arm stock: Are you a robot?

Is the Internet Officially Broken?

So, I tried to access a page today. Just a normal thing, right? Nope. Got hit with the "Access Denied" wall. Apparently, I'm a bot now. Or, at least, that's what the internet overlords think I am.

The Robot Uprising… Against Humans?

The message was crystal clear: "Access to this page has been denied. because we believe you are using automation tools to browse the website." Seriously? Me? I can barely program my coffee maker, let alone write some sophisticated botnet code.

It gets better. The reason for this digital shunning? JavaScript disabled, cookies blocked, all that jazz. Okay, fine, maybe I do have an overzealous ad blocker running. Sue me. I'm trying to avoid being bombarded with garbage ads for male enhancement pills and whatever the hell "crypto" is supposed to be.

But here’s the kicker: the second article throws another wrench into the gears. "Are you a robot?" it asks, with the subtlety of a jackhammer. And the solution? "Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies…"

So, let me get this straight. To prove I'm not a robot, I have to surrender my privacy and enable the very tracking mechanisms that make the internet such a dystopian hellscape? What kind of twisted logic is this? It's like saying, "To prove you're not a criminal, you have to commit a minor crime."

And what's with the vague, ominous threats lurking in the background? "For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy." Oh, joy. Another opportunity to wade through legal jargon written by soulless corporate drones. No thanks. I'd rather watch paint dry.

I mean, are we really at the point where simply trying to browse the web triggers some paranoid AI into thinking we're launching a cyberattack? Is this the future? Endless captchas, biometric scans, and retina scans just to read an article about cat videos?

The Price of "Security"

This whole thing stinks of overreach. It's the internet equivalent of airport security on steroids. Sure, there are bad actors out there, bots scraping data, hackers trying to steal your identity, offcourse. But are we really going to sacrifice the entire user experience just to catch a few digital miscreants?

What about people with disabilities who rely on assistive technologies that might trigger these bot detection systems? Are they just SOL? And what about the average user who's not tech-savvy enough to troubleshoot these issues? Are they supposed to just throw their hands up in despair and go back to watching cable TV?

It feels like the internet is slowly turning into a gated community, where only the "approved" are allowed to enter. And who decides who's approved? Giant tech companies with their algorithms and their ever-shifting rules. It's a complete joke.

Then again, maybe I'm just being paranoid. Maybe I am a robot, and I just don't know it yet. Maybe Skynet has already won, and I'm just a cog in the machine, doomed to browse endlessly through a curated stream of propaganda and cat videos.

We're All Just Bots Now

It's official. The internet's gone bonkers. We're all just data points, numbers in a spreadsheet, potential threats to be neutralized. Give me a break.