Hot on the heels, or rather, before the whole Laptop fiasco, some ads started appearing online. The funny part about the ads are that they insult you:
When you start following the clues, you start getting hints - oddly, the hints lead into the whole laptop issue. Connect the dots people… viral marketing at its best. Don’t believe me? Have a look see:
The following was stolen from http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17768, as stated by one of the comments below…
Absolutely not. That wasn’t our deal.
Our deal was I would give away extraordinary prizes to exceptional people. And you would be happy.
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Yup, I know it’s expensive, but these people are way ahead of the curve.
If you want to interest them, your prizes better be worth their while.
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No I can’t come to the office to explain. I can’t. I’ve gotta catch a plane, the 8th is coming fast.
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Right, you’ll be glad you wrote the check. 
I promise you, it will be *timeless.* 
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Yeah, I know some of the puzzles ridiculously hard. Believe me, the people you are looking for…can handle it.
The real trick is, can they solve them in time?
If they need help, they can always search for the Vanishing Point tag.
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Sigh. The Vanishing Point? It’s where things disappear. Remember?
No no no, come on, I’m not just doing it for the trip to Vegas.
We’re going to make someone famous around the world.
Although, I will say, for a girl with a photographic memory, Vegas is a very profitable city.
Look, you hired me to pull off a stunt that no one could possibly do.
The stage is set, the time is right, and I haven’t forgotten a thing.
I have to get off the phone now. Yes I do. Time for me to vanish. It’s too late to back out now. We’ve started, there’s no turning back.
Sounds like the whole laptop issue to me… But wait, there’s more! Microsoft is sending out letters to a few lucky people with more clues.
Now, whats interesting is that the game is really working. There are people talking about using various Microsoft products to try to solve the game: “I was playing around with Windows Media Player, changing the filters, the sound….”
Oddly, one thing gets me going is the apparent size of the prize at hand, as stated by a clue:
Here’s a riddle for you:
At the end of our journey together, I will be discovered—and I will disappear.
One person will find me at my vanishing point. I will make that person famous in a way the world has not seen before. Their name will be repeated as many times as there are stars in—
No. Let’s be more precise. That name will be repeated as many times as there are grains of sand on a beach. That’s my promise.
Your chance to be that person will start when the countdown hits zero.
There are people guessing a space trip, lots of money, etc. It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out.
[Note: Edited to provide proper linkage and formatting updates.]
