The Fickle Blogosphere
I must thank legacy and allyson for bringing this comment by Wei-Hwa Huang to my attention. Before you read further visit that link and read his post for Tuesday May 16th. It will also help you better understand this post if you know that Mr. Huang helped create The Da Vinci Code Quest Challenge Puzzles. Additionally, X = Google, Y = Sony.
I personally would be interested to find out which blogs he's read to come to the conclusion that he arrived at. Have I said negative things about Sony? Sure, I haven't bought a Sony product since my Sony Walkman about 10 years ago. Have I said a lot of positive things about Google? Yep, I think Google is a great technology company that is developing a lot of interesting products and services. But, this quest hasn't changed my feelings toward these two companies so I can't see how that makes me fickle. The only negative thing I've said thus far is that someone (either Sony or Google or both) failed miserably with load balancing the server requests on the last day, and that’s a fact that can't be disputed.
So Mr. Huang's question is, "What can we learn from this story?"
First, we didn't just start talking about how cool Google is, we've been talking about that for a long time. Second, its going to take a lot more than The Da Vinci Code Quest to get people to start associating "cool company" with Sony. Third, it's no surprise Sony is doing strange things that make a lot of people unhappy... again. Finally, don't try to pass the blame when things go wrong. If your friend Joe Shmoe throws a rock through a window and your standing right next to him when he does it, chances are your going to get some backlash, even if you weren’t the one who broke the window.
So by logical reasoning we can safely say both Google and Sony were at fault in this here "Da Vinci Hoax". At the same time, is it really worth the time to sit around complaining about it? Those of you who finished at 2 minutes after 1:00 PM, but didn't make the finals, be thankful that you at least have braging rights, my puzzle didn't even finish loading until 20 minutes after 1. Here is something to chew on, why did Google/Sony make the final puzzle an observation challenge which has one unique answer. If they would have made the last puzzle a curator, restoration, or symbol challenge we wouldn't be having this discussion.
When it's all said and done though, I'm not mad at Google or anymore frustrated with Sony than I was before I started the quest. I am still delighted in the fact that they came up with idea for the quest in the first place. I know its frustrating having spent the time completing all of the puzzles only to find out your prize is a discount for Da Vinci Code merchandise, but hey things could be worse, right?
Honestly, the Eurostarquest is 1000 times better than the Google Quest in my opinion, even though the prizes may not be as grand, the puzzles are better.
Oh, and what is way better than tagging? Notebooking!!! Check out Google's new notebook service. This is what I've been waiting for and why I love Google. They just need to allow public comments on the notes. Here is a link to my public notebook. Get all of the MSN Conspiracy Game Answers here
posted by G00GLEFACT @ 5/16/2006 10:53:00 PM
16 comments
16 Comments:
Hi, I am enjoying your blog and you are keeping me active in my cob web riddled blog too. I agree the euro is way better, understandable and a lifetime of travel? that is hard to beat.. Speaking of hard to beat. The puzzles are MUCH harder in my opinion. Just the way they are set up and its hard to snapshot the last results because they are in a flash engine.
I will check out this notebook, perhaps I will use it for my novel..
I love google, happy consumer here in that respect.
Sony? Well they bought Sonic Foundry and they now own my favorite music production software so I can't be to mad at them for expanding on the idea and making the products more main stream and available at lower prices.
I will check out the comment you refered to.
MR
Oh.. I think cheating is a harsh word darling. I think community is a better word and team work. If you look at the aspects of GF's blog about how to get through the final challenge, it's all about possible sacrifice to help others, noble sportsmanship, honor and not being a sore loser. Congratulating those whom have won is something polite to do and I have seen it in full focus here and in other blogs.
I never liked the every man for himself idea of winning. Perhaps this makes me a good loser? or a sore winner? I don't know but when I participate in ANY challenge, it’s just a challenge, should I not be prepared to lose, I should not be prepared to play either. I can spend MORE time on being pissed off at the world for losing the challenge, but really I am glad because I met so many people and was shocked at how many are willing to help others. The excitement of having the game, the spirit of good gaming is something I relish.
The google/sony/dvc challenge did one wonderful thing, it brought people of ALL diversity together on one common cause. People who worked together, in spite of their religious, ethnic, sexual, political bias, we all worked together. You cant miss that if you read the blog here.
This is a HARD thing to accomplish. THIS should not go un noticed.
On It being a Hoax?
1.
I personally saw no "hoax" of any kind. A hoax indicates deception and the goal to fraud. Everything was right there in front of us with the Google Da Vinci Code Challenge. How could anyone not see that it was a great marketing idea for a movie? How can anyone think that their prime directive was not to make money? How can this be such a shock to everyone?
2.
The idea is to draw in customers by giving them a fun experience in exchange for their attention and possible business. It worked. Still, I would have seen the movie based on the soundtrack alone, quest or not. Hans Zimmer is a brilliant artist. I adore every one of his soundtracks.
3.
When a company has a contest it is good to consider something before joining.. they are a BUSINESS, meaning they are oriented for profit, if they are not oriented for profit, they likely will not succeed as a business.
4.
To play the DVC challenge and not notice the OBVIOUS marketing aspects of every second of the puzzle is to be really blind to the goals of a standard thriving business in this world.
5.
There is no practical, logical or fundamental profit to be gained in a hoax.. It's rather easy to lay out the contest rules, give out the prizes and attract business. Part of attracting business is not making people mad by cheating them out of something. -Time is not what I am speaking of.- Each of us chose to dedicate whatever amount of time we wanted to in our lives to this challenge. That time, that choice is a personal choice and it is our responsibility, not Google's or Sony's or Dan Brown's, or Bush's that we chose to spend it. Rules and regulations, stipulations and fine print are all there to read and use for a device to decide as to whether or not we wish to spend our valuable time toward the challenge.
“Having a life” is perspective. A life can be anything, anything at all, and if a person chooses to spend their life with games and puzzles and that makes them happy, guess what? They have a life. I know plenty of unhappy people who have “a life” too, it’s not what you do, its how you perceive what you do that makes life worth it.
5. Without blowing up this fine blog, I decided to put the rest of my "little" commentary in my own blog. I like what this blog is accomplishing and it’s not about my personal rants.
..GF if you decide to delete my post, I completely understand!
MR
the movie sucked folks, just like the contest.......read the reviews from cannes.....""One especially melodramatic line uttered by Hanks drew prolonged laughter and some catcalls, and the audience continued to titter for much of the film’s remainder.""
What is tagging?
MR
"The Da Vinci Code" drew lukewarm praise, shrugs of indifference, some jeering laughter and a few derisive jabs Tuesday from arguably the world's toughest movie crowd: critics at the Cannes Film Festival.
The year's most anticipated movie, "The Da Vinci Code" was a generally faithful adaptation of Dan Brown's monster best seller, spinning a murder thriller that stems from a cover-up of secrets about Christianity's roots.
Directed by Ron Howard, the movie stars Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou as strangers hurled together on a frantic quest for the Holy Grail following a series of murders.
The plot of the film, in which Jesus marries Mary Magdalene and has children, has outraged some Christians, who plan protests, boycotts, a hunger strike and attempts to block or shorten screenings.
While readers worldwide devoured the novel, reaction from Cannes critics ranged from mild endorsement of its potboiler suspense to groans of ridicule over its heavy melodrama.
"It's a movie about whether the greatest story ever told is true or not, and it's not the greatest movie ever screened, is it?" said Baz Bamigboye, a film columnist for London's Daily Mail. "As a thriller, well," he continued, shrugging.
"Maybe the next day I'll forget about it," said Igor Soukmanov of Unistar Radio in Belarus. "But today for two hours it was good entertainment. ... As a Hollywood movie, it's a very nice picture."
Critics got their first look at "The Da Vinci Code" a day before its world premiere at Cannes on Wednesday, when it also debuts at theaters in France and some other countries. The film opens worldwide over the following two days, including the United States on Friday.
Hanks and other stars of the movie arrived in Cannes from London on Tuesday aboard a train named "The Da Vinci Code," setting a world record for the longest nonstop international train journey.
The filmmakers added some twists and variations here and there, but the general thrust of the novel remains intact, including its theory that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were married and had a child, which has prompted denouncements from many Christians.
The Cannes audience clearly grew restless as the movie dragged on to two and a half hours and spun a long sequence of anticlimactic revelations.
"I kept thinking of the Energizer Bunny, because it kept going and going and going, and not in a good way," said James Rocchi, a film critic for CBS 5 television in San Francisco and the online outlet Cinematical. "Ron Howard makes handsome films. He doesn't make bad ones, but he doesn't make great ones."
One especially melodramatic line uttered by Hanks drew prolonged laughter and some catcalls, and the audience continued to titter for much of the film's remainder.
Some people walked out during the movie's closing minutes, though there were fewer departures than many Cannes movies provoke among harsh critics. When the credits rolled, there were a few whistles and hisses, and there was none of the scattered applause even bad movies sometimes receive at Cannes.
Critics singled out co-star Ian McKellen, playing a wry Grail enthusiast who joins the search, as the movie's highlight, injecting hearty humor and delivering the most nuanced performance. Paul Bettany added a seething mix of tragic pathos and destructive zealousness as a monk assassin who carries out the slayings.
Bamigboye said all the actors were solid, but enthusiastically added, "I've got to tell you, Ian McKellen steals it. He slices all the crap away."
By David Germain ©MMVI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
I don't delete blog comments unless they are blatant spam linking to unrelated or questionable content. Feel free to have a difference of opinion, it makes life interesting.
I will however say, I would have been perfectly fine not knowing codestinks sexual preference. I'm not really sure how it pertains to the challenge or The Da Vinci Code Quest. That am I'm not exactly sure how he can determine conclusively that Jesus wasn't divine.
And about the "hoax", I of all people understand it wasn't a hoax, I just used that phrase as a sort of play on words to describe the mess up that occurred with the timestamps/page loading errors in the registration process
Google Notebook is a direct clone of del.icio.us. The only thing it adds is an AJAX interface, which is as most Google tools are, sparsey designed. I like the Eurostar quest, but it takes at least 5 times longer than the Da Vinci Code Quest. And codestinks is not right. And his username is direct abuse. The thing about it is that the people that lost Phase 1 are all looking for something to be angry about, and codestinks sums up all of the reasons tese people have to choose from. The main reason stated is that the contest was rigged because Sony did something terrible and unfair to choose the contestants. in the rules, they explicitly state that the contestants are a RANDOM 10,000 entrants. They had to change the rules. And the people who won? They calmly acnowedve that Sony may have been unfair, but are happy they won.
I don't think that the fickle blogsphere that Wei-Hwa commented on was GF, but more about the people who are commenting on your blog and on davincianswers.blogspot.com.
The ranting comments about hating google and never using their products and services again? All over a game? These people are going to ruin the ability of anyone in these companies to successfully sell other interactive contest ideas.
Ultimately, I think people are upset because they were having fun and the fun ended prematurely. Remember, the journey is the reward, stop focusing on the negative and recognize that we chose to do this because we found enjoyment in it, don’t let the joy emotion become hate. I think that my post on Wei-Hwa's journal sums up my opinion.
David
p.s. If you really want a cryptex that bad, you can have mine.
Hey, codestinks, if you thought the book sucked so muck, why did you even assocciate yourself with the contest. Oh yeah, because you like things that suck.
Found this site, yet another davinci related contest
http://protectyoursecrets.symantec.com/flash_landing.aspx
Has anyone who got a finalist email not received their cryptex yet? I am getting worried that I am never going to get it. I hope its not needed for the final.
I'm in WI, anyone else in WI not receive theirs yet?
derting
sorry to hear you havent gotten yours either but gald to see im not alone.
kerri13
Thanks for the info
jayshree: Can I get the rest of that address please? I only got part of it up to :
http://protectyoursecrets.symantec.com
/flash_landing.aspx
On other puzzles: This whole GDVQ got me excited about puzzles. Enough to consider competing in the Google world puzzle federation championship .I will have to see how I do on the practice test first however.
MR
GF Thank you for being cool and every one who has commented on my comments. It is nice to see that many share a good spirit about clean fun and competition anymore.
MR
MistressRoninS
yes your link is complete now & takes to the page.
Google Notepad is cool...
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