality service during hours that are > manageable. Once Operators are online during those deep night > hours, the high quality service will be even more prevalent around > the clock. > > Once there are operators available during my sleeping hours, then > the status will be updated. > > The good news is that you have an opportunity to help. > > How? By being an Ambassador for Solona. If every Solona.net user > would just ask one sighted person to be a Volunteer Operator, the > results would likely be tremendous. There are over 1,000 registered > users. Try to imagine the impact. > > If you care about the free service that Solona provides; if you > want to see Solona be a sustained service, then take action! > > Ask someone at your place of worship, ask a family member, ask a > teacher, talk about it in your podcast, write about it in your blog, > talk to school friends. Solona works well for people who sit at a > desk for several hours and can take 20 seconds or so from time to > time to browse to a different window. On the other hand, almost > anyone can be an Operator from home: sitting on sofa with a > netbook, or while sitting in a home office. > > The good thing is that Solona is not invasive at all. The Operator > dictates when he/she is available to serve. > > One thing you can do is show people how it works. You know how > simple it is. Just ask someone to take a moment and watch how you > do it. Maybe they will like what they see and want to get involved. > > I am doing my part to provide a high quality service that meets the > needs of people who need help solving captchas independently. > Please do your part to find sighted operators who can join me in > this quest. > > I would like to take a moment and talk about the website design. > Currently, the Solona.net website is not very friendly for sighted > people. What I mean is that it is designed for people who use > screen readers. The next site update is scheduled for late August. > early September. The site will include a clear process for > interested parties to register as an operator and obtain one on one > training to be an operator. The color scheme will be more friendly > for sighted people, as well. > > The reason I mention this is that you can't simply say to someone: > "just go to the website" (at least until September). Rather, you > need to talk about it and even show it to people so that they see > how it works and how meaningful it is to so many people. > > Here is a link to a Volunteer document that describes how Solona > Operators work, and answers many questions about working with > Solona. Download it, read it, publish it, refer to it, ask me > questions if you need clarification. Give it to people you think > might like to be operators. > > Keep in touch with me via Twitter (@solona) or email (mysol...@gmail.com > ) and let me know if you have a prospect that wants me to contact > them. > > In the meantime, I will implement the Marketing Plan for > Volunteers. Between both efforts, there should be some new > volunteer operators. > > In order for Solona to work well at all hours of the day and night, > there needs to be people in Australia and New Zealand solving > Captchas. This timezone is perfectly located to provide opposite > work from all North American time zones. > > Thanks to everyone who supports Solona. > > Bernard Maldonado > Solona Captcha Solution Service > mysol...@gmail.com > skype: bernardmaldonado > > > > --- > > > > Solona Volunteer Overview > > > > Do you have 15 seconds to spare? That’s all it takes for you to > make a positive difference for visually impaired people from all > over the world who surf the Internet. > > > > Solona is a Captcha Solution Service. Volunteers provide real-time > web-based assistance to people when they encounter an inaccessible > Captcha on a website. Since Solona is not an automated service, it > is important to have volunteers available as much as possible during > a 24 hour period. This is made possible by establishing volunteers > in different time zones around the world. > > > > You might be asking “What is a Captcha?” A Captcha is a security > device used on websites to minimize automated posts, blog replies, > and automated registrations by spammers. You know it’s a Captcha > when it says “Enter the words you see in the box above” or “Are you > really human, prove it?” A Captcha is usually a word (or group of > letters) represented in a graphic that must be typed into a text box > before a user can proceed with the task. Most Captchas are > inaccessible to visually impaired people since they are only in a > graphic format. You might be asking “Well, what about those audio > buttons?” Those are very poor quality and it is very difficult to > understand what they are saying. Try one and you’ll understand. > > > > If you are looking for a way to help others without having to leave > your house, raise money, or make phone calls, then Solona may be for > you. > > > > Is It Easy to Volunteer With Solona? Absolutely! Solona makes it > very easy. In fact, you make the rules: > > -Wherever you want (home, office, sofa, mall, library, ) > > -Whenever you want (morning, day, night, deep night) Can’t sleep? > Solve Captchas! > > -As long as you want (1 minute, 10 minutes, 1 hour, 10 hours, …..?) > There is no schedule to manage, or coordinate. It’s a matter of you > working when you want, and when it’s convenient for you. It’s only > a matter of logging in and logging out. > > -No software to install; training is very fast and easy. > > > > What Equipment do I Need? > > -Any computer with an Internet connection and browser > > -Push email enabled on mobile device (for notifications) is > preferred, ie: blackberry. Why do I need a Push email Phone? > Because it’s the fastest and most reliable notification method > available currently. Otherwise, browser notification works fine. > > > > Common Questions: > > -Do I have to talk to anyone? Do I have to see anyone? No, not at > all! It’s all over the Internet and it is anonymous. The users do > not know the operator and the operator does not know who the users > are. > > > > -Do I need any special software or programs? No. Just the browser. > > > > -Do the people know my identity when I am solving Captchas? No, you > won’t know who is sending you a Captcha, and the other person will > not know who is solving it. The entire process is anonymous. > > > > > > Is it Difficult to Solve a Captcha? Not at all! It’s just a matter > of looking at the image and typing what you see: letters, numbers, > words, and sometimes characters. The whole process takes about 15 > seconds. If for some reason you cannot solve the Captcha at that > moment, simply let it go. Another operator will solve it. Maybe > you can get the next one. Once you solve a Captcha, you can go back > to what you were doing. > > > > OK, I Want to be an Operator. How do I get Started? It’s easy to > get started. First, fill out the Online Volunteer Form. Once your > information is received, you will be contacted to schedule a brief > training session and then you can get started. > > > > Still want learn more? Keep Reading for more information. > > > > Here’s How it Works: After you become an Operator ..... You sign > into your Solona.net Operator Account and activate notifications. > Once you do that, you will start receiving mobile email > notifications that a Captcha is ready for you to solve. You decide > if you are available or not when you receive a notification. When > you want to stop receiving emails, you log back into your Solona.net > Operator Account and disable notifications. Once that is done, you > will no longer receive anymore notifications until the next time you > are ready to volunteer again. > > > > While your notification status is active, you will receive an email > notification to your mobile device every time a user submits a > Captcha for solving. If you are available to solve it, all you have > to do is open the Solona.net browser page and solve the Captcha – a > total process time of about 15 seconds. If you are unavailable, > simply let it go by and maybe you will get the next one. The beauty > of Solona Operators is that someone will always solve the Captcha > even if you cannot at that moment. > > > > Solving Captchas can be integrated to any computer activity and it > won’t get in your way at all. You don’t have to look at the Solona > website until you receive an email notification and decide that you > want to solve a Captcha. The email is informational only. You do > not reply to anyone. > > You are in complete control of when you are volunteering and what > you do while you are volunteering. > > > > What does the image look like with the Captcha? Normally, the image > is a partial screen capture that includes the Captcha which needs to > be solved. Once you have identified the Captcha on the image, you > type the value, normally one word or two words, in the text box > below the image and click ‘Send’. That’s literally it. The whole > process takes around 15 seconds and does not have to interfere at > all with your task or your computer use. > > > > > > > > Why Does Solona Exist? > > > > So many websites use Captchas to limit the amount of Spam or rogue > account registrations that take place on their website. These > Captcha devices make it literally impossible for a visually impaired > person to register or post on a website. Solona provides an > interface for blind and visually impaired users to independently > solve Captchas and proceed with their intended task. > > > > You might be saying “yeah, but I’ve seen audio symbols and > handicapped icons next to those Captcha things. So why can’t they > use those?” That is an understandable question. The problem with > those audio Captchas is that the audio quality is so difficult to > understand that they are, in most cases, are not a reliable > alternative for a blind person. In case you’re wondering, give it a > shot for yourself and see if you can understand the audio speech. > > > > You might be wondering “Wow, but isn’t there a way to automate this > so that operators are not necessary?” Well, it’s not that easy. > There are so many different kinds of Captchas, and so many sites > that use Captchas differently. There is not any reliable way to > ensure a high degree of accuracy in an automated format. > > > > So as you can see, Solona fills a need for blind and visually > impaired people when it comes to solving Captchas. If you like what > you see, then take a moment and consider whether or not you want to > be a volunteer. It’s easier than you think! > > > > > > If you have any questions, or want to discuss this opportunity, > please contact: > > > > Bernard Maldonado > > Solona Captcha Solution Service > > HYPERLINK "mailto:mysol...@gmail.com"; mysol...@gmail.com > > skype: bernardmaldonado > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
