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Little Gray Box in Gmail Makes TechCrunch Cower In Fear!

techcrunch.com — Why is that little box there? Why is it an iFrame? What does it do? Does it belong this this universe? Are we nuts?

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  • Yusayoh, on 07/06/2008, -3/+75Yes, some are certainly nuts. It's a gray box, it's an iframe, oh *****!
    • cawpin, on 07/07/2008, -3/+13FTA - "nor right-click on it."

      ***** you can't. I just did.
      • teh_techie, on 07/07/2008, -0/+6I can right click on it, but you don't get any info from it directly... it's from the underlying frame
      • Loonacy, on 07/07/2008, -0/+6That's what the DOM inspector is for.
    • 5urr3al5am, on 07/07/2008, -2/+13@blog author -- way to much time on your hands dude
    • ChileanGoD, on 07/08/2008, -1/+4Remember the movie "The Net" with Sandra Bullock and the pi sing on webpages?
      • filefly, on 07/08/2008, -0/+9I read that as "Sandra Bullock pissing on webpages"
    • Wakuko, on 07/08/2008, -2/+1Everybody knows TC is full of M$ shills who try to discredit Google posting crap like that in order to spread FUD.

      You should see all the fear mongering about Yahoo going on right now at TC licking Icahn's balls and ballmer's ass. They were reporting every guy that left Yahoo from the janitor to the valet parking guy, FUD everywhere.

      Mike Arrington is making millions milking M$ unethical propaganda tactics to the expense of his credibility, which right now is, well, none.
      • Narpas, on 07/08/2008, -2/+1Um. Where was the FUD? It's a little weird thing and now I'm curious too.
    • skealoha86, on 07/08/2008, -2/+1wow, that's going to ***** annoy me forever now..........
  • orangebluedevil, on 07/07/2008, -7/+14i was JUST looking at this and trying to figure out what the F. If it's an attempt to make it look like a sheet of paper like some people say then they failed because it looks like crap
    • ikrit2006, on 07/07/2008, -1/+18AJAX breaks the back and forward buttons, the best way to get around it is using location.hash (which Google does) but IE doesn't capture hash changes in browser history like Firefox, Safari, and Opera unless you pass hash changes through an iframe with a querystring...
      • jemka, on 07/07/2008, -2/+8You just had to ruin it didn't you?
      • skidzilla, on 07/08/2008, -1/+2Mystery Solved! Calm down internets, google isn't after your brains or emails.
  • shapew, on 07/07/2008, -6/+32oh noooo.
    Gmail is gonna get invaded by Gray dots. This is just a beginning people.
    • LSDRunner, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4Everyone had their chance to vote for Dr Paul!
  • WebWorker, on 07/07/2008, -2/+79When I Adblocked this: https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=1q ... Gmail would not load my inbox in Ajax view, but it would in the Standard HTML view. Just gonna make the leap here that it is a container for javascript purposes. It's not like they aren't already tracking you via your HTTP requests and via Google Analytics...
    • Rotzooi, on 07/07/2008, -1/+7You can annihilate Google Analytics by putting them in your hosts file and pointing them to your localhost:
      127.0.0.1 google-analytics.com
      127.0.0.1 ssl.google-analytics.com
      etc
      • snapcase, on 07/07/2008, -1/+6I didn't bother with editing my hosts file, but I have google analytics blocked via adblock.
      • sarixe, on 07/08/2008, -1/+2or just use noscript...
      • Rotzooi, on 07/08/2008, -2/+1Adblock doesn't show the blocked items to you, but most often they will still be loaded.
        Editing the hosts file will make sure you don't connect to the unwanted servers at all.
    • maverick999, on 07/08/2008, -3/+1I wonder if it has to do with their new security features that they're rolling out soon? Only time will tell.

      http://digg.com/security/New_Gmail_Feature_Remote_ ...
  • ClinicalService, on 07/07/2008, -15/+3this is better place to say anything about google and besome popular
    so what would be your next topic dear Baby
    • babychen, on 07/07/2008, -1/+2Maybe something about clinically tearing .... something? :-D
    • jawagas, on 07/07/2008, -2/+2Its just weird you called babychen 'baby'
    • jman82s, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1Riiiiiiiiight.
  • zonovo, on 07/07/2008, -2/+46Just blank iframes: js_iframe, sound_iframe, hist_iframe.
    Relax, please.
    • oddlike7, on 07/08/2008, -1/+0
      _B_record();_WaitForStyles(function(){_B_record();_WaitForIframes(top.document,["hist_frame","sound_frame","canvas_frame"],function(){_B_record();top.clearTimeout(top.loadTimeout);main()})})

      Copyright 2002-2008 Google Inc.

    • chillypacman, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2NO! TechCrunch must exploit this stupid thing to get on the frontpage of digg!
  • xmrkkr, on 07/07/2008, -2/+70might be a Praetorian access point for the Gatekeeper system ;-)
    • y3rt, on 07/07/2008, -0/+10I thought that was supposed to be the Pi symbol?
      • WELLDOITLIVE, on 07/07/2008, -0/+8Don't you have to shift-click on it? Something about Mozart?
      • subliminalurge, on 07/07/2008, -0/+6Seriously, after being exposed in a movie, you don't think they'd pick a new symbol?
    • jawagas, on 07/07/2008, -0/+4ya, wasn't that a Pi symbol?
    • adidos, on 07/07/2008, -1/+7Dugg for The Net reference...what a classic!
    • czarnick420, on 07/07/2008, -0/+1HA!
  • pandemik, on 07/07/2008, -11/+0Why I love Firefox:

    Right click > This Frame > Show only this Frame
    • KaiUno, on 07/07/2008, -2/+2And thus blindly ignoring one of the greater mysteries. You're religious, aren't you.
    • alanr19, on 07/07/2008, -4/+3What I hate about digg:

      your suggestion doesn't work. the image disappears if you do that.
  • DamageInc, on 07/07/2008, -9/+143It means go outside and get a life.
  • skewl, on 07/07/2008, -13/+168It’s a camera Viacom put to spy on Gmail users
    • jessecurry, on 07/07/2008, -8/+1I actually clicked in the window and was immediately greeted by a warning from Symantec Antivirus telling me that FixCamera.exe, a trojan was detected and removed.

      Subsequent clicks in the box did not produce the same result.

      So the idea that it could have something to do with a camera may not be so far off.
    • djepik, on 07/07/2008, -3/+23O RLY?

      http://digg.com/tech_news/Do_you_see_a_black_dot_o ...
      • VivaLaUndead, on 07/08/2008, -1/+2its cool man....i dugg urs the first time.
    • ElbertF, on 07/07/2008, -2/+14Wait, did you steal my comment from Techcrunch? :(
    • VivaLaUndead, on 07/08/2008, -1/+10Congrats on being the 12th person this week to post this "clever" comment.
    • biznatch11, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3djepik had much better delivery and used a better analogy; In the case of Viacom asking for the user records from YouTube, Google is providing the records at Viacoms request. Therefore djepik's description of the grey box being put there "at Viacom's request" is more appropriate than saying that Viacom were the ones to actually put the box there.
  • ChayesFSS, on 07/07/2008, -9/+3It's going to allow you to rip the sheet of mail off and Digg it, didn't you hear, google just bought digg
  • monkeyrun, on 07/07/2008, -9/+3lol. if they are really spying on us they'll certainly put in "display:none"
  • trevah, on 07/07/2008, -15/+16Who the ***** cares?
    • stephantabor, on 07/08/2008, -1/+3Who cares? Everybody. I'm petitioning Namco to make it a playable character in Soulcalibur IV.
  • cerealjynx, on 07/07/2008, -4/+196it's the exp bar, it turns green when you level up in real life.
    • donald347, on 07/08/2008, -0/+10You can do that? I must be level 1... How do you collect exp?
      • Remmiz, on 07/08/2008, -0/+30Kill people.
      • Nauru, on 07/08/2008, -0/+7Oh, the life lessons you learn from video games.
      • ChristianMagic, on 07/08/2008, -2/+6No, that can't be right, I haven't *twitch* leveled up yet *twitch*
      • transform100, on 07/08/2008, -1/+1oh so that's why it's illegal!
  • magneteye, on 07/07/2008, -13/+8NOT THIS AGAIN!

    buried.
  • semaphoreblock, on 07/07/2008, -1/+51It indicates that Gmail has a sticky backside.
  • isuisorisuaint, on 07/07/2008, -4/+14gray boxes....serious business.
  • alanr19, on 07/07/2008, -8/+2It provides traffic data to that little NSA/FBI data room in mountain view.

    Don't think it exists? Google it (ironically enough). It has an anti-tinfoil hat gamma ray resonator integrated to buffer over flow the gif decoder in your browser. It works like the "voices in your head weapon" story that was on here yesterday.

    Also page curl graphics are soooooo 1998 guys. c'mon now.
  • madponyboy, on 07/07/2008, -7/+4its where the internet comes from...
  • MacHarborGuy, on 07/07/2008, -8/+4stop the presses, Google made 4 iframes look like a page curl
  • fungifred, on 07/07/2008, -0/+59I was pretty sure that was a frame that they use to ensure that the back button continues to function as expected when they do all the AJAX wizardry that makes gmail so good. Without that, clicking back would not take you from reading an email to the inbox, it would take you back to the last real webpage you were on.
    • ModernGeek, on 07/07/2008, -0/+30Finally, an explanation that actually makes sense. Talk about terrible signal:noise ratio.
      • diggcommentguy, on 07/08/2008, -0/+5but it has a crazy good noise:signal ratio.
      • sarixe, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2@diggcommentguy: large, sure, but not necessarily good.
    • RMSzero, on 07/08/2008, -0/+0That functionality has worked for years. Why the gray dot now?
  • manacit2, on 07/07/2008, -1/+6flikr has it too when you click all sizes on a picture (at least in firefox), I'm sure its just javascript/ajax stuff.. No idea why everyone is making such a big deal about it.
  • ataylor32, on 07/07/2008, -6/+1I love the description: "Does it belong this this universe?"
  • imspacevanman, on 07/07/2008, -0/+51From the comments on TechCrunch:

    "It’s definitely coming from their “invisible” iframes. It looks like someone changed some styling recently and forgot to zero out the borders on their “invfr” class. What you’re seeing are the borders of a 0px tall, 0px wide iframe — several, actually, stacked in the upper left corner. This accounts for why the “graphics” look different in Firefox and Safari, since they render default iframe borders with different shades of gray."

    That about sums it up.
    • silent7seven, on 07/08/2008, -1/+12Add to CSS:
      iframe { border:none; }

      Zing! Fixed. Google, that one is free, but next time I'm going to need a gracious job offer.
  • beerncheese, on 07/07/2008, -5/+4Pretty sure it is a webcam.
  • mdman, on 07/07/2008, -8/+6who cares? this is stupid and lame... and worthy of front page digg
  • qber, on 07/07/2008, -1/+5The gray box is not an image, it's due to how firefox does iframe borders. So the question is what's in the iframe.
  • saboola, on 07/07/2008, -1/+86I clicked on the little gray box and vanished .... I woke to find myself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not my own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. My only guide on this journey was Larry Page, who appears in the form of a hologram that only I can see and hear. And so I find myself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that my next leap will be the leap home. Which it was, then I posted this digg comment.
    • bweltondav, on 07/07/2008, -0/+23After reading your comment I went into Gmail and clicked the box. Just to be sure.

      AND BOY WAS HE RIGHT!
    • TnTBass, on 07/08/2008, -0/+4Oh boy...
    • Rapter09, on 07/08/2008, -0/+1Scott Bakula, take me home!

      (btw, don't ever Google Image search Scott Bakula to remind yourself if you're thinking of the right guy. Apparently he was an underwear model?!)
    • mechnoch, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2Ziggy says to click the little gray box.
  • vbullinger, on 07/07/2008, -2/+19It's one of two things...

    1) A subtle om nom (zoom in: it's jagged, like a mouth)
    2) Since it doesn't show up in IE7, it may be a secret access point into Firefox's secret website that helps train people how to take down Microsoft.
  • wiretapped, on 07/07/2008, -1/+8They're onto us, did you realise its only Digg users who have gray boxes on Gmail?
  • Awsumthx, on 07/07/2008, -3/+1Am I seriously the only one that noticed this like a month ago?
    I even feel like it's been there forever, I just thought it was a browser error.
    • idiotkings, on 07/07/2008, -0/+2Yeah, well, I listened to little gray box when they were still playing the bar scene.
    • Fordi, on 07/07/2008, -0/+1Nah, I saw it and figured out its origin around then (firefox crashed with only it visible, so I figured I'd look into it.)
  • vinceislegend, on 07/07/2008, -3/+32http://flyingredhorses.com/GalleryImages/BigGrayBo ...

    Where is your God now?
    • Cimlite, on 07/07/2008, -0/+30Lame... it's just a regular gray box, does not have a diagonal line through it.

      Obviously, you have not understood what makes Google's gray box so horrific.
  • serif69, on 07/07/2008, -2/+26I really didn't intend to read this seriously, given the description, but I took a look at it and it's pretty easy to explain. Google uses iframes as a means to include things on a page similar to the way one might use includes on a PHP page. Since AJAX doesn't really give the ability to include things in the usual ways, on the playground was where I spent most of my days, chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool,and all shootin some b-ball outside of the school. And between you and me, something amazing happened... and now I can talk to animals! It's really cool, but totally secret. And you know what? Life's never been the same.
    • vitriolage, on 07/07/2008, -0/+10God dammit, who has the remote?
    • Foamator, on 07/07/2008, -0/+7Yay, Fresh Prince of Wild Thornberrys FTW!
    • NolanRey, on 07/08/2008, -0/+2I just read all of it through and only then realized it didnt make sense.

      /too stoned
    • joecastle, on 07/08/2008, -0/+0It's not unusual to Google when you don't know...
  • danlowlite, on 07/07/2008, -0/+2Web Developer firefox extension is your friend:
    "ID & class info: #hist_state #js_frame .invfr #hist_frame .invfr #sound_frame .invfr #canvas_frame .Lpuind"
    Come to your own conclusions.
  • tiiim, on 07/07/2008, -1/+1its the stuff emails are made from.
  • e68895f, on 07/07/2008, -0/+45This is a message from the year 2028. The box is now the size of Europe and still expanding... kill it before it takes out the planet !!!
  • babychen, on 07/07/2008, -1/+2It will grow into the Monolith.
  • digjam, on 07/07/2008, -6/+1GEEE Mail..!
  • chaos7, on 07/07/2008, -1/+1i see them on google.com now.. when i get search results and click on the next page links below the oooooooooooooooo in Gooooogle....i see a black dot above the o i click on. using firefox 3.
  • abyss20, on 07/07/2008, -2/+3Google TV is finally COMING!!!!
  • funk1999, on 07/07/2008, -2/+6If Sandra Bullock holds control and shift while clicking on it I bet it will open a backdoor to all of the government's super secret systems.
  • agimat, on 07/07/2008, -1/+35Everytime you click on it, Google kills a kitten.
    • Loonacy, on 07/07/2008, -0/+13Ah crap, now there's TWO ways that I'm responsible for kitten deaths.
  • NYankee2003, on 07/07/2008, -1/+5clearly it's a link to the time cube universe.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Cube
    http://www.timecube.org/
  • samuelmcm, on 07/07/2008, -0/+30I FOUND ANOTHER ONE!!

    Go to any eBay bid page scroll down and and look at the bottom left!!

    http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m388/elitesam/l ...


    ATTACK OF THE KILLER GRAY BOXES!!
  • curiousgrge, on 07/07/2008, -6/+0What grey box? I think it is from you FAP FAP FAPing too much.
  • jnava121, on 07/07/2008, -1/+42it's where you put the stamp when you send your email
  • jbrand45, on 07/07/2008, -1/+3Another classic example of the Internet making a mountain out of a molehill.

    It's a little grey box . . . who gives a *****.
  • Wartyboskfapped, on 07/07/2008, -3/+1doesn't show for me cos I use stylish.
  • Fordi, on 07/07/2008, -1/+14It's the three background portions of GMail:
    js_frame, which handles the behavior of the gmail client
    hist_frame, whose URL is changed every time you do something (but whose URLs always return a 0-byte file with mimetype text/html, so as to keep bandwidth use low)
    sound_frame, which plays the gChat noises.

    The frame you normally see is called 'canvas_frame', and is the interface portion of the application.

    They're badly skinned, mind you.

    Anyway, if they're that annoying, here's a fast fix shortcut:

    javascript:(function(){for(var i in{js_frame:0,hist_frame:0,sound_frame:0})document.getElementById(i).style.border='none';})();
  • RobbieF, on 07/07/2008, -0/+4Sounds like someone's idea of a great prank to play on the whole Internet:)

    1. Put obscure graphic / frame into Gmail.
    2. Have it do absolutely nothing except exist.
    3. Watch millions of geeks pull their hair out and go insane:)
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