In a neat example of Internet-enabled “crowdsourcing,” the method of distributing a large task to many contributors, researchers are using an anti-spam program to get people to decipher damaged or faded texts, one word at a time. Chances are that if you’ve solved one of those distorted-word tests to secure an account with Facebook, Craigslist, or Ticketmaster, you’ve helped The New York Times inch a little closer to digitizing its entire print newspaper archive from 1851 to 1980