QR codes appearing in Google street view? (opens in new tab)

(nso.group)

223 pointsnotbeuller2y ago76 comments

76 comments

54 comments · 14 top-level

tornato72y ago· 21 in thread

I spotted a series of signs posted near me (irl) that only contained hex characters. I was curious and thought it might be some sort of Cicada 3301-type nonsense, so I transcribed all of the signs and tested multiple combinations to discover a secret URL, and...

It turned out to be a crypto scam!

IAmGraydon2y ago

A bit tangential, but I found and contacted the author of Cicada3301 some years ago. They sloppily used a single Google Analytics ID on 2 sites, one of them being on an old version of the Cicada3301 site which had been snapshotted by archive.org before they realized their mistake and removed it. I was able to reverse search this ID and found it was also in use on the personal website of a cryptography/security expert who was the Chief Information Security Officer of a contractor who primarily does work for big three-letter agencies in the US. I contacted him on LinkedIn and he denied it, though I very much doubt this was some big coincidence.

matdoesdev2y ago

I looked it up, here's the Google Analytics ID if anyone's curious: https://builtwith.com/relationships/tag/UA-526724

3 more replies

godelski2y ago

So you won Cicada3301? But they just didn't like how you won?

1 more reply

Cthulhu_2y ago

A bold claim to make, but interesting nevertheless. Did you ever do a writeup on that? I'm not into it myself (I'm not smart enough for puzzles like that), but I can imagine there's obsessive communities around it that would love to know more about this lead.

1 more reply

colineartheta2y ago

I’m fairly certain the owner of the domain is unrelated to the Cicada 3301 challenges beyond hosting a fan site. Their PGP signature is completely missing from the website, and in the words of 3301 itself: all messages will be signed with only their key. Besides, 3301 hosted everything on the dark web, not a clear web site. This is an interesting anecdote, and personally I’ve always thought the challenge was alphabet agency related, but I truly don’t think you found anything beyond a fan boy.

pcthrowaway2y ago

Or the creator of Cicada took the Google analytics ID of that security expert

zfxfr2y ago

I remember being fascinated by this Cicada story when it came up. if this is true it really deserves a blog post .

keyle2y ago

Damn I remember Cicada 3301. Good times.

I think the source is always online though as it was to cast a wide net. IRL would be too narrow.

Hope the Cicada crew pulls another one soon, although now that reddit is what it is...

low_tech_love2y ago

I was one of the “winners” of the first one (yeah I know, believe it or not, it makes no difference) and I can tell you: there is absolutely nothing interesting on the other side. Don’t hold your breath. :(

1 more reply

bhhaskin2y ago

It had a IRL component. Technically the last puzzle is still not solved. There is a good chance that one won't start until it is, but who knows.

jl62y ago

One can only hope…

function_seven2y ago

I love it. Ovaltine must be remaking themselves for the 21st century.

fouc2y ago

What's the Ovaltine reference to?

2 more replies

userbinator2y ago

Is knowledge of hex/ASCII an indication of increased gullibility? If anything, I'd think it would be the exact opposite.

IshKebab2y ago

I think it's more about making the victim feel like they're on to something special and secret. They're in the know.

HWR_142y ago

Knowledge of hex/ASCII is probably associated with an increase in the likelihood to get involved in crypto, as a filter there.

eastbound2y ago

You’re assuming scam works. Maybe the cryptoscammer received zero subscription, and is in debt from putting up the signs. Could be an artifact of gullibility of the scammer, not the victim.

1 more reply

kroltan2y ago

Plenty of skid type people who are into tech for the aesthetics mostly.

blackoil2y ago

Maybe they are seeking fellow scammers to join forces.

jrockway2y ago

I think I saw one of these in New York. Someone stuck a "bitcoin is a scam" sticker on it. Now it all makes sense.

ge962y ago

what you're telling me Mr. Musk won't double my money

gowld2y ago· 7 in thread

User submitted photos with QR codes?

How would it get into Street View?

Easter egg?

plorg2y ago

You can submit your own 360⁰ photos to Google Maps and they will appear in Street View. You used to be able to submit whole tours with navigation through the Street View app, but that functionality is now mainly reserved for paid 3rd party services (which have much better software). You could possibly still do this via the API, but I haven't looked that far recently as it would involve building tools that I don't have the time to write.

matsemann2y ago

I'm contributing bicycle trails to Google Street View (and CC-BY-SA to Mapillary). It's no longer done through the app, but through uploading a equirectangular videofile with either gps metadata or attaching a gpx file here: https://streetviewstudio.maps.google.com/

So no 3rd party services needed for plain old Street View. It's a bit opaque what's going on when you upload a video, though, they do all kinds of weird stuff with it. Try to align the track to a nearby road, when I'm not biking that road. Selecting intervals of pictures that doesn't make sense compared to how I would do manually etc. This one could perhaps control better through the API and uploading photo by photo and connect them.

1 more reply

its-summertime2y ago

Its not in Street View.

predictabl32y ago

Ah, indeed. Kind of a nothing-burger then if you ask me.

ShamelessC2y ago

It isn't? But the linked thread shows precisely that, and that is the title...?

2 more replies

mdwalters2y ago

Didn't Google shut down this feature? Last I heard, someone "contributed" a image of the Android robot pissing on the Apple logo, which lead to the feature shutdown.

Didn't know Street View allows this still.

Ambroos2y ago

That was Map Maker, which allowed you to actually draw map features (park areas, roads, building outlines, you name it). This is just submitting photos that will be shown in Street View if they are in 360 degrees. Photos are clearly user-submitted unlike map features.

adrianmonk2y ago· 5 in thread

Could be a sneaky recruiting trick. Stuff like this has happened before:

https://www.vox.com/2015/8/26/11618060/puzzles-are-fun-searc...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8588080

sva_2y ago

Caught me by surprise when I first saw that black box emerge while doing a search.

sambaumann2y ago

I saw it last year while I was doing a project for school - and clicked off the page as it was appearing. Never seen it again.

tripdout2y ago

I got a Google Foobar challenge back in 2022. Never ended up completing more than the first level, but would be interesting to know if they're still using it for hiring.

kadoban2y ago

Last I heard they'd stopped it. The site still seems to exist though, maybe it came back.

The last problem on mine was really interesting, took me days. I wonder if there's a list of the problems somewhere, I thought I remember hearing that they weren't all the same.

I never did continue with the recruiting part of it, just had some fun.

3 more replies

xattt2y ago

Yes, and the Mastadon post came up because it was too obscure.

Tao33002y ago· 4 in thread

The codes translate to series of billboards for "South of the Border" and "Burma Shave"

mbg7212y ago

Years ago, Games magazine had a contest for the cleverest Burma Shave style slogan, and the winner was:

To be a king Is not so fine. You cannot make A throne recline. (La-z-boy)

labster2y ago

It’s the hip dough

My friends love to hodl

You’ll earn so much crypto

It’ll make you yodel

BurmaCoin

wildrhythms2y ago

Be sure to drink your Ovaltine!

fouc2y ago

What's the Ovaltine reference to?

1 more reply

klabb32y ago· 2 in thread

That’s a curious domain, seems like it’s a meme/joke? (NSO group is the ones that helps shady governments put 0days in the phones of journalists etc). I guess it’s kinda fun to see this quirky and in-jokey vibe to the fediverse. Reminiscent of the pre-corporate internet era.

input_sh2y ago

Left sidebar:

> This Mastodon instance is not affiliated with NSO Group. Made for hackers by hackers, nso.group is the best domain name you’ve encountered yet for a Mastodon instance

saagarjha2y ago

Yeah, the domain administrator runs it as a joke.

e0zh6az27noua5k2y ago· 1 in thread

It's literally the location of Google Datacenters, maybe where-is-google-maps as in where is Google Maps hosted ?

Zezima2y ago

Ageee. Was that the take away from this post? Is everyone else having a totally disconnected discussion here? I'm a bit confused

davidw2y ago

My favorite street view easter egg:

https://www.google.com/maps/@48.6547428,-120.5744037,3a,75y,...

Technically, not actually street view I don't think, but the blue circle does show up on Google Maps if you drag the little yellow guy in search of imagery.

its-summertime2y ago

Worth noting its implemented mostly in JS, view-source on the page to get the whole list of photos and destinations.

ofou2y ago

I need to know what does it mean all of them:

https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/107193335994695458225/ph...

keirabee2y ago

It seems like if I go to http://where-is-google-maps.com/?p={number} such as http://where-is-google-maps.com/?p=1, http://where-is-google-maps.com/?p=2, and so on, I get the locations of different google data centers around the world with qr codes on them. also worth noting the page title seems to be 'hide and seek' for all these pages. also the fence in p=2 seems to have a number on it? "4-20-11911191" or something.

saagarjha2y ago

I wonder if these are the actual data centers that power Google Maps?

KirillPanov2y ago

To use the Mastodon web application, please enable JavaScript. Alternatively, try one of the native apps for Mastodon for your platform.

mdwalters2y ago

Kinda off-topic, but this just reminded me of that story Paul Graham made about him being on Google Maps.

KomoD2y ago

The title is very misleading

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

76 comments

54 comments · 14 top-level

tornato72y ago· 21 in thread

It turned out to be a crypto scam!

IAmGraydon2y ago

matdoesdev2y ago

I looked it up, here's the Google Analytics ID if anyone's curious: https://builtwith.com/relationships/tag/UA-526724

3 more replies

godelski2y ago

So you won Cicada3301? But they just didn't like how you won?

1 more reply

Cthulhu_2y ago

1 more reply

colineartheta2y ago

pcthrowaway2y ago

Or the creator of Cicada took the Google analytics ID of that security expert

zfxfr2y ago

I remember being fascinated by this Cicada story when it came up. if this is true it really deserves a blog post .

keyle2y ago

Damn I remember Cicada 3301. Good times.

I think the source is always online though as it was to cast a wide net. IRL would be too narrow.

Hope the Cicada crew pulls another one soon, although now that reddit is what it is...

low_tech_love2y ago

1 more reply

bhhaskin2y ago

It had a IRL component. Technically the last puzzle is still not solved. There is a good chance that one won't start until it is, but who knows.

jl62y ago

One can only hope…

function_seven2y ago

I love it. Ovaltine must be remaking themselves for the 21st century.

fouc2y ago

What's the Ovaltine reference to?

2 more replies

userbinator2y ago

Is knowledge of hex/ASCII an indication of increased gullibility? If anything, I'd think it would be the exact opposite.

IshKebab2y ago

I think it's more about making the victim feel like they're on to something special and secret. They're in the know.

HWR_142y ago

Knowledge of hex/ASCII is probably associated with an increase in the likelihood to get involved in crypto, as a filter there.

eastbound2y ago

You’re assuming scam works. Maybe the cryptoscammer received zero subscription, and is in debt from putting up the signs. Could be an artifact of gullibility of the scammer, not the victim.

1 more reply

kroltan2y ago

Plenty of skid type people who are into tech for the aesthetics mostly.

blackoil2y ago

Maybe they are seeking fellow scammers to join forces.

jrockway2y ago

I think I saw one of these in New York. Someone stuck a "bitcoin is a scam" sticker on it. Now it all makes sense.

ge962y ago

what you're telling me Mr. Musk won't double my money

gowld2y ago· 7 in thread

User submitted photos with QR codes?

How would it get into Street View?

Easter egg?

plorg2y ago

matsemann2y ago

1 more reply

its-summertime2y ago

Its not in Street View.

predictabl32y ago

Ah, indeed. Kind of a nothing-burger then if you ask me.

ShamelessC2y ago

It isn't? But the linked thread shows precisely that, and that is the title...?

2 more replies

mdwalters2y ago

Didn't Google shut down this feature? Last I heard, someone "contributed" a image of the Android robot pissing on the Apple logo, which lead to the feature shutdown.

Didn't know Street View allows this still.

Ambroos2y ago

adrianmonk2y ago· 5 in thread

Could be a sneaky recruiting trick. Stuff like this has happened before:

https://www.vox.com/2015/8/26/11618060/puzzles-are-fun-searc...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8588080

sva_2y ago

Caught me by surprise when I first saw that black box emerge while doing a search.

sambaumann2y ago

I saw it last year while I was doing a project for school - and clicked off the page as it was appearing. Never seen it again.

tripdout2y ago

I got a Google Foobar challenge back in 2022. Never ended up completing more than the first level, but would be interesting to know if they're still using it for hiring.

kadoban2y ago

Last I heard they'd stopped it. The site still seems to exist though, maybe it came back.

The last problem on mine was really interesting, took me days. I wonder if there's a list of the problems somewhere, I thought I remember hearing that they weren't all the same.

I never did continue with the recruiting part of it, just had some fun.

3 more replies

xattt2y ago

Yes, and the Mastadon post came up because it was too obscure.

Tao33002y ago· 4 in thread

The codes translate to series of billboards for "South of the Border" and "Burma Shave"

mbg7212y ago

Years ago, Games magazine had a contest for the cleverest Burma Shave style slogan, and the winner was:

To be a king Is not so fine. You cannot make A throne recline. (La-z-boy)

labster2y ago

It’s the hip dough

My friends love to hodl

You’ll earn so much crypto

It’ll make you yodel

BurmaCoin

wildrhythms2y ago

Be sure to drink your Ovaltine!

fouc2y ago

What's the Ovaltine reference to?

1 more reply

klabb32y ago· 2 in thread

input_sh2y ago

Left sidebar:

> This Mastodon instance is not affiliated with NSO Group. Made for hackers by hackers, nso.group is the best domain name you’ve encountered yet for a Mastodon instance

saagarjha2y ago

Yeah, the domain administrator runs it as a joke.

e0zh6az27noua5k2y ago· 1 in thread

It's literally the location of Google Datacenters, maybe where-is-google-maps as in where is Google Maps hosted ?

Zezima2y ago

Ageee. Was that the take away from this post? Is everyone else having a totally disconnected discussion here? I'm a bit confused

davidw2y ago

My favorite street view easter egg:

https://www.google.com/maps/@48.6547428,-120.5744037,3a,75y,...

Technically, not actually street view I don't think, but the blue circle does show up on Google Maps if you drag the little yellow guy in search of imagery.

its-summertime2y ago

Worth noting its implemented mostly in JS, view-source on the page to get the whole list of photos and destinations.

ofou2y ago

I need to know what does it mean all of them:

https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/107193335994695458225/ph...

keirabee2y ago

saagarjha2y ago

I wonder if these are the actual data centers that power Google Maps?

KirillPanov2y ago

To use the Mastodon web application, please enable JavaScript. Alternatively, try one of the native apps for Mastodon for your platform.

mdwalters2y ago

Kinda off-topic, but this just reminded me of that story Paul Graham made about him being on Google Maps.

KomoD2y ago

The title is very misleading

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse