Google has the most entertaining bugs...

[jducoeur]

Okay, here's an experiment looking for some more data points. This is a picture of me, on Google+. Can you see this page; are you currently logged in to Google+ (or for that matter, Google in general); and are you Google+ friends with Hugh Taverner?

The reason I ask is that I can only see the picture if I am *not* logged into G+ -- if I am logged in, I get a 404 error. I'm trying to nail down the circumstances in which this 404 happens: whether being logged into Google services in general causes it, whether you have to have a G+ account, and whether being in Hugh's circles is relevant. (There's no deep agenda here -- I'm mostly idly curious what's going on, and might submit a bug report if I can nail down the recipe.)

It's obviously a bug in Google+. I have a nasty feeling that somebody got an if/then clause precisely wrong somewhere, although it's entirely plausible that Google is trying to do something excessively clever when I am logged in, and screwing it up...

Comments

[etherial.livejournal.com]

I can see the picture while logged into Google+. I have circled Hugh.

[mermaidlady]

I do not have a Google+ account. I can see your picture. Heck, I can see all of them.

[lanome.livejournal.com]

I can see it, logged in, and I am friends with Hugh.

[fredrickegerman.livejournal.com]

Ditto.

[vortexofchaos.livejournal.com]

Yes, to seeing the page/image through the link, yes, for being currently logged in to G+, and no to being a friend to Hugh Taverner.

[crschmidt.livejournal.com]

Same.

[mindways]

I can see the picture while not logged into G+, while logged into my normal account, or while logged into an account that has nobody in circles.

[mindways]

(My normal account does not have Hugh in circles.)

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

Can see all of them, including some gifs. Thanks for the link. I don't have a G+ account, and am not currently logged into google at all.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

It is prompting me to provide facial recognition data.

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

I can see it. I DO NOT HAVE A Google+ account, so I have NO Google+ friends. BTW, you've lost weight since we last met, and we're wearing similar beards and hair again. Looks like we're re-twinning. :)

[gyzki.livejournal.com]

I can see your picture, and lots more besides. I am not on Google+, not linked to Hugh (but always happy to see him).

[talvinm.livejournal.com]

I avoid G+ like the plague: no G+ account.

I am able to see it logged into Google.

I am able to see it from a separate browser that has no access to my google account info. (Not logged in, and not caching.)

In both cases I am able to navigate up to see the entire album.

[talvinm.livejournal.com]

INTERESTING! And not in a good way.

I have no problem accessing it with Firefox on my Mac, nor any problems with Safari on the same machine.

However, if I click on the same link in the official LJ app, I get sent to a 404 page.

So I copied the link and tried it in my iPad's Safari App. I got a 400 error. Not 404, just 400 (which IIRC is a more generic)

[talvinm.livejournal.com]

One more bit: Googling "Google 404 iPad" shows similar errors being reported over the span of a couple years. I don't read High Geek (only Middle and Low Geek), so some of this is past me. You are the expert in High Geek, some of the hits might mean more to you.

[jducoeur]

Interesting. It does sound like someone is doing Something Terribly Clever, which is biting them on the ass...

[ilaine-dcmrn.livejournal.com]

Using LJ ipad client, which is not logged in to google, I get 404

[ilaine-dcmrn.livejournal.com]

I am logged into google+ via the dedicated ios app on this device. There is no Hugh in my circles. There should be no crosscommunication betwixt the two, so results are interesting in conjunction with results posted to other comments.

[jducoeur]

Yeah -- good to know that it's not just me, but the data points are weirdly scattered so far. I still have no idea what the correlation is...

[palegreyminion.livejournal.com]

I can see it. I am logged in, I have Hugh in my circles. I could see it when I was not logged in as well.

tested from Safari 7.0.1 on an iMac

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

I can see the picture, I am logged in, I am not friends with Hugh.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Ditto.

[juan-gandhi.livejournal.com]

I see it both in logged in mode and when not logged in.

[serakit.livejournal.com]

I can see it and I'm simultaneously logged in under several straight-up Gmail accounts (and am using Chrome), but I have no G+ account and no involvement with Hugh.

[laurion]

I can see it logged in to Google, Hugh is not in my circles. All I can think is that your logged in status is redirecting you to a different cache server which doesn't yet have the image somehow.

[dlevey.livejournal.com]

I cannot see this, or any, picture on the page.
I do not use Google+. I do not have a Google account.

[umbran.livejournal.com]

I do not have Hugh in my circles.

In Chrome, logged in to Google, I see a picture of you.

In IE, not logged in, I am given an album page, on which that single picture can be found.