Bloggers freak out over free laptops, missing big picture

So I'm insanely curious. Over the past several days, word of bloggers getting free laptops from Microsoft and AMD has lit the blogosphere on fire. Apparently if you got one and didn't disclose it, you're a dirty, filthy liar. Me, I'm wondering if there's a reason why they aren't disclosing it, and if it's at all related to the Vanishing Point game. Supposedly, letters from Loki are coming with them, and there's a couple of different groups of people ... encoders and decoders. We're supposed to be seeking out these people, but maybe some of them have a reason for remaining quiet for the time being. These bloggers are being recruited into the game and perhaps some of them don't even realize it.

That hasn't stopped people from grousing about the laptops and claiming bribery and unfair treatment with hardly a mention of the game they're connected to. Curious. Sure, they're "gifts" to help promote Windows Vista, but come on ... let's have a little fun with it.

I have managed to figure out part of the game, or at least, I think I have. A note from Loki suggests that the one winner will be immortalized, and will be one of less than a thousand people to see the Ultimate Vista. Of course, most people think this means that people will win Vista Ultimate. Suckers. I dug a little deeper, and noticed that one of the keycodes was "3scap3grav1ty" (escapegravity), and that the equations shown in a video provided by Loki look like calculations for Escape Velocity, which is the speed you need to achieve to break away from the Earth's gravitational pull and travel into space. Of course, it all ties into the idea of a Vanishing Point, which is the name of the game. Curiouser.

The only "ultimate vista" that less than a thousand people have seen is a view of Earth from outer space. Sounds like one lucky person will win a trip into space, probably to the International Space Station.

I wonder if the bloggers will freak out over this "bribe".