
elgooG - brandonhall
https://com.google/
======
vinhboy
I know this is supposed to be an april's fool joke, but dang, it reminded me
of how much I hate this new unlimited TLD crap. I don't really have a good
reason, I am just resistant to change I guess.

~~~
jimktrains2
This has nothing to do with gtld, but I think what bothers me most is that
domains are in the wrong order. It should be com.ycombinator.news or
com.google

~~~
pbreit
Maybe if you're a computer. But for us humans, google.com makes more sense.

~~~
mrb
That's just because you are used to it. But <tld>.<domain> actually makes more
sense for multiple reasons:

\- That's how phone numbers work, the most significant part of the number is
first (<country-code> <area-code> <local-number>) so the most significant part
(TLD) should come first in domain names. Users like systems that look like
other systems they are already used to.

\- <tld>.<domain> would help thwart phishing attacks as most users read left-
to-right, so they see right away when the domain is incorrect. Compare this to
"google.com.phishing.com" which tricks users because they stop reading after
they see "google.com..."

\- When you read or hear "go to com.myawesomedomain" you know a domain name is
being mentioned as soon as you hear "com.". It is not always obvious otherwise
(you have to use specific language like "browse to").

~~~
robbrown451
If it was com.something you have to type the com first. If "something" is
first, you by the time you get to "som" it will probably have something.com in
the dropdown list.

I would say its easiest if the most variable part is first, not only for
autofill but for the way I think about it.

When you talk about "most significant" you mean the "largest" category. To me
the actual most significant is the part that identifies the most unique thing
you are typing in, and that tends to be the domain.

~~~
erikano
Modern web browsers will complete from any start position in an URL (and some
also from the title of the document, I think). E.g. if I have visited the
Wikipedia article on irish setters and I start typing irish, it will suggest
that article. In the same fashion, if the URL was com.example and you typed
exa, it should suggest com.example.

------
stringham
That's pretty awesome.

Implemented with:

    
    
      transform: scaleX(-1);

~~~
nthitz
On my browser (Chrome, OSX), that rule was overwritten by

    
    
          transform: rotateY(180deg);
    

Which does the same thing. Presumably there is a reason?

~~~
barsonme
On both Firefox 37.0 and 41.0.2272.101 (gnu/linux x64, 3.19 yadda, yadda...)

    
    
        transform: rotateY(180deg);
    

is the cause of the change.

I'm curious which browser stringham is using.

~~~
stringham
I see the scaleX(-1) on ChromeOS (42.0.2311.60 beta) and Chrome for Android
(41.0.2272.96)

~~~
stringham
For Chrome on Linux (41.0.2272.101) I'm seeing the rotateY(180deg);

------
miander
For anyone who was wondering why Google spent so much time and money acquiring
the .google gTLD, you now have your answer!

~~~
amelius
But then they should have acquired .elgoog instead.

------
101914
When the user runs her own root, she can make tld's "disappear" by editing a
text file. She can also create new ones.

Similarly "ICANN" can "create" tld's by editing a text file. As we all know,
most users choose(?) to use dns caches run by someone else and the admins of
those caches point them at ICANN's roots.

I would guess most users are not even aware they are making that "choice".

In either case, the cost of editing a text file^W^W^W^Wproduction of a tld is
next to nothing. (Maintaining a network of globally reachable servers _and_
coercing dns cache admins at ISPs and elsewhere to use these servers is a
separate matter.)

Yet ICANN can charge exorbitant sums for "creating a new tld", i.e., editing a
text file. With relatively little work this strange "not for profit"
organization can put most YC startups to shame: 1. Edit text file 2. Profit.

How is this possible?

Here is my guess: Because most users do not know how to run their own root let
alone their own cache.

Here is my opinion: It is not difficult. 14 years ago djb made it very simple.

Of course, it is April Fools Day. Maybe I am joking and there really is
something more to it?

~~~
awalGarg
Holy shit, I almost assumed it was true...

------
kevinwang
Preempted by elgoog, though:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ElgooG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ElgooG)

Although it's down now, so i guess this is the official Google replacement

~~~
Aldo_MX

      Though originally created by All Too Flat "for fun",[1] it found practical use
      in the People's Republic of China after the domestic banning of Google, as it
      circumvented the government's firewalls.
    

Wow, that was unexpected.

------
swatkat
Reminds me of elgooG[1], which was used to bypass Chinese firewall after
Google was banned there.

[1] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ElgooG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ElgooG)

------
stringham
TLD Source:
[http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/google.html](http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/google.html)

Mirror implemented with:

    
    
      body {
        transform: scaleX(-1);
      }

~~~
failoverflow
It's actually

body { transform: rotateY(180deg); }

~~~
stringham
Using chrome, and chrome on android inspecting the source shows that it is

    
    
      transform: scaleX(-1);

~~~
timothya
failoverflow was actually right; while scaleX(-1) is present, it's overridden:
[http://i.imgur.com/mNjGE0F.png](http://i.imgur.com/mNjGE0F.png)

It doesn't matter though, both transforms have the same effect.

~~~
stringham
On my Chromebook it doesn't override it with rotateY(180deg), but it does on
my Linux machine running Chrome 41.

------
totallymike
Actually this one's pretty good.

------
ISV_Damocles
I was really hoping they had a second layer to their prank by having a search
for "Java" show java source code with the `import com.google.whatevs` be
replaced with `import whatevs.google.com`

------
jld
shouldn't it be [http://moc.elgoog](http://moc.elgoog)?

~~~
bigdubs
someone jump on the "eloog" tld stat.

------
colanderman

        $ host google.
        google has address 127.0.53.53
        google mail is handled by 10 your-dns-needs-immediate-attention.google.
    
        $ host your-dns-needs-immediate-attention.google.
        your-dns-needs-immediate-attention.google has address 127.0.53.53
        your-dns-needs-immediate-attention.google mail is handled by 10 your-dns-needs-immediate-attention.google.
    

Interesting.

~~~
zymhan
I do not understand what's happening here. How does it resolve to a 127.0
address?

~~~
colanderman
DNS A entires can resolve to any address you like; just, a 127.0 address is
not very useful. What's strange is that someone would have set google. to
point to a 127.0 address, and left that message in the MX record. (Usually
TLDs have no records.)

Though I think I figured out the puzzle:

    
    
        $ host -t TXT google. 8.8.8.8
        google descriptive text "Your DNS configuration needs immediate attention see https://icann.org/namecollision"
    

[https://icann.org/namecollision](https://icann.org/namecollision) gives some
interesting information.

------
cxseven
For all of you feeling that the huge expansion of gTLDs is incautious, wait
till you get a load of unicode in DNS:
[http://unicode.org/faq/idn.html](http://unicode.org/faq/idn.html)

Oh yes, and this is happening in gTLDs now, too.

I'm amazed how many places unicode has been jammed in without regard for how
utterly unlike ASCII and left-to-right plaintext it is. Check out the vertical
text overflowing its boundaries in Youtube comments. Also look at how
Youtube's attempts to block keywords from spam are evaded by lookalike
characters.

I suspect unicode's keepers won't be satisfied unless it can render any
monochrome bitmap via a cryptic formatting language the rest of us still
naively treat as plaintext in order to slap a "localizable" label on our
software.

~~~
guillon
Come on...give the ICANN (or the next governing body) 20 more years to fix
this and we should make it. Internet is only 25 years old and new gTLDs are
celebrating their first year of anniversary.

------
BurningFrog
Someone explain how this works!!

EDIT: I understand the mirroring, but not the DNS.

There isn't really a .google TLD, right??

~~~
adamnemecek
> There isn't really a .google TLD, right??

There is. For I think ~$250K you can get a .burningfrog TLD too.

~~~
BurningFrog
Aha!

Time for a Kickstarter!

------
probably_wrong
Weren't all April fools' posts supposed to be placed on the other thread?
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9302010](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9302010)

------
bwag
They really should have purchased the tld elgoog just for this prank.

~~~
temuze
That'd be a 185,000 dollar prank!

------
thebouv
Doesn't work in Safari. It searches for com.google instead. Confirmed with
Safari that has Google as search engine and one that has DuckDuckGo as search
engine.

~~~
profmonocle
Seems to work if you include [http://](http://) or [https://](https://) when
typing the URL. (only tested on OSX, not iOS)

~~~
thebouv
Ah, I never do that manually, so didn't think to try it.

------
empressplay
I wonder if this is going to stay up? It's actually a good exercise for the
brain to read and write in mirror. Hey, it worked for Da Vinci...!

~~~
harperlee
When my grandfather was bored, he turned books upside down and started reading
from there :)

------
bzalasky
Unfortunately, com.google doesn't support the "do a barrel roll" command. That
kind of attention to detail would have impressed me.

~~~
josu
It actually does something similar

~~~
bzalasky
Maybe my wife typed in in wrong when I told her to try it. Or some
enterprising Googler decided to be an MVP and push out a new release.

------
msoad
all they did is

    
    
        body {
          transform: rotateY(180deg);
        }

------
Sephr
[http://nic.google](http://nic.google) has been up since they owned the
domain.

------
baddox
In case you're wondering, yes, there are custom TLDs now. They're called
gTLDs.

[http://www.thedomains.com/2012/06/13/google-applies-
for-101-...](http://www.thedomains.com/2012/06/13/google-applies-for-101-new-
gtlds-amazon-77-microsoft-11-apple-1/)

~~~
danellis
There have been gTLDs forever. You might have heard of .com, for example.

Since 2011, the registration process for gTLDs has been opened up.

~~~
baddox
I had it in my head that those were called "core TLDs" and were separate from
gTLDs, but Wikipedia agrees with you.

------
jbert
Huh - the other domains in *.google are hitting a default page. Perhaps the
most-robustly-hosted apache default page in the world?

[http://foo.google/](http://foo.google/)

[http://wewjfkenf.google/](http://wewjfkenf.google/)

------
christop
The question is: what is "CriOS"?

Edit: Ah, it seems to be used in the "Chrome for iOS" user agent string.

Weird that it can't handle iframes(?). Or what's the reason for the JS on
com.google that redirects only the "CriOS" user agent to www.google.com
without framing?

~~~
jeremydw
Generally, on pages/domains where you may provide users with a sign in box
(such as the Google Accounts login page), you want to disallow other sites
from iframing your page to prevent a clickjacking attack –
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clickjacking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clickjacking)

So Google.com busts out of cross-domain iframes by default to prevent attacks
like this.

~~~
christop
Sure, and Google normally does disable iframing — the particular URL that
com.google frames is configured to not serve the X-Frame-Options HTTP,
allowing this trick to work. Clicking "Sign In" breaks out of the frame
(target="_top").

But that goes for all browsers — I wonder why is Chrome for iOS is being
singled out here?

~~~
kion
Chrome on iOS has some input handling issues inside the iframe.

------
1234567890123
Rest of the .google pages (like a.google) show the nginx start page. Sounds
like a last minute idea to host com.google. Even com.google uses an iframe
with src google.com?igu=2

~~~
JosephRedfern
That's because *.google points to 127.0.53.53, aka your loopback device - so
the nginx start page is coming from your machine!

    
    
       ➜  ~  dig a a.google                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
       
       ; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> a a.google
       ;; global options: +cmd
       ;; Got answer:
       ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 32515
       ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
    
       ;; QUESTION SECTION:
       ;a.google.			IN	A
    
       ;; ANSWER SECTION:
       a.google.		600	IN	A	127.0.53.53
       
       ;; Query time: 31 msec
       ;; SERVER: 192.168.1.254#53(192.168.1.254)
       ;; WHEN: Wed Apr  1 12:34:27 2015
       ;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 42

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Oh, it's a loopback domain? Did they register it for the same reason as .dev,
purely to avoid reconfiguring their Intranet? :/

------
ryan_j_naughton
Despite having the same google.com cookies, it doesn't show me as logged in. I
guess they didn't have time to finish that in their UI reversal/mirroring.

~~~
Noodep
It doesn't show you logged in because it's hosted on com.google, not
goole.com.

As for the UI it's a simple css transfom: scaleX(-1) on the body. It's not a
specific 'reverse' UI.

------
praeivis
google could buy 1st level domain elgoog and then fool us with moc.elgoog

------
deviousfrog
I like how any other .google domain leads to a default IIS page

------
mslot
Surprisingly, google points to a 127.0.0.0/8 address.

~~~
dchest
Nothing surprising: it was agreed that new gTLDs can't be naked.

------
damian2000
Wow, search results are also mirrored, impressive!

------
aceperry
Ouch, that hurts just looking at it.

------
bradezone
Shouldn't it be moc.elgoog ?

------
mdekkers
deyalp llew

~~~
sharjeel
on

------
crorella
I was expecting moc.elgoog

------
chetanjadhav31
That's so cool

------
mkinsella
slooF lirpA yppaH

