[HN Gopher] DVD Bouncing Logo
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       DVD Bouncing Logo
        
       Author : mariojv
       Score  : 283 points
       Date   : 2022-09-14 16:57 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.google.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.google.com)
        
       | judge2020 wrote:
       | Seems like it's hitting the corner quit often - is it on a
       | predetermined path, or perhaps it's manipulating the bounces to
       | achieve this?
        
         | neogodless wrote:
         | Try resizing your browser window.
         | 
         | By default, my 16:9 screen with tabs and address bar leave a
         | nearly 16:8 (2:1) rectangle such that (with the 45deg
         | trajectory) the logo bounces to the bottom middle, then to a
         | corner, then repeats that loop, mostly.
        
         | ksherlock wrote:
         | You can resize the window to prevent it from hitting a corner
         | if you'd like. Turn it into opposite-of-pong game.
        
         | wil421 wrote:
         | Never hit once on a good portion of my ultra wide screen. I
         | watched for longer than I care to admit.
        
         | capableweb wrote:
         | What do you mean? Barely hits any corners for me...
         | https://imgur.com/a/uFB6ck6
        
       | sogen wrote:
       | It hit the corner like 3 times in a minute?
        
       | pwarner wrote:
       | I have the DVD logo as a Zoom video background. Always get
       | chuckles.
        
       | zwieback wrote:
       | Sometimes the bouncing DVD logo is better than the movie on the
       | DVD. The Amazon firestick screen saver is also my favorite thing
       | on TV.
        
         | yardie wrote:
         | Amazon Fire Stick with the Aerial Views[0] (Apple TV Screen
         | Saver) app probably the best thing on TV since GoT.
         | 
         | [0] https://github.com/theothernt/AerialViews
        
         | Arrath wrote:
         | I quite enjoy the background pictures my chromecast serves up.
         | 
         | Even the Win10/11 login screen pictures are quite nice, most
         | times.
         | 
         | Really, anything is better than the 20 second eternally looping
         | attract reel of a dvd's main menu. Friends once fell asleep to
         | one of the redneck comedy tour dvds and it reverted to the main
         | menu once playback completed. It was the worst until I turned
         | it off.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | RedShift1 wrote:
       | How did this work on actual DVD players? Was it programmed to
       | never hit a corner or was that a side effect of how it was
       | implemented?
        
         | hk__2 wrote:
         | > Was it programmed to never hit a corner or was that a side
         | effect of how it was implemented?
         | 
         | None of that because it was hitting corners.
        
           | maxbond wrote:
           | Can confirm it would hit the corner if you waited long
           | enough. I saw it happen twice, and a third time where it was
           | like two or three pixels off from hitting right in the
           | corner.
           | 
           | I'm fairly sure (based on observation/recollection) the logo
           | was placed randomly with a random vector, and when it
           | contacted the wall it's vector was reflected across the
           | normal at that point (eg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F
           | ile:Reflection_angles.sv...). I'm not sure that every
           | configuration would reach the corner, but many would.
        
         | vikingerik wrote:
         | It hits the corner, it's just really rare. If there are 500
         | possible pixel positions when it hits the edge, then it's only
         | going to hit the corner exactly on 0.2% of bounces.
        
       | joewrong wrote:
       | love it. I remember seeing this pulled off with 2 scrolling
       | <marquee> HTML tags https://dvdmarquee.neocities.org/
        
       | bilekas wrote:
       | My nostalgia kicked in and so I opened the link and began
       | searching for videos of it hitting the corner perfectly.. And
       | then it started. I love google for these hidden gems.
        
       | zelag wrote:
       | This is how you know Google has far too many people than they
       | actually need.
        
         | slumos wrote:
         | That seems like a ridiculous thing to say. That said, I
         | actually came to the comments to wonder just how much total
         | effort would have gone into this from proposal, through
         | approval and sign-offs by multiple technical and non-technical
         | teams, before finally getting through to production. Anyone
         | have an educated guess? I'm really curious even though I don't
         | believe it should sway opinion on whether to do it or not. The
         | value is spread across employee morale and however many
         | millions of users have their day brightened a little.
        
           | mikestew wrote:
           | _That said, I actually came to the comments to wonder just
           | how much total effort would have gone into this from
           | proposal, through approval and sign-offs by multiple
           | technical and non-technical teams, before finally getting
           | through to production._
           | 
           | Who's to say it's not an internal training exercise?
           | Someone(s) is learning to heard the kittens on a low-stakes
           | project, someone else is learning to get the right sign-offs
           | from the right teams/people, and the new test manager can
           | spin her team up on this little project while they try the
           | new workflow. And the intern gets to see their CSS tricks go
           | into production to amuse millions.
        
         | matt_heimer wrote:
         | Letting people occasionally work on something fun can be good
         | for morale.
        
           | JoshuaRogers wrote:
           | While it can definitely be good for morale, it's worth
           | remembering that all changes bear the possibility of
           | unintended consequences.
           | 
           | This amusing anecdote comes to mind:
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fsUAdlzwAs
           | 
           | Bearing risk in mind, there's probably a reason that it's
           | acceptable to implement the DVD logo on the front-end client
           | but poor taste to humorously update HTTP headers, for
           | instance.
           | 
           | (That said, I tend to stay in the camp of "any path that can
           | be hit, I'll eventually have to support.")
        
           | Buttons840 wrote:
           | It's also a sign that your culture is able to deliver a fun
           | feature, just for the sake of it. I've worked several places
           | where things are so fragile nobody would dare make any change
           | that wasn't strictly necessary. That's not a good sign.
        
         | it_citizen wrote:
         | I think those little things are a part of Google DNA from the
         | early days and actually have a huge impact on the brand
         | perception.
         | 
         | I am pretty sure easter eggs were a significant part of what
         | made Google a cool company 10-15 years ago to my young eyes.
         | The answer to life, the hidden games in Android, the raptor
         | game in Chrome. At the time, it was rare for public company to
         | do those silly things.
        
           | mrguyorama wrote:
           | It was NOT rare. Microsoft used to do a huge multitude of
           | easter eggs. Most big companies stopped because there was
           | fear that easter eggs would increase the attack surface for
           | hacking. For one concrete example, the PHP easter egg was
           | useful to tell which (usually vulnerable) version of PHP a
           | site runs so that you can run exactly the script you need to
           | attack it.
        
           | midasuni wrote:
           | French military victories
           | 
           | When that went, it was a sign google was different to the
           | early days.
        
         | yupper32 wrote:
         | All business, all the time! No fun allowed!
        
           | wil421 wrote:
           | Getting paid to code a bouncing Google logo is cool but fun
           | things are what I do outside of work.
        
             | saagarjha wrote:
             | Why not both?
        
       | acuozzo wrote:
       | https://www.screensaversplanet.com/screensavers/zz-dvd-1164/
        
       | 1-6 wrote:
       | I thought Googlers were supposed to work with greater focus in
       | mind. Someone is playing around.
        
       | jamal-kumar wrote:
       | I love the DVD bouncing logo. I like videos where people get
       | really excited about it hitting one of the corners, prompting
       | cheers. There's a bunch from bus trips but here's a bigger one in
       | a stadium [1]
       | 
       | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytKVGtJ5yng
        
         | pengaru wrote:
         | That watches like live-action reenactment of an OG Invader Zim
         | scene.
        
           | nerdponx wrote:
           | That's strangely accurate. I didn't like that "edgy dark"
           | humor for the most part (every Squee and Zim fan I ever knew
           | was a total dickhead), but Zim in particular was kind of a
           | weird and endearing look at humanity.
        
           | dvtrn wrote:
           | Man Invader Zim, haven't seen that referenced in a long time,
           | that little cartoon was the perfect kind of weird for its
           | time.
        
             | nullify88 wrote:
             | FWIW, Netflix released a special episode in 2019 reuniting
             | a lot of the key people back with the show. It brought back
             | some great memories and hasn't lost its touch. https://en.m
             | .wikipedia.org/wiki/Invader_Zim:_Enter_the_Florp...
        
             | eyelidlessness wrote:
             | If you haven't already checked out other work by Zim
             | creator Jhonen Vasquez, his comics Johnny the Homicidal
             | Maniac, and Squee, are excellent and full of very similar
             | weird humor.
        
               | dvtrn wrote:
               | Very familiar, I've got hard copies of both plus Filler
               | Bunny! Huge fan.
        
         | TakeBlaster16 wrote:
         | My favorite is still The Office.
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOtuX0jL85Y
        
           | sbf501 wrote:
           | That was funny, but then I was disappointed they needed an
           | aside to explain it. Seemed unnecessary IMHO.
        
             | lostlogin wrote:
             | It's the difference between US and UK comedy.
        
             | yupper32 wrote:
             | I think it was a good aside.
             | 
             | 1. It makes it more evergreen.
             | 
             | 2. The excited/super invested explanations are funny.
             | 
             | 3. It leads into the joke that Jim doesn't believe that Pam
             | ever saw it hit the corner.
        
               | sbf501 wrote:
               | Ah, good point. I didn't know the joke kept running. I've
               | never seen the US version. I'll give it a go.
        
               | jahnu wrote:
               | It's very good. Bar the first season and last ... 3?
               | 
               | Different take entirely. For those unaware the UK version
               | is so cynical and on occasion even dark (and i love it
               | for that) and in contrast the US version is more light
               | hearted and succeeds completely on those terms.
               | 
               | Both are landmarks in tv comedy.
        
               | tptacek wrote:
               | It's a very different show. The pilot is note-for-note
               | the UK show, but they quickly realized that Steve Carell
               | can't play Ricky Gervais; he's just not enough of an
               | asshole. So they recalibrated. I think the US version in
               | its heyday is the better of the two shows.
               | 
               | Greg Daniels was the showrunner for the first 4 seasons;
               | he's Peak Simpsons, and also King Of The Hill.
        
             | tdeck wrote:
             | I watched that office episode came out and I didn't realize
             | this was a thing (watching the logo and cheering when it
             | hits the corner) outside of The Office, so it seems like
             | the aside was necessary.
        
       | pryelluw wrote:
       | Shameless self promotion:
       | 
       | https://github.com/pryelluw/mac-dvd-screensaver
       | 
       | A Mac screen saver that does that but with a twist.
        
       | JimiofEden wrote:
       | Outstandingly catchy (and funny imo) song based on this concept
       | of the bouncing DVD logo:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ws0QtAiiXQ
        
         | theogravity wrote:
         | Ok, that was very surprisingly catchy.
        
         | avnigo wrote:
         | I was fully expecting to be disappointed and turn it off after
         | a few seconds, but I can tell you, I was transfixed.
        
           | jaredsohn wrote:
           | YouTube's 'most replayed' feature is useful here. Huge spike
           | when it happens.
        
       | dang wrote:
       | Related:
       | 
       |  _Bouncing DVD Logo_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22882260 - April 2020 (270
       | comments)
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | user3939382 wrote:
       | We do our best to spy on every detail of your life we possibly
       | can, but look at how whimsical we are about it! :D
       | 
       | Here's another Google search link
       | https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=pernicious
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | hk1337 wrote:
       | Pam claims that she saw it one day when she was alone in the
       | conference room... okay. I believe she _thinks_ she saw it.
        
         | m4tthumphrey wrote:
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOtuX0jL85Y
        
           | nerdponx wrote:
           | It's interesting how memes like this propagated without
           | really ever propagating "on the Web" or really any
           | centralized communication channel. See also: blow on the game
           | cartridge if it doesn't work, in case there's dust on it.
        
         | jader201 wrote:
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22886401
        
           | [deleted]
        
       | swozniak wrote:
       | Self-promotion: I made an Android live wallpaper of this.
       | 
       | https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stephanwoz...
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | pantulis wrote:
       | It's addictive because you can try resizing the browser window to
       | try and make the logo hit the corner, it's kind of fun.
        
       | z3c0 wrote:
       | It appears that nobody has shared the rather long list of Google
       | easter eggs, so here it is:
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_Easter_eggs
       | 
       | Personally, I'm a fan of "recursion", as well as "emacs" or "vi"
        
       | nabakin wrote:
       | If anyone is interested in more of these kinds of easter eggs, I
       | run a subreddit for them at https://reddit.com/r/eastereggs
        
       | dec0dedab0de wrote:
       | If you're wondering why it's just a link to a search, let it wait
       | a bit.
       | 
       | I didn't know about this until they started doing it at Flyers
       | games, and everyone cheered when it hit the corner.
        
         | makach wrote:
         | Thanks for this! Still, it feels so right but yet so wrong.
        
         | the_arun wrote:
         | Out of curiosity, I tried searching with <different-
         | words>+bouncing+log, but bouncing works only for DVD :)
        
         | Karellen wrote:
         | I just see a "Before you continue to Google" popover. :-(
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | woeh wrote:
         | Bonus hint: if you are on mobile set the browser to "show
         | desktopsite"
        
           | davidkunz wrote:
           | Here I am waiting way too long for it to move, thanks for the
           | tip!
        
           | tssva wrote:
           | Worked fine on mobile for me without showing the desktop
           | site.
        
             | woeh wrote:
             | Interesting. I tried both Firefox and Chrome on Android,
             | neither worked without the desktop mode enabled. In that
             | case my guess is that the screen size or the resolution of
             | our mobile devices plays a role.
             | 
             | I did notice more Google widgets not working on mobile,
             | such as the current "ethereum merge" search, wich is
             | supposed to show a countdown timer (which can not be fixed
             | with the desktop mode btw).
        
       | TecoAndJix wrote:
       | Useless App Idea #8237: Record a 10 second video of the DVD
       | bouncing logo and get a future alert when its about to hit a
       | corner. It can also notify your friends so they know what they
       | are missing
        
         | bze12 wrote:
         | I seriously considered making a mobile game about this
        
       | user1391 wrote:
       | Also, do a barrel roll
       | 
       | https://www.google.com/search?q=do+a+barrel+roll
        
       | shmde wrote:
       | Just a heads up. If you want it to work on your phone you have to
       | check the "Desktop Site" option.
        
         | tssva wrote:
         | Didn't have to do this on my phone.
        
       | pseudosavant wrote:
       | https://dvd-player-screensaver.glitch.me/
       | 
       | 6 months ago, I decided to build the DVD screensaver using just
       | SVG+CSS. Enjoy.
        
       | lucideer wrote:
       | Doesn't work for me.
       | 
       | If I leave it a while, I eventually get a notification pop-down
       | saying "This page is slowing down Firefox. To speed up your
       | browser, stop this page."
       | 
       | Is it Chrome only?
       | 
       | Whatever it is, it sounds like someone's implemented a very
       | simple feature very badly - a bouncing logo is the type of thing
       | people made in basic "DHTML" on the old web, not something that
       | should be slowing down a browser in 2022...
        
         | SquareWheel wrote:
         | All it's doing is setting the logo to absolute and adjusting
         | its position values each step. Outside of CSS redraws, it
         | shouldn't be causing any slowdowns.
        
           | lucideer wrote:
           | That and updating the SRC on every iteration with a generated
           | base64 PNG data URI.
        
             | SquareWheel wrote:
             | I saw that but I figured it was just generating on "wall"
             | collisions.
        
         | rovr138 wrote:
         | I'm running Safari and it's working. Not Chrome only.
        
         | merlincorey wrote:
         | Worked on Firefox for me -- maybe you need an update, or maybe
         | you have an extension that is fighting it?
        
           | lucideer wrote:
           | No weird extensions and same in safe mode. I suspect it's hw
           | accel issues of some kind.
           | 
           | Wouldn't've expected as it's just a PNG (they're dynamically
           | generating a PNG data uri and inserting it into an IMG SRC),
           | but I don't know how they're generating it (hidden canvas?)
           | and the update frequency is high. Doesn't seem very
           | optimised.
        
             | merlincorey wrote:
             | It is probably down to ensuring hardware acceleration is
             | turned on as I am certain that I have done that for a
             | different web issue.
        
         | lucideer wrote:
         | Tried it in Chrome. It works but oh my is the frame rate awful.
        
       | rektide wrote:
       | I just imagine, 'We payed hella bucks to put the logo on the unit
       | & box, damn straight it'll bounce across thr screen.'
        
       | derefr wrote:
       | For anyone who wants to try digging through Google's mangled mess
       | of JS embeds: I'm curious, does Google embed the logic for these
       | easter eggs in the common JS that comes along with every SERP, or
       | only on the page that has the easter-egg itself?
        
         | esprehn wrote:
         | Search lazy loads the easter eggs, there's way too many to load
         | them all on every search request.
         | 
         | In general Google product's JS is built around a lot of lazy
         | loading bundles.
        
           | amelius wrote:
           | Is there a way to disable them? I hate to be distracted,
           | especially at work.
        
             | lynguist wrote:
             | Lazy means you only get them when you search for them.
        
             | seattle_spring wrote:
             | Do you find yourself searching "dvd bouncing logo" for work
             | quite often?
        
               | throwaway0a5e wrote:
               | Exactly once, in order to make it look like one of the
               | TVs on our display wall, that was very much connected to
               | a computer, was in fact connected to an old DVD player.
        
               | amelius wrote:
               | No, but sometimes the Google logo itself is a distracting
               | animation (I believe they call them "Doodle" or "Knoodle"
               | or something).
        
               | asdff wrote:
               | You can use an adblocker to remove whatever you like from
               | a webpage you regularly visit, not just ads
        
       | troyerrdt wrote:
       | Switching to another tab and switching back hits a corner for me
       | every time
        
       | cryptozeus wrote:
       | wish it only changed color when reached at the corner
        
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       (page generated 2022-09-14 23:01 UTC)