The PRE game fun...

[Brody McKee]

* must mean: "Windows Vista Ultimate"

^ Guess the winner of the game will win a free copy of Microsoft Vista Ultimate.

Whilst I think that it's likely a pun on Vista Ultimate, simply recieving that as a grand prize isn't what I'd expect... I see something a million times grander - as many times greater as there are stars in the... or grains of sand on a beach.

I think people shouldn't have hit back at your suggestion as rudely/harshly as they did.

Hey, LaughingSquid got an Acer Ferrari laptop from MS with Vista Ultimate and the Loki letter inside.

Update 3: Microsoft Sent A Free Laptop With Windows Vista

Guess this pretty much cinches the link between this game and MS Vista.

Nice laptop, btw. My hubby bought one last Christmas. Makes a the sound of the car's engine when you turn it on. Mmmmmmmm, nice.

And all he can talk about is Apple. Microsoft should have sent it to someone that deserves it, not someone that is more excited about Leopard. What about Paul Thurott or Mary J Foley - someone that posts about Microsoft.

AND... Does anyone think that it's strange to see that the Seattle, Washington timer runs out just before the Vista launch??? Seattle/Redmond being Microsofts home ground...

Edited December 27, 2006 by mrmckeb

[osirisX]

MS are now sending out free laptops for this thing? Well MS, if you feel so inclined you can send me one :p

[Karl Sheldon]

Hmmm, Interesting - Hey Microsoft can we all have a free laptop ? Or even a copy of Vista Ultimate - Even just email a valid activation key and I'll gladly take time to download a copy. Thanks in advance.

Back to the VanishingPoint.

It could be something extra than just Vista Ultimate - what are the ultimate extras they have been promising, it is likely than less than a thousand have seen them.

Also Microsoft research has been working on a 3d photo viewer that fits nicely with the concepts in this puzzle , the demo is fun but a polished version would be awesome - could that have a connection with this. Microsoft has been very busy and has a lot of new software to present at the moment, it would not have been hard to hide another item from the world with all this activity in house and in public - Any ideas ?

And a big hug to the guys at unFiction its nice to see co-operation amongst peoples for a change - too much rivalry and bitching normally with things like this, given the prize is sure to be big and as it looks anyone who takes a part could win here in some way this is great to see and experience.

Keep it all up its real fun and I just wish I had a box to check out and add to the party, alas I doubt MS know who or where I am even if they can make up puzzles like these finding me would for sure be a big puzzle just now - but good luck - if your feeling lucky 42 /MS send me a prezzie !

[Ace1and11]

Wow just over a thousand post in...what...the last 6 days...

[novastar]

Microsoft wouldn't hire a company to create a campaign for a photo viewer

[Karl Sheldon]

Novastart -

I don't think it would just be the photoviewer - but if it was part of a bigger project (Photosynth) or even just a link or clue to solve moving to something else. What if all these clues lead us to some add on extras for Vista, the viewer could be one, but there will for sure be many. Then again may be the winner will see all the places listed and have a photo shoot at them all for inclusion with the program.

I know its unlikely but sometime you just need to think out of the box, there will be people out there listening who are connected to this who may well give us a further nudge in the correct direction if we wander too far away or come kinda close so any comments help do they not.

Just a thought how many have seen Photosynth > not seen a beta anyplace and so why not, if it had there 3d image creation stuff in it it would sure top photoshop and don't forget photoshop cs 3 is due soon they need some publicity (MS) for there image software or it could just be swallowed by all the Vista Hype.

I think Vista here may be a red herring though as its just too simple a thing to head for.

Thoughts

[JennJenn]

Hey :)

Just a quick note. Just popping in from Unfiction to say I look forward to working with you all on this :) My username on there is Jenna, and I'll be at the London meet all being well.

[factoid]

wow, I dont check for a day and theres like 20 more pages...

good job all.

by the way, where was the hires version of the video posted?

[Ace1and11]

I have a hunch and if I'm right this could be the new cipher...Unfortunately there is no decrypter key for it, I'll start working on it in the morning... but if anyone wants to get a head start...be my guest. Maybe someone will get lucky and find the next page. That would be something...one of my hunches leading us out of what is so far a standstill.

[konamouse]

It might help if you mentioned where you found it.

Here are the ROTs:

ROT-0 rcada-84c2wnue

ROT-1 sdbeb-84d2xovf

ROT-2 tecfc-84e2ypwg

ROT-3 ufdgd-84f2zqxh

ROT-4 vgehe-84g2aryi

ROT-5 whfif-84h2bszj

ROT-6 xigjg-84i2ctak

ROT-7 yjhkh-84j2dubl

ROT-8 zkili-84k2evcm

ROT-9 aljmj-84l2fwdn

ROT-10 bmknk-84m2gxeo

ROT-11 cnlol-84n2hyfp

ROT-12 dompm-84o2izgq

ROT-13 epnqn-84p2jahr

ROT-14 fqoro-84q2kbis

ROT-15 grpsp-84r2lcjt

ROT-16 hsqtq-84s2mdku

ROT-17 itrur-84t2nelv

ROT-18 jusvs-84u2ofmw

ROT-19 kvtwt-84v2pgnx

ROT-20 lwuxu-84w2qhoy

ROT-21 mxvyv-84x2ripz

ROT-22 nywzw-84y2sjqa

ROT-23 ozxax-84z2tkrb

ROT-24 payby-84a2ulsc

ROT-25 qbzcz-84b2vmtd

Edited December 27, 2006 by konamouse

[Brody McKee]

It might help if you mentioned where you found it.

That's what I was thinking...

...What if all these clues lead us to some add on extras for Vista, the viewer could be one, but there will for sure be many...

Sounds plausible, I also thought about this earlier on. What if Microsoft is going to unveil more about Vista than anyone could ever have imagined? Well, more than we expected.

- Photo/Video applications?

- GUI addons (see Stardocks secret project)?

- Games (we have been told to expect more)?

- A music editing application?

[Doug Stockwell]

Checking my RSS today, I noticed Mitch Denny has a key. Probably new. http://notgartner.wordpress.com/2006/12/27...0-the-unboxing/

[konamouse]

Checking my RSS today, I noticed Mitch Denny has a key. Probably new. http://notgartner.wordpress.com/2006/12/27...0-the-unboxing/

cipherkey4 according to his post (same one inzenity got). But more importantly, he got a laptop. Looks like they are sending them to bloggers.

/me thinks about starting a blog.......

Edited December 27, 2006 by konamouse

[Doug Stockwell]

Oh, I got the box from Loki in the mail and had been solving it but got stuck on the sound file until reading this thread.

You got the box with the immortalizeme key? Did you get the same video as the others? Any other details?

Edited December 27, 2006 by Doug Stockwell

[malcolmst]

Just had a thought about the picross puzzle (3scap3grav1ty) that was solved. The puzzle is 20 squares across (the same as the original 20x3 message), and the solution is binary so could include a cipher key.

using the first 3 lines of the picross doesn't look so hopeful, but I haven't tried any letter/key rotations on it.

cipher key:

00000000000010000000

01010101100110110110

01111111001100101111

results in:

gvz16c0enym33o6qj-odw;-loe

Just a random thought...

[maygaess]

Just had a thought about the picross puzzle (3scap3grav1ty) that was solved. The puzzle is 20 squares across (the same as the original 20x3 message), and the solution is binary so could include a cipher key.

using the first 3 lines of the picross doesn't look so hopeful, but I haven't tried any letter/key rotations on it.

cipher key:

00000000000010000000

01010101100110110110

01111111001100101111

results in:

gvz16c0enym33o6qj-odw;-loe

Just a random thought...

it is too long a word for being a key.. as any 15-letter long word, doesnt result in anything when input to the vanishingpointgame.com site

[malcolmst]

it is too long a word for being a key.. as any 15-letter long word, doesnt result in anything when input to the vanishingpointgame.com site

Hmm... ok. looks like they'd all be too long then

[Doug Stockwell]

Just had a thought about the picross puzzle (3scap3grav1ty) that was solved. The puzzle is 20 squares across (the same as the original 20x3 message), and the solution is binary so could include a cipher key.

using the first 3 lines of the picross doesn't look so hopeful, but I haven't tried any letter/key rotations on it.

cipher key:

00000000000010000000

01010101100110110110

01111111001100101111

results in:

gvz16c0enym33o6qj-odw;-loe

Just a random thought...

I did some quick analysis. The only 4 letter or longer word I could find (from a US English dictionary) in that sequence was "edvpdn [bodice] okf", and this was after rot:12, shift:2, num:2, and reversing the string.

[konamouse]

So neat to see all the speculating going on in here. But you may not want to overthink this.

There is a definate pattern that has been set up. Puzzle boxes & laptops -> message w/ a cipher key. Solve the cipher, input the key, get a puzzle. Solve the puzzle you get a page of information.

I'm pretty confident that 42 doesn't go off on tangents with their puzzles. Be careful with 'red herrings'.

[Bei337]

Do the laptops have hidden messages in them?

[Doug Stockwell]

I have a hunch and if I'm right this could be the new cipher...Unfortunately there is no decrypter key for it, I'll start working on it in the morning... but if anyone wants to get a head start...be my guest. Maybe someone will get lucky and find the next page. That would be something...one of my hunches leading us out of what is so far a standstill.

-- snipped image --

These are simply parts of the cipher which have not yet been used in a key. I think this approach will not work because as we have already seen, some keys do overlap.

[konamouse]

Do the laptops have hidden messages in them?

The folks who have reported getting laptops have gotten Loki's letter with the laptop. And then they get a puzzle box with the same letter, the USB card (that has the movie and the cipherkey) according to what we have seen posted so far. I suspect we'll see more of the same show up online over the next week (hence "search" for the tag "vanishingpoint" and we'll find people posting about their new laptops from MS marketing and strange puzzle boxes).

I think the laptops have Vista Ultimate on them.....is that what you mean by a hidden message? :whistle:

[Bei337]

I think the laptops have Vista Ultimate on them.....is that what you mean by a hidden message? :whistle:

I was thinking more along the line of hidden .txt files, etc.

[Moroz]

dude thats not fair i want a laptop to or something how come frog gets a box and then a laptop?

i am realy jelous. and people from vanishingpoint.com if you read this send me something k ty in adwance :D

[Bei337]

dude thats not fair i want a laptop to or something how come frog gets a box and then a laptop?

i am realy jelous. and people from vanishingpoint.com if you read this send me something k ty in adwance :D

Maybe when you learn to spell or not spam it every 2 pages. :rolleyes: