5 ms·

Google is hiding I/O tickets in developer documentation images

23 points by nolanbrown23 12y ago

nolanbrown23 12y ago
Look at the first image on this documentation page and you'll see a watermark that is a short URL. That short URL takes you to a text based game where you can get a code to buy a Google I/O ticket. http://developer.android.com/images/tools/as-mainscreen.png http://developer.android.com/images/tools/as-mainscreen.png Game: http://goo.gl/hRd7ek http://goo.gl/hRd7ek
Aqueous 12y ago
Ok, I followed a shortened link and it drops me into a fairly cool terminal simulator with a space MUD-style game in it. But it's kind of creepy to have the prompt print out as <my actual first name>@io I know Google knows I'm logged in right now. I know that Google knows that I know that I'm logged in right now. Still, it feels weird.
- pyk 12y ago
  Here's the link, looks like someone already claimed the code, but you can still enjoy the adventure: http://goo.gl/5jLjBA http://goo.gl/5jLjBA
- lam 12y ago
  That's because you're using Chrome?
rnirnber 12y ago
where are you seeing the hiding I/O tickets?
- mbreese 12y ago
  It looks like they changed the image to remove the watermark. The actual code has already been claimed.
  - rnirnber 12y ago
    FML
    - spectralnischay 12y ago
      I can still see the 2 URLs?
      - rnirnber 12y ago
        I meant FML that the code was already claimed...and I give up. Sure I could write code to try to crawl the site analyze pngs....could generate goo.gl permutations and see if they redirect to the right place...i give up though. i'm burnt out from getting excited about I/O and never getting in :(
msie 12y ago
Argh, too late as usual.
sethammons 12y ago
It says I don't have valid credentials for the four or so I found. They all seem like the same text adventure.
- msie 12y ago
  Same here. Is it because I'm not in the US?
  - brunolazzaro 12y ago
    Ditto. Not in the US also.
  - Nogwater 12y ago
    I'm in the US and tried at least 10, all with failure.
bjonathan 12y ago
example image with code for the curious : https://cloudup.com/cwt9rS66Agu https://cloudup.com/cwt9rS66Agu
- suyash 12y ago
  what the game looks like: http://i.imgur.com/b1LVoG8.png http://i.imgur.com/b1LVoG8.png
davnola 12y ago
1. Start scraping all images from http://developer.android.com/training/ inside div.gc-documentation 2. Inspect manually 3. Profit Fun!
quaffapint 12y ago
There's the one in... http://developer.android.com/images/tools/as-buildvariants.png http://developer.android.com/images/tools/as-buildvariants.p... ...but I've tried everything I can make of that awful font and can't seem to get the proper chars for the URL.
- msie 12y ago
  First char is a 5.
eudoxus 12y ago
I have only come across the two, both on the link in the OP. Has anyone found others?
brunolazzaro 12y ago
It looks like they were hiding them in other places, such as old video annotations... Source: https://twitter.com/jc4p/status/456881857481547776 https://twitter.com/jc4p/status/456881857481547776
andrewweiser 12y ago
Just found one. It's the "opportunity to purchase" a ticket to I/O. Registration code should arrive within 24-48 hours.
- tostitos1979 12y ago
  Darn ... I found four but none worked :(
bburky 12y ago
$ find /Applications/Android\ Studio.app/sdk/docs/images -type f | sed 's_/Applications/Android\ Studio.app/sdk/docs/images_http://developer.android.com/images_' | wget -x -i - $ diff -r developer.android.com/images /Applications/Android\ Studio.app/sdk/docs/images Binary files developer.android.com/images/admin/device-admin-activate-prompt.png and /Applications/Android Studio.app/sdk/docs/images/admin/device-admin-activate-prompt.png differ [...] Sadly, they're all gone.
suyash 12y ago
What do you think Google is doing it that way? Do they want us all to read/spend more time in their developer docs examining the images?
suyash 12y ago
Very clever approach by Google (I was hoping for a coding test though :), after getting the code (which is the URL), you will be directed to sign in to your Google Account and then would have to complete the Space Mercury Mission (Console Game) to win the Code for IO 2014. For the curious, this is what the game looks like: http://i.imgur.com/b1LVoG8.png http://i.imgur.com/b1LVoG8.png

23 points by nolanbrown23 12y ago

Look at the first image on this documentation page and you'll see a watermark that is a short URL. That short URL takes you to a text based game where you can get a code to buy a Google I/O ticket. http://developer.android.com/images/tools/as-mainscreen.png http://developer.android.com/images/tools/as-mainscreen.png Game: http://goo.gl/hRd7ek http://goo.gl/hRd7ek

Aqueous 12y ago

Ok, I followed a shortened link and it drops me into a fairly cool terminal simulator with a space MUD-style game in it. But it's kind of creepy to have the prompt print out as <my actual first name>@io I know Google knows I'm logged in right now. I know that Google knows that I know that I'm logged in right now. Still, it feels weird.

pyk 12y ago
Here's the link, looks like someone already claimed the code, but you can still enjoy the adventure: http://goo.gl/5jLjBA http://goo.gl/5jLjBA
lam 12y ago
That's because you're using Chrome?

rnirnber 12y ago

where are you seeing the hiding I/O tickets?

mbreese 12y ago
It looks like they changed the image to remove the watermark. The actual code has already been claimed.
- rnirnber 12y ago
  FML
  - spectralnischay 12y ago
    I can still see the 2 URLs?
    - rnirnber 12y ago
      I meant FML that the code was already claimed...and I give up. Sure I could write code to try to crawl the site analyze pngs....could generate goo.gl permutations and see if they redirect to the right place...i give up though. i'm burnt out from getting excited about I/O and never getting in :(

msie 12y ago

Argh, too late as usual.

sethammons 12y ago

It says I don't have valid credentials for the four or so I found. They all seem like the same text adventure.

msie 12y ago
Same here. Is it because I'm not in the US?
- brunolazzaro 12y ago
  Ditto. Not in the US also.
- Nogwater 12y ago
  I'm in the US and tried at least 10, all with failure.

bjonathan 12y ago

example image with code for the curious : https://cloudup.com/cwt9rS66Agu https://cloudup.com/cwt9rS66Agu

suyash 12y ago
what the game looks like: http://i.imgur.com/b1LVoG8.png http://i.imgur.com/b1LVoG8.png

davnola 12y ago

1. Start scraping all images from http://developer.android.com/training/ inside div.gc-documentation 2. Inspect manually 3. Profit Fun!

quaffapint 12y ago

There's the one in... http://developer.android.com/images/tools/as-buildvariants.png http://developer.android.com/images/tools/as-buildvariants.p... ...but I've tried everything I can make of that awful font and can't seem to get the proper chars for the URL.

msie 12y ago
First char is a 5.

eudoxus 12y ago

I have only come across the two, both on the link in the OP. Has anyone found others?

brunolazzaro 12y ago

It looks like they were hiding them in other places, such as old video annotations... Source: https://twitter.com/jc4p/status/456881857481547776 https://twitter.com/jc4p/status/456881857481547776

andrewweiser 12y ago

Just found one. It's the "opportunity to purchase" a ticket to I/O. Registration code should arrive within 24-48 hours.

tostitos1979 12y ago
Darn ... I found four but none worked :(

bburky 12y ago

$ find /Applications/Android\ Studio.app/sdk/docs/images -type f | sed 's_/Applications/Android\ Studio.app/sdk/docs/images_http://developer.android.com/images_' | wget -x -i - $ diff -r developer.android.com/images /Applications/Android\ Studio.app/sdk/docs/images Binary files developer.android.com/images/admin/device-admin-activate-prompt.png and /Applications/Android Studio.app/sdk/docs/images/admin/device-admin-activate-prompt.png differ [...] Sadly, they're all gone.

suyash 12y ago

What do you think Google is doing it that way? Do they want us all to read/spend more time in their developer docs examining the images?

suyash 12y ago

Very clever approach by Google (I was hoping for a coding test though :), after getting the code (which is the URL), you will be directed to sign in to your Google Account and then would have to complete the Space Mercury Mission (Console Game) to win the Code for IO 2014. For the curious, this is what the game looks like: http://i.imgur.com/b1LVoG8.png http://i.imgur.com/b1LVoG8.png