Any chance you'll let me register?

The 'contact us' link is on the front page of the site. You do have to scroll to the bottom, but it's hardly 'hidden'.

Which OS/browser are you using?

I can't say I had any trouble when registering. I do agree though, captchas are really annoying, but that's true anywhere. Given that there are over 149000 members, it wouldn't appear to be a major issue.