We make a number of demands on new members when you set up an account (the 'hoops' you have to jum through), and I know from your feedback that they can be annoying.

The reason we've had to put these measures in place is that spammers are increasingly registering on successful forums such as this one and posting spam messages and pornographic images, using both automated programs and sweatshop labour in developing countries. We try to strike a balance between making it difficult for spammers to register and keeping it simple for legitimate users to register.

When you create a new acount you're now asked to:

1. Give a valid e-mail address, and respond to a verification e-mail that will automatically be sent to that address.

2. Read a graphical representation of a number and enter the digits you see

This is intended to make it harder for automatic programs to register

3. Read a textual representation of a number and enter it as digits

This is intended to make it harder for human spammers whose English skills aren't reasonably good - they need to register hundreds of times an hour to make a profit, and something that is out of the ordinary or takes time to complete is (hopefully) not worth the effort.

We're sorry if you find these obstacles irksome, but I can assure you that we only put in place the minimum necessary to keep these loathsome people off our forums.