Vanishing Point Goes Out With a Bang

Well, the live-blogging didn't go as I expected. It never works when I want it to. Oh well.

Microsoft threw what they told outsiders was a "Thank You, Seattle" event, and what the rest of us knew was the finale for Vanishing Point. They were easily some of the most spectacular fireworks I've ever seen, enhanced by the speculation of how the clues were imbedded in the display. After the show, Microsoft shuttled us off all Secret Squirrel-like (the busses had the windows covered in butcher paper) to Fremont Studios, where they had a relatively lavish party for the community. Plenty of laptops running Vista were on display, including one that not many people noticed ... a limited edition ASUS Tablet with a light-up Vista logo in the lid. Oh, it was a pretty, pretty machine, and I'd kill to get one.

While most of the party goers wandered the location convinced that there were more clues to be had, I took the opportunity to talk with some of the people involved with putting on the game. One of whom was Chris Aarons, the head of AMD's Community Relations department. We had a great conversation, and he's definitely someone what understands that technology buzz can be managed at a grass roots level. Eventually the conversation diverged into creating personalized experiences for consumers who are spending large sums of money on products. Why doesn't Porsche put a nameplate on the dash of their high-end cars that says that the car was designed specifically for the buyer? Why doesn't Dell do is on the high-end XPS products? It's low-cost and goes a long way towards building customer relationships as well as satisfaction and advocacy. Speaking of advocacy ... hey Chris, do you know where I can get one of those ASUS Tablets?! :)

Of course, before the in-depth marketing conversation with Chris, I was goaded by my buddy Andru into interviewing Chris on camera for The Bleeding Edge, where I asked Chris about Vanishing Point and the inscribed AMD chip prize. If I win, watch out for the special edition AMD Athlon 64 FX "SuperRob Edition" processor ... coming to a box near you!

When I got home, there were still puzzles to be solved, and the Neowin and Unfiction communities banded together again to break them down. Less than 24 hours later, we're headed down the road to immortality, but to get there, we have to figure out what Loki's name is. Didn't I already do that? Not exactly ... see, Loki isn't one person. She's FOUR distinct people, and you have to find the names of all of them. First person with the right answer wins.

What was my guess? Based on the clues given, I'm certain that the first three names are Lorelei, Odessa, and Kara. The last is somewhat murky, but I submitted Irene as my official answer sometime around 1PM Pacific. We'll see what happens. Regardless, I have over 1300 entries for the contest, so there's still the possibility that I'll be headed into space sometime in 2009. Either way, I'll have the distinction of being the first person to have figured out the prize, and that Loki was more than one person (though I thought she was twins).

My hat's off to the amazing and talented people at 4orty2wo that put together this fabulous contest for Microsoft. I can't wait to see what they do next.

Edit: Turns out that the final name was "Ivy", but I figured it out too late. Despite the website saying different, the winner was notified immediately. Also, they added clues after the fact, which I didn't know until it was too late. Somewhat unfair, really, but I'll live. :)