1. A method of generating a human interactive proof for use in distinguishing a human from a machine, wherein a server has a memory storing computer-executable instructions, for performing the method, said computer-executable instructions comprising: defining a configurable difficulty factor, said difficulty factor representing a level of difficulty in computerized character recognition; generating a random set of characters; altering each of the characters individually to inhibit computerized character recognition; concatenating the altered characters into a character string; generating an original image, said original image including the character string; performing an operation to the original image, said operation altering the original image according to the defined difficulty factor to further alter the character string and to further inhibit computerized character recognition, said operation adding random arcs to the original image, said random arcs including at least one arc that spans a plurality of the characters of the character string, said arc breaking each character of said plurality of characters into a plurality of segments; and generating a resulting image from the altered original image, said resulting image to be rendered to a user as a test.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising delivering the resulting image to a client for rendering to the user in response to a user request for access to a server via the client, said client and said server being coupled to a data communication network.