I'm not going to go into anything too deeply in this thread -- Just give an introduction to the project and the forums.

KittenAuth as you probably already know is a cute alternative to text-captchas. I wrote the core code for the first version in ASP.net and wrote an article on it a few weeks ago (although it feels like years). There's been lots of great feedback both on my site (ThePCSpy.com) and on other sites that covered the first sightings of KittenAuth.

Ever since they it grew in popularity, I've been working on PHP versions. The first Took exactly what the aspnet version did and added a bit of image rotation. Nothing too fancy.

Today I published the demo for the second version that I'm still working on which has the ability to be just like the first version (cute and simple) but also adds the following features:
- allows owners to use multiple groups as the "winning" group (randomly chosen)
- people can customise the grid size to whatever they feel they need
- the number of "winning" pictures can change for each given grid
- javascript is no longer required
- takes measures to stop people harvesting all your images by:
- only giving one grid to a user until they complete it or fail it a certain number of times
- after a certain number of fails, blocks the user from using the system

I want to also implement a system where the images can be edited slightly each load to stop caching completely.

There's also a plan in the works for another script that can manage which groups you use and and automatically update their pictures from sites like flickr. I'd also like to experiment with some really basic logic like: "click all the animals that purr".

Its quite a long roadmap and there are always suggestions coming in and that's where KittenAuth.com comes in. This is where the core code is going to be released and if I can get the relevant people onboard, its where all the plugin code (eg for wordpress/drupal/phpbb) will go too.

I'm looking (primarily) for the following skills from people:
- The ability to make plugins for framework "x" (where "x" is anything that could use KA)
- The ability to port things from php to other langages (where needed)
- Good PHP skills so they can correct my filty .net/java programmers code =)
- The ability to see what the project is really trying to do -- in a line, I'm trying to make human-verification easy and secure but NOT at the sacrifice of usability.

If you think I've just described you, and you wouldn't mind helping out, please sign up here and lets get chatting it out.

I'll be releasing code to developers via subversion sometime next week or earlier if there's enough people to get started with something.

To make the project as good as possible I need people to help out. If you think you can help, whack a reply in here or use the contact us form.

KittenAuth-Core Programmers
The core is the part that chooses what images to ive to people and generally the way everything fits together. To join this you're going to need a strong programming background and decent php experience might help you clear up some of my bad coding.

PHP-GD Programmers
The current image output is very quickly done but not very secure. In a line you're the people responsible for making it harder for image comparison scripts being able to match the picture to a spammers DB of images. A tough task but relatively small problem domain.

Plugin Programmers
The idea is that KittenAuth will be able to be used by whoever wants it on their site. As well as the plain php version for people to play with I'd like to look into making it a plugin for the following list (but I'm not limiting it to these):
- Drupal
- WordPress
- phpbb

You'll need experience in making modules/plugins (obviously), hooking form events and also making the admin side of things so users can edit the config in a GUI.

Extension Programmers and Auxilliary Consultants
There are already a couple of semi-external projects that come to mind that need completing and my php skills aren't up to the job:
- An image updater that does batch updates of the used tags from flickr (with the GD programmers)

We're also going to need people to consult on the security sides of things. I'm sure a lot of this input will come internally but it would be nice to have people onboard that are actively trying to break kittenauth so we can make it better:
- Image comparison "experts"
- Statistical maths gurus

Porters
It would also be nice to port KA to other systems. I've got aspnet covered but if you know another language apart from .net or php that could benefit from having kittenauth source (or even better a usable plugin for applications), I'd love to hear from you.

Designers and Artists
Last but certainly not least, we need people to work on making things look pretty. People with good design skills to work (perhaps) on a theme for the site and (definately) a logo for KittenAuth.

People with strong CSS and HCI backgrounds would be helpful too for improving the way KittenAuth does its output.

Again, if you feel you can help, just reply to this, make a new thread or use the contact form. Thank you in advance.

Last night I launched the first release of KittenAuth v2.

Its still not complete and I'm going to be working on a few more revisions as far as config and how it works in other systems before I release the code.

It's all very nice and cute as a standalone page but its not very useful if real people can't take it and put it on their site. That's the aim of this: easy and secure human-verification for EVERYONE. If you would like to help in the creation of various plugins for existing systems (like WordPress, Drupal, postnuke etc), I really want to hear from you. The intenet needs your help!

As far as core development goes, I think its certainly looking like a good thing. I'm not sure my code is the best it can be and I'll be asking for your revisions on it after I've released it to make it even better.

I'll be updating this thread once I've got more news =)

Ps: I launched KittenAuth.com too but you already know that because you're here =)

• Weak Point
• Jobs: The kittens need you!
• What's the status?
• Welcome to KittenAuth.com
• It's gone all Microsoft!

Online users

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