If Your a Real DVC Finalist, Please Stand Up
For all of you finalist out there, today is the day you have all been waiting for, the release of your anxiety. I haven't had the luxery of feeling that way, since I already know I've been excluded from the list thanks to what I am calling the "Da Vinci Hoax" aka "Poor Load Balancing". But for the rest of ya's, go ahead and gloat in your glory and let everyone know you made it.
Also, someone forward me a copy of their email so I can post it for all to see. Email it to davincicodequest@gmail.com Thanks!!
And don't forget to check our the next quest we are all participating in called the Eurostar quest. You can find out more about the quest at this blog (yes, I am the publisher of that blog, so join up and let's do another quest together) Get all of the MSN Conspiracy Game Answers here
posted by G00GLEFACT @ 5/15/2006 08:53:00 PM
103 comments
103 Comments:
Your = "Belongs to You"
You're = "You are..."
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I hope they send them soon. I'm on pins and needles!
Tommy,
Tks 4 givin us a english lesson. I think it should help everbody with there quest?
Guess what.....
I jus' got my cryptex. No mails yet though.
Good Luck to all
Liar. Post a picture.
Its true... here is the link to the pic. with the box. ofcourse not from ebay
http://jayshree.blogspot.com/
pyro and jayshree, approx what time did you submit your contest entry forms? Did you submit in under 5 minutes of puzzle post time, under 10 minutes?
I'll be expecting the email first, cause my mail doesn't come till late afternoon... usually around 4:30 CST.
I've been checking my email all weekend, but didn't get anything. I just got the mail, and I was shocked to find that I got the Cryptex in the mail!
I still didn't get the email, but I got the cryptex!
Has anyone on the west coast gotten their cryptex yet?
That depends Kate, are you one of those people who keep their clocks set 5 or 6 minutes ahead so you are never late?
has anyone got the final challange
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What state is on the return address for the cryptexes (if there is one)?
Sweet! I'm in California, so I should be getting mine today also!
Yeah, I wish regular mail was as instant as e-mail...It would just "automagically" appear!!!
I actually got two cryptexes in the mail today. One for me, and one for my wife. I figure if we team up, our second try at the content ought to go pretty well.
here's to $40K in taxes!!!
Cool, I should be in then. I think I submitted around 1:03 or :04 (atomic clock time of course)
I finished at 1:06 or so, but there was no cryptex in today's mail... WHAAAAAA! :(((
Ya know...we are all really a bunch of pathetic losers... checking our e-mail 4 times a minute and having our mailboxes rigged with audible alert tones, dont you think?
Just received my cryptex - submitted contest entry form at 1:09 - i'm in northern virginia
Thanks for the updates. I am bummed, as I took too long to finish the last question. I read it wrong - when it said "the answer to the last question..." I thought it meant THAT question, the last one, not the "previous" question. Duh. I thought it was more of a brain teaser - I tried to unscramble "the letters" literally, etc. Finally I figured out they must mean the answer to #2, and I got it, but it was like 1:15 or something. Argh. Good luck to everyone in the finals - please let us know what it's like and what the questions were!
ARRRGGGHH...I won't know if I got a cryptex until I get home from work around 5:30 PM EST.
I finished the puzzle at about 1:09, but couldnt get my registration to go through until much later...
Has anyone with a cryptex (or even anyone without one) gotten the official email yet??
noblecollection.com selling them for $60?? I thought retail was only $30. Wow. Early people on ebay will probly clean up. I just hope I get one without having to go that route. Guess I'll find out after work!
I guess if I checked my mail more often than once a week I would know what time to expect the mailperson. Hopefully it's after 11:30 am CST, because there was no Cryptex when I checked at lunch.
theopusdei...you base that assumption of elimination on...what exactly?
I got my mail.. But sadly no cryptex.... I finished my puzzle at 1:04 but unable to register until 1:50...
I think both were timestamped. If there was a tie for the completion of the puzzle, then the registration timestamp was used.
My mail should be here within an hour! :-)
It wouldn't surprise me if Google changed the rules to let more folks in with all the problems and glitches they had on that last puzzle. If they are sending cryptex out to folks who aren't finalists, then that would mean they have already changed the rules some - those folks were originally just supposed to receive a "secret email message". (Woo-freakin'-hoo, I just want a cryptex)
Tekee, having excitement for this quest, for whatever reason, hopefully nothing self degrading one without major consequences, unlike so many other things that are exciting in life.. is a rare and precious thing,. I think that it is a good thing for all of these people to be so excited about the possible chances of winning finalist status. Perhaps its the rpg gamer in me, real life adventure is rare .
MR
No E-MAil and NO CRYPTEX
re-read rules and states that finalists will be notifyed by May 18 via postal mail and also e-mail as to final phase. can't wait another day final challange starts on May 19 Anybody that has CRYPTEX now has more time to study for the final phase before the end date May 21
need mine now
MistressRoninS, Don't get me wrong, I am having as much fun as the rest of you. Everyone needs a pleasant diversion these days :)...wait, was that the mailman? See ya..gotta go!!!
It wasn't in the mail! :( If they're being sent from California, why are east coast and midwest people getting them before west coast people? I want my money back!
Ok Tekee!
Good luck, I hope he comes back with a cryptex!
Kansas_Boy
- On the p.o box question.. another person on a quest blog (maybe googlefact or this one) said they sent a p.o.box as an address too and did NOT get their cryptex today at the post office so I do not know if that is because of the po box or because they aren't a finalist.
MR
"Final Phase. Finalists will be mailed via U.S. postal service, for scheduled delivery by May 18, 2006, a limited edition Cryptex replica and a screenshot of 4 codes (the "Finalist Prize")."
The slash, I don't think you should give up "hope" until after the 18th according to that info I posted from the official rules. Just because people are getting them now, does not mean they are all done mailing them. I would be concerned about the email you get before giving up.
MR
Did anyone in California get their cryptex?
Yahoo! Wife just called and said mine just got there in the mail!
Cryptext selling on ebay, with actual final price high of $56 plus $9 s/h
Item number: 7620002871
Not so Dark - For real? 1:28? Maybe there is hope for me after all! I'm at work and won't get to my mailbox until close to 6 p.m. -- Maybe it will be there! :)
I agree with MistressRoninS - the excitement rush of this silly little game is pretty cool and something I am going to savor! You just don't get this every day - at least not in my boring little world!
I get the feeling that everyone is going to get a cryptex who finished - even if you aren't a finalist...
Gaaaah! I wish they would send out the emails already. I think I'd rather receive the "consolation" surprise email already, than keep reloading my email page every 30 seconds. I just almost burned lunch cause I kept running over to the computer. *sigh*
nedra
Eventually Google is supposed to send an email to the finalists today to let them know who they are. Maybe at 11:59 tonight,lol.
reedycreek - The US mail system is an inexact science. ;-)
Yours will probably be there tomorrow. The contest only specified that they would be there by the 18th.
*Semi*pointless is exactly right, since, I believe, gmail automatically refreshes every 60 seconds. :P
Woohoo!
Recieved my cryptex in the mail today!
Although I dont remember what time I finished at.
Thank God - It's 5 PM on the east coast, so I can leave my job in Georgia and go home to check my mailbox. Have fun everyone!
The Slash...a pessimist?...whodda guessed that lol. JK...seems like a really cool guy. Good luck!
Anyone else having trouble bringing up the personalized Google homepage? I wonder if they're bogged down because they're in the middle of sending out all of our emails? :)
I finished and registered by 10:15 PST but did not recieve a cryptex. I'm guessing sinse I live in a semi-small town the package has an other step to go through to get to my house and will arrive tomorrow.
Wow. Google is slow.
Though I have completed the 24 puzzles and the registration.. my personalized google home page DavinciCode quest is showing this message... anyone else getting error like this??
The Quest has come to an end. You completed 23 of the 24 puzzles.
I got one! I got one! OMG!
I'm in PA...in case geography location needs to be known.
I GOT ONE!!!!
No email yet though.
Maybe they sent out the cryptexes (cryptices? crypti?) in alphabetical order by your last name. Hmmm, but my last name starts with "C", and I didn't get mine in today's mail. So maybe it's *reverse* alphabetical order! I'm grasping at straws here, people!
Got one here!
Last name: "G"
Location: DC
About 4:30 pm EST
http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanbohemian/tags/cryptex/
If they keep the time that they sent the other confirmation emails last week, we shouldnt expect our official emails today until around after 5pm PST.
MR
since I am quite the web page genius, I found this intresting and worthless webpage.
http://www.google.com/ig/davinci/final_puzzle_too_late.html
it says
The deadline for completing the Final Challenge within The Da Vinci Code Quest on Google has passed.
Thank you for participating.
Google Bizaarisms!
My Google home page all of a sudden now reads:
"The Quest has come to an end. You completed 23 of the 24 puzzles."
whereas all last week it read "Congratulations - you've completed all the puzzles - be sure to register"
What a weird company!
Sony and google say.. "All your browser refresh buttons are belong to us" -sorry I'm delerious.
MR
It came!!! See mine at:
http://tekee.blogspot.com/
tish and annie,
If you got the emails confirming your entry, you should be ok. I notice on other blogs for the quest, that random people are getting that 23 of 24 puuzzle too late message. I think its a problem on their servers maybe overloaded with all the mania. BUT keep all your information until you get official notification of finalist status or not, because the rules state that they cannot be responsible for timing errors, and to keep your notes on your progress.
MR --Oh lord the mail man is here.. wish me luck!
MR
No cryptex received yet - but I finished about 1:07-ish and am hopeful. Do have the email, but the home page reversion was odd.
Something's going on on Google's servers at the moment, though
At the moment, there are 19 cryptexes posted for sale on ebay. Now, wouldn't it be funny if the final puzzle requires the use of the cryptex and these sellers don't have theirs anymore? Like, say, "if you line up ABCDE on your cryptex, what does the row above it spell?"
It's here - I got the cryptex. (Austin, TX, finished at 1:06) Whoo-hoo! There is no way I will win the final, but still, it's so cool to have this since I am such a Dan Brown fangirl.
Still haven't gotten an email though. I've noticed Google has been having server issues today, just like Friday. Don't believe it has anything to do with the contest though.
I just got mine in Somerset, NJ!! I finished at 1:05pm (EST).
The cryptex is exactly the same as the "Mini Cryptex" retailing for $60 at www.noblecollection.com. On the Sony/Google contest rules page, they value the cryptex at $30. Seems that Sony Pictures got a 50% off deal for the items.
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Google probably got a discount on the reject versions with two teeth! I'm a smart guy, I'll just add some more.
Slash, my fingers are still crossed for you...did you get one?
Received my cryptex today in the mail. Puzzle completion time was 1:11 p.m. (11 minutes) even _WITH_ all of the technical difficulties I experienced. If you look at the the rules, it says that 10,000 finalists receive a cryptex containing the clue to the final challenge. Based on that, I'm 99.99% certain that I'm a finalist because sending such a heavy item through the mail has to be pretty expensive. I'm only slightly annoyed that the box contains the answer to open the cryptex rather than another clue. A clue would have been much more exciting and consistent with the adventure thus far and the clue should have contained another clue that was a scrambled "password" for use on the website.
As to the whole "two key" vs. "five key" discussion, it was probably to save money two different ways. First, each of the 10,000 cryptexes might have been _manually_ configured (i.e. human interaction required). Second, the extra pins add additional weight and thus increase shipping costs. That is, the extra weight (the metal used is pretty dense, high-quality stuff) could have put the cryptex over some weight constraint that would have considerably increased the cost during shipping and handling.
One final thought: Three pins may have been intentionally left out for a _legitimate_ reason. Finalists might be required, for instance, to look down the barrel of the cryptex with a flashlight and align the pins to access the final challenge. Sharing your internal cryptex settings here might give away vital information. Modifying the cryptex key by opening the unit _at this point_ is a bad idea. For now I'm going to "chill out" until the 19th.
I'm in northern California and I didn't get mine today.
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I'm in northern Alabama and didn't get mine today, though I should be a finalist as I finished before the guy who was done at 1:11 (I finished at 1:04)
Got mine today...
Last name: B
Miami, FL
Finished around 105EST
I didn't get one today. :(
Should I still have hope? I submitted my form right around 12:10 CST
lastname R
location: WI
Jim said...And this is just one of (the best one of, BTW) hundreds of blogs and forums devoted to a stupid game. Somebody was a marketing genius when they thought of this.
I agree with Jim,
I am completely fine with a marketing package that sells a product well, and to pull me in as a consumer? It's a hard hard thing to do so I applaud google,sony,dan brown on this one..
MR
Missy don't trip. If you got your email on the 11th saying you registered correctly. That message you are getting on your home page is an error according to many other blogs online!
good luck :) !
MR
Did anyone in GEORGIA get a cryptex? I didn't today... :-(
Hoping it's just a "slow mail in Georgia" thing.
Still no emails sent out I see...
Hey everyone, Because I am enjoying this blog so much and others I have been looking for other blogspot quest blogs.. and I found another blogspot blog and it's kind of cool the way he defined his arrival of the cryptex. It'l give you something to do in your idle time waiting for the email, if youre not doing the eurostar quest too like me.
Im aparently the only one who posted a comment, maybe others can post up too.
http://ciquat.blogspot.com/
MR
melivourous, it's an error.
MR
ruusta,
I tried that just now. I used my other browser where I am not logged into google, to try to get to the www.google.com/DavinciCode and it forwards me to a google log in page, BUt when I log in to google, I can see the page. So officially, at least with my computer, you cannot view the page unless you are logged in. I don't think that it means that only finalists can view the page though. hmm Can anyone else who didn't get the cryptex view the page?
post up!
MR
Thank you missy for your excellent detective work! hehe, I think that confirms that its not coded ONLY for finalists.
....time tick tick tick tick...checks gmail notifier again.
BTW google fact, I also let the other bloggs know about your great blog too, just so you don't think I'm trying to drive others away from this one. I love the new friends I am making and I like to spread the word of good writing/popular blogs around the blogspot community.
MR
I haven't yet received an e-mail, but my cryptex did arrive in the mail today.
I hate to admit it, but I've already put it on eBay. I don't have much of a use for it and I have a kid on the way. Every dollar means a lot right now! :)
Yes missy, this is about the time they sent the other email on the 11th I think.
On voting participation in the USA.. I wonder how many more people would actually vote for elections if they set up a quest for those who vote? Just all the attentiveness of people including myself in regards to the quest makes me wonder how useful such ideas are for other causes.
One can tell by the amount of posts I have put here, that I have a lot of spare time and I am bored? I actually am avoiding productivity right now and it's nice. Thank you GF for creating a vehicle for this medium.
MR
Does anyone know the dimensions of the box the codex is mailed in? (Will it fit in an apartment mailbox?)
From what it sounds like, it should just about be a snug fit in an apartment mail box. "IT is a mere 4 inches tall and 6.5 inches wide. "
Got that because I asked for them and someone gave them to me..
MR
Ah Slash, you noticed the 42 as well I see..
MR
I got the finalist email!!!!!!!!!!! (Still no cryptex)
here's what it says:
Your journey does not end here. You have also qualified to compete for the grand prize which includes trips for four to New York, Paris, Rome and London, a colossal Sony® Electronics package and more valued at over $100,000! See official rules.
Beginning on or around 1pm EDT May 19th at www.google.com/davincicode, the final challenge, which is a time trial, will be made available to you for 48 hours. You can begin whenever you like, but prepare well, for once you begin there is no turning back. The player who completes all five tasks in the shortest amount of time will be declared the winner.
As for your previous accomplishments, your skill and perseverance will be rewarded with a limited edition replica cryptex arriving in your mailbox in the coming days.
Congratulations eric!!, Also did you get a cryptex yet?
MR
Off to eat dinner. Hopefully I will come back to an email.
Just got my official "You are NOT a finalist" email. :-(
Guess that means no cryptex for me either, which is all I really wanted.
I wish all the rest of you the best of luck.
Got the finalist email, and the Cryptex.
Woohoo!
You can see the email and click through to the congratulatory message on my blog.
I haven't gotten a cryptex or any email.
I only got the email, expecting the cryptex tomorrow... postal in my area sucks. They deliver the mail late enough in the evening you'd think I would have gotten my cryptex, but no....
Click here for some pics of the Cryptex
And an interesting observation. I wouldn't sell your Cryptex on ebay just yet...
I still have not recieved any email or a cryptex.
derting,
I wish I could afford the video game too. :(
MR
I am a finalist. I got an e-mail at 10:12 PM EST. No cryptex, though.
I've posted the link in My Blog Post about the final email. If they ebayers were savvy they could search and get it for free.
I've also posted a comment to Wei-Hwa Huang's blog about this, talking about the cheaters. Since he created the puzzles, he hopefully will be able to escalate and do something about it.
Has anyone recieved an email who does not have a gmail account? Because I haven't recieved an email yet.
what gets me is that some of us did not even get any e mails, that alone is suspicious, i think google really dropped the ball, i was done in 5 or 6 minutes and was registered correctly, but since most got e mails pro or con, and i have a g mail account, i think google really dropped the ball and should stay out of promoting movies, or anything else. if i could talk to "GIBLLE" directly, i would suggest that since they made so many mistakes, they should let EVERYONE compete in the final contest, for some of us did finish on time, and this whole mess, including so many getting error messages during the last puzzle, and that our host of this blog got frozen out, i think google really dropped the ball, and someone ought to bring a class action lawsuit against them for not going by their own rules, and for the staff and owners of "GIBBLE", and future contests on google, stick to your search engine, and do what you do best, rather then letting thousands of us down who know we should have been in top 10,000, except for THEIR MISTAKES!
i hate google, i hate sony, and i will not see their stupid movie, this contest was a sham, and many of us who tried hard, and did NOT cheat, got the shaft, thanks sony and google, i sure wish i could tell you where to stick it! why in the world did they screw so many of us up that did the right thing, it ruins the whole exercise, contest, and frankly, spoils the movie for me, no way i will see it, what a shame! i hope they make lots of money off the fools that go see this movie!...and im not a sore loser, i really worked hard and did not cheat on any of the answers, and i finished way ahead of many, and i didnt even get any e mails, somebody tell us, what went wrong????
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