Annoying thing that's actually really awesome for books

I learned this little tidbit from a Cracked list (where I seem to get most of my knowledge) 500 years ago* and then thought I would share it here. Because when I shared it with Boyfriend+ he just laughed and shook his head. He does not appreciate the little (nerdy) things.

So you know those Captcha programs? Those almost-impossible-to-read words/letters/symbols that you have to type in to prove you're not a robot?

You know, this guy

Did you know the program reCaptcha is taking that annoyingness and making some good come out of it? Cos when you type in the words there, you're helping to translate old documents and newspapers onto computers who can't read the old text that's all slanty and smudged.

Believe it or not, people ARE smarter than computers. I mean, most of them anyway. So the website makes sure you're not a robot and you get to help digitize a bunch of books. HOW COOL IS THAT?

...Don't worry, I'll have a review post up soon. Native Son and The Kings and Queens of Roam are both on my radar.

*Internet time. Real world it was 2 years ago