[phoronixrly]

Yes, I also saw the post about the fire hydrants the other day. No I was not able to confirm that fire hydrants are shown in countries in which they are not a common sight.

However, I am far from arguing in favour of reCAPTCHA. It is also an example of shit CAPTCHA that also bans people. I am often one of these people.

No there is no example of a CAPTCHA-as-a-service that I know of that I would be fine to impose on my users.