Does “Repeat 3 Times” Mean to Do It 4 Times Total, or 3?

Technical writer Paul Stregevsky clarifies an ambiguity you almost certainly never considered:

“Repeat three times.”

So, do it four times, right? Literally, yes. But as often as not, the writer meant, “Perform three times” — in other words, “Repeat twice.”

Why Every CAPTCHA Is Ambiguous

Technical writer Paul Stregevsky articulates what I’ve long wondered:

“Select each [CAPTCHA] square that contains a[n] ___.”

If a CAPTCHA instructs, “Select each square that contains a bus,” how much of a bus must I see? A tire? A taillight?

Why write “contains a bus” when it’s so easy to write “contains all or part of a bus?”

Better yet, why not tell us how much of a bus we need to see?