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2005 → 2026

The strange life of a blue button

A small piece of the old web disappeared. Twenty-one years later, it was rebuilt from the file that survived.

A four-minute journey through the joke, the mystery and the restoration.

What we know

The short version

Origins

Documented online by 2005, the original Flash page did almost nothing: one blue button played an absurd sound while the browser window shook.

Restoration

The surviving SWF was analysed to recover its button images, audio and the exact timeline of 166 shakes. Web Audio now reproduces the sequence without a Flash plugin.

Context

Accessibility, 51 languages, the global click counter and the supporter list are modern additions. The empty white page and its strange joke remain intact.

Chapter 1 · 2005

2005: a blue button appears

Nobody knows exactly who made it. But by May 2005, a Flash file named www.teuteuteu.com.swf was already waiting on a Free.fr personal page.

The page asked visitors to turn up their speakers and press one glossy blue button. The sound started, the browser window shook, and the joke was complete.

The short versionThe surviving movie contains 4,494 frames and 166 calls to shake the window.

Examine the evidence6 evidence files
Context

boulet.swf · premierecompagnie.free.fr

  • Last-Modified: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 09:15:13 GMT
  • Flash 6 · 800 × 600 · 12 fps

Direct sources

3 Feb – 15 Mar 2005Context

Tuningo · Répondeur Téléphonique · Magikmobile

  • Extreme-DM: soneries
  • repondeurtelephonique.magikmobile.com

Direct sources

Confirmed

www.teuteuteu.com.swf

  • Last-Modified: Sat, 07 May 2005 09:31:01 GMT
  • SHA-256: 74da8efc7fa5f64b1f038863fb097ea7d1dca13942b1e0ad90c68b9d376068b5
  • Flash 6 · 550 × 400 · 60 fps · 4,494 frames · 166 shake calls
  • MP3 · 44.1 kHz · stereo · 128 kbit/s

Direct sources

Context

www.lagrenouillefolle.com.swf

  • Last-Modified: Mon, 30 May 2005 10:29:46 GMT
  • Flash 6 · 400 × 300 · 12 fps · 2,061 frames

Direct sources

Confirmed

teuteuteu.com · HTML + JavaScript

  • Last-Modified: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 21:43:40 GMT
  • shake_xy · shake_x · shake_y
  • Extreme-DM: tututete
  • Pop-under: tuningo.com

Direct sources

Confirmed

Earliest surviving public capture

  • Memento-Datetime: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 23:58:31 GMT
  • HTTP 200 · text/html
  • SWF host: premierecompagnie.free.fr

Direct sources

Chapter 2 · 2006–2008

The link escapes into the wild

People began hiding the address inside forum posts and sending it to friends. Opening the link meant noise, surprise and a browser window that refused to stay still.

French, German and English-speaking communities passed the joke around. Nobody needed an explanation: the blue button did all the work.

The short versionForum messages preserved the experience more reliably than its creator's identity.

Examine the evidence3 evidence files
Mar – May 2006Confirmed

Tuningo → removed · Répondeur Téléphonique → removed

  • 14 Mar 2006: Tuningo pop-under absent
  • 13 May 2006: Répondeur Téléphonique link absent
  • Core SWF experience preserved

Direct sources

2006–2007Context

Contemporary forum circulation

  • Music identified as Scooter — Maria (I Like It Loud)
  • Window shaking discussed as Flash + JavaScript

Direct sources

Context

premierecompagnie.free.fr/jeux/

  • Dozens of archived SWF and Adobe Director files
  • Collection evidence, not an author portfolio

Direct sources

Chapter 3 · 2010–2014

Then, silence

Flash declined, browsers blocked pop-ups, and the original page faded away. The domain remained, but the absurd little machine stopped working.

Between 2010 and 2014, visitors found a parked domain instead of the button. Years of links still pointed to a joke that no longer existed.

The short versionThe page disappeared, but thousands of old links kept its memory alive.

Examine the evidence2 evidence files
2010–2014Confirmed

GoDaddy domain parking

  • 2010: parked page
  • 2012: parked page + domain sale prompt
  • 2014: mcc.godaddy.com parking infrastructure

Direct sources

2011–2012Investigative lead

tomware → premierecompagnie.free.fr

  • 2011: first-person desk photos hosted on the Free.fr account
  • 2012: personal image hosted on the same account
  • Hardware.fr account registered 21 Apr 2004
  • Later access does not establish 2005 authorship

Direct sources

Chapter 4 · 2020–2023

The domain's other lives

After an abandoned period, the address returned with content unrelated to the old Flash joke. A French editorial blog occupied it from 2021 to 2023.

Registry records show a new registration cycle, privacy protection and different infrastructure. They document the domain, not a connection to the original creator.

The short versionA domain name can survive while the site behind it becomes something completely different.

Examine the evidence3 evidence files
Confirmed

New registry cycle

  • Created: 2020-12-07T09:52:13Z
  • Registrar: Internet Domain Service BS Corp. · IANA 2487
  • Nameservers: ns1.ibspark.com · ns2.ibspark.com

Direct sources

2021–2023Confirmed

Unrelated French editorial blog

  • Publisher: Pig Web · RCS Évreux 848 781 845
  • Host named in legal notice: OVH
  • Publisher does not prove domain ownership

Direct sources

Confirmed

Privacy-protected WHOIS snapshot

  • Registrant proxy: Whois Privacy Corp.
  • Updated: 2023-12-08T11:14:41Z
  • Expires: 2024-12-07T09:52:13Z
  • DNSSEC: unsigned

Direct sources

Chapter 5 · 2026

2026: the button returns

The surviving SWF was taken apart frame by frame. Its button images, MP3 audio and exact sequence of 166 shakes became the blueprint for a modern reconstruction.

Flash is gone, so the restoration uses modern browser standards. The empty page, the blue button and the ridiculous surprise remain.

The short versionThe new version preserves the experience without pretending to be its original author.

Examine the evidence2 evidence files
Confirmed

New Verisign registry cycle

  • Registration: 2026-07-10T09:36:01Z
  • Registrar: Tucows Domains Inc.
  • DNS: Vercel

Direct sources

Confirmed

Modern preservation

  • Next.js · React · Web Audio
  • Original button assets, audio and 166-event shake sequence
  • Accessibility · 51 locales · global counter · supporter stream

Direct sources

What remains unknown

Who made teuteuteu.com?

The trail ends before it reaches a name. We can document the files, the hosting account and later users, but none of them identifies the person who created the joke in 2005.

The strongest lead
premierecompagnie.free.fr → tomware (2011–2012)
What remains unknown
No reliable public source found so far identifies the 2005 registrant or creator. The SWF host premierecompagnie.free.fr is a clue, not proof.

Technical evidence

What we know

Confirmed

The surviving movie contains 4,494 frames and 166 calls to shake the window.

Context

In 2006 and 2007, contemporary forum discussions show the page circulating among French-speaking web users.

By 2010, the original Flash experience had disappeared and the domain was a GoDaddy parking page.

Investigative lead

No reliable public source found so far identifies the 2005 registrant or creator. The SWF host premierecompagnie.free.fr is a clue, not proof.