CS4 Master Collection dead drop
This is your chance to get a free copy of CS4 Master Collection which is valued at over $2500. I have long been a fan of spy movies and the various aspects of tradecraft that intelligence agencies use. With that being said I have created a dead drop which now contains the software. Watch the video below to get all the clues you’ll need to find the drop. This one is all about who wants it the most. Now obviously this will only be applicable to people who live relatively close to the area. But I would drive a few hours in order to get this if I wasn’t already working for Adobe. There are instructions in the drop about how to contact me. As soon as the software has been picked and verified I will notify you here. Now as you know, I travel quite a bit and I plan to do this in each city I visit, if possible. This software can be installed on up to 3 machines so you can team up to make things easier if you want. Also, the version in the drop is for Mac. If you are a PC person you can either sell it or send it back to me to swap. But the shrink wrap must be intact for that exchange. Be safe and enjoy the view.
As a side note, I know that there is a hobby called geocaching but that is not really what I’m doing here. There are a bunch of silly rules to that hobby and is more about socializing with fellow trackers. This is all about a one time drop and there are no rules.
Lee
Dude you are crazy!
@John oh yeah I have records that prove it
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Haha.. that is so great Lee, really fun idea!
To bad I live in Sweden, otherwise I would be on my way to pick it up!!
Great fun
Wow, this is freaking cool. Very “espionage” like and well worth a few hours drive or long flight haha.
@Laveklint I am coming to FITC Amsterdam though. Still not that close though I guess.
Yeaaaaahhhhhhhh!
I love this idea!
You rules!
You know Lee
you blown away man hahahahahaha
Good one But to bad I live in Egypt otherwise I would do just like Laveklint
niiiiiiiiiiiice…
http://www.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=37.522578,-122.318222&spn=0.000892,0.001528&t=h&z=20
Chance that this package will be dug up before sunrise on the 28th = 1.
@polyGeek It would be a pretty gnarly hike at night but I would try. It looks flat on the map but it definitely isn’t.
Awesome, humming secret-agent theme music to you now….
Where the hell is this?
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=N+37+31.357,+W+122+19.085&mrt=all&sll=37.522377,-122.318105&sspn=0.000668,0.001269&ie=UTF8&ll=37.522617,-122.318083&spn=0.021375,0.040598&t=p&z=15
@lee what kind of watch is that?
Hehe, i love this idea. So now the idea is for me to use all my savings to follow you in your travels and get all the gifts for myself i guess…
found it, had to kill some fat guy wearing a “Star Wars” t-shirt but I got it. I think he’d dead, he was mumbling on about some “force” nonsense and I figured I’d put him out of his misery if his parents didn’t have the nerve to do it for him.
So since I already have CS4, I’ll start the bidding at ….oh around….. $3499.Any takers?
Oh and Lee did you up the gain on your camera settings to get that dirty “old” film look? A while back I was making one of those wanted posters with interactive video that I shot on green screen, then put in the cue points and matched up with actionscript, well anyway , it just didn’t look right, then I went back made a couple of adjustments upped the gain to +12 and it looked much better.
Come visit Austin will ya?
BTW there are instructions in the drop for a specific way to contact me so I know when someone actually does find it
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So when are you comming to Sweden again? =)
bummer I don’t live in the San Fran area… took me about 30 seconds to find the spot… actually drove past about three months ago…
nice work…
damn, i’d love to take part in this game, but i live in germany… this sucks, because i went to frisco on vacation a few months ago… meeeehhh… lee couln’t you come up with this idea a little earlier
Pussed out at the trail head off of Laurelwood Drive. Too dark, and too late to be trespassing. @eketch == fail.
Soon as you come to the city, I’ll be on the hunt. NYC that is.
I will be traveling to Boston, Amsterdam, and London within the next month. I’ll also be in Austin for SXSW.
Cool!!!! Great idea!
@Erik Did you seriously try already? That’s awesome. Yeah it would be really tough at night. But when the sun rises, hit it.
Yeah, i live in Foster City, so i’m only a couple mins away. There was a sign that said Fire Danger High, and No Tresspassing.. should have tried E Laurel Creek from the other direction. I suck
I think I found it! Strangely enough, even though I live in Belgium! Whow, what luck I have! But I seem to have lost the letter Lee :p
No no, good luck to everyone competing, and hopefully, you’ll get around this part of the world pretty soon!
@Erik dude you’re awesome just for trying at night. BTW you can ignore all those signs. They are public trails.
ooh! its 25.6 miles from where I am – about 34 mins (up to 45 mins in traffic). Definitely worth the drive!
Lee, you can make similar “action” in Amsterdam. You can just throw it to river channel somewhere in Amsterdam
) And all FITC attendes can search channels for whole conference period 
it’s about 30 minutes from my house in San Francisco, but i’m afraid i’ll get mugged by one of your other blog readers! guess i’ll have to pass. that’s a pretty cool giveaway tho.
LOL this is brilliant idea!
Very nice Lee.
Lee, I ended up in South Korea! (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.31357,+122.19085&mrt=all&sll=37.52375,-122.318215&sspn=0.025833,0.051756&ie=UTF8&ll=37.313383,122.189941&spn=3.315696,6.624756&t=p&z=8&iwloc=addr), had to pay off some dirty government officials, they kept shouting at me; INTEL! INTELL! I kept replying, no the other company, ADOBE!
finaly got to the drop – no package… On the plane ride back I read this post only to find that is on Sugarloaf Hill
Nice one dude! See you in Amsterdam,
Sidney
@philip Just do it and if you run into someone else just size them up to see if you can take them. Start training in BJJ and you will be able to dominate anyone, so long as they also don’t train in BJJ
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Do this in the Netherlands. I promiss that 7 million people will try and find it.
@Xander FITC Amsterdam. It will happen.
Damn, just put it somewhere near germany or netherlands
yeahh. I’m getting the first plain to US
Ohh GOD let there be ME!!
coordinates are much too precise, hope someone will have fun diggn it
Come down to miami, fl some time soon
Lee. As ever, we applaud your inventive and mischievous spirit. I do think, however, that reading a post like this is just torturing us poor demented souls who live in Europe (London, UK, in my case) and know full well that much as we might want to hitch a plane ride in pursuit of $3500 of software, it’s probably not going to end well…
Next time, why don’t you show off some more of your coding prowess, and at the same time demonstrate the awesome new features of CS4 itself (see what I did there?) by simply knocking up a little app to take temporary control of NASA. Send the CS4 Master Collection into geostationary orbit, code up a little map of the solar system using the new 3D features in Flash, and make the ‘drop’ a virtual one running inside an AIR app. Then when someone finds it hidden deep in virtual space, you could have a shuttle craft dispatched to retrieve the orbiting payload and drop it back through the Earth’s atmosphere… No, you’re right, that wouldn’t work. Much better to use the new quantum mechanics framework and have the prize delivered to the deserving winner directly in their own home using the prototype teleportation plug-in you’ve kept so quiet about (http://labs.adobe.com/alpha/technologies/spaceFolding/).
I mean, would it really be so hard?
[...] friend of mine pointed me out to a blog written by an Adobe insider who made this little competition where he hid a package at some mystery location. Anyone who [...]
Thats only 5,500 miles from where I live!! If I leave now I think I could walk there in a few minutes/years.
CLEVER IDEA. Now looking forward to your London visit more than ever
hey lee thats wicked if I lived close id be there! awesome
Package intercepted 2:34 AM. Over and out.
hahah, such an awesome idea Lee…
Why don’t you do it in Europe? Random suggestion: Zagreb, Croatia.
I’m there. Lee, are you going to tell us via the website whether it’s been picked up or not?
hahaha, Lee, you are genius.
Man, I wish I lived in the San Fran. area now… All I have to say is two words: Northern Utah.
I just hope you are not a crazy guy with a gun or axe behind the tree and waiting for the people to come?
))
Lee, that is a sick idea! Love it, too bad I live in Montreal.
I found the location I just live across the US. Maybe it is time to get on a plane.
Awesome!!! This is such a good idea, are you going to post the mug of the dude that digs it up?
Yeah make sure you come to Austin someday!
Thanks for making it fun
I can’t believe this hasn’t been found yet. Very cool giveaway Lee. Hope you make it to the east coast some time soon!
This is awesome! I just found out that this is 402 Miles or about 6 hours 11 minutes from my home! by the time I get there it would be gone! Awesome Idea!
Wow!
This is amazing!
I hope you come down to san diego Soon!
I would be all over this!
I’m all over this next time the drop is somewhere on the east coast. What a coincidence that this month’s Wired cover story is all about the GPS revolution:
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-02/lp_10coolapps
London awaits your next mission…..
Any chance you’ll be coming to Michigan or anywhere in the Midwest in the next few months?~!
HAHAHAHAHAHA
I love the video, well done sir!
If I didn’t already have CS4 I would not be typing this message and would be in the car with my hiking boots on and shovel. Favorite part about this is the video. Great job editing.
Are you coming to spain? Next month is the Mobile World Congress. Isn’t it interesting for you¿?
don’t you mean $2500? or, are you talking about the European price?
I may have it already, but I would be there if you hid one in London
What a cool idea! Maybe the for next competition you could put the prize in a bottle with a gps tracker or something so that us international folk can participate too (hopefully it won’t drift into international waters).
Or maybe just come to Liverpool, England next time – that’s good for me
If it were a bit further south, I’d totally go find it today. I’m feeling lazy, though.
Dude, I think I crushed your marker (and some dude from the SF User Group) with my truck. My bad.
I dug it up and all there was inside was a naked photo of Lee. Pay me $3500 if you don’t want it posted on AXNA.
Do you ever stop by Salt Lake? This is awesome.
THE DROP WAS FOUND AT 2:30 AM.
come to ATLANTA!
2:30am? damn. I was thinking about making a trip there and grabbing it. someone beat me to it by 8hrs.
I the the CS products could only be installed on two machines according to the licence agreement
When do you come to Boston? I MUST know.
Damn. I was eight hours late:
http://www.erikphansen.com/found.jpg
At least it went to another Erik! By the way, the beer and TRON cards are still there for the taking
Erik
… video reminded me a little of Red going to the field in the Shawshank Redemption to fetch the item underneath a black stone that had no business being there
…it’d be cool to find one in the Wicklow Mountains (hint!)
So is this what people were talking about seeding copies of cs4? I’m confused.
For future drops, in the effort on non-violence, if two people show up at the exact same time…should there be an ActionScript battle?
[...] the RSS feed for updates on this topic.Powered by WP Greet BoxThis was a post Lee made on his blog, CS4 Master Collection dead drop. The drop was extermly easy if you tried to find it, Lee gave the exact coordinates to it. And [...]
That’s not exactly a clue as you showed us the exact location. I thought this would be a thing where it would take a few weeks or so for someone to figure out. This is more of a “Here it is, first one gets it wins!” sort of race. Besides, if I traveled the 3,500 miles, taking several days and a few hundred dollars only to miss it because someone was simply closer, I’d be a little pissed. Frankly this covert operation is only for people in the vacinity of the drop.
So, what’s your schedule look like???? When or will you be visiting Georgia USA anytime soon??!! And please make it harder, much harder. Even an idiot could find this one.
Really great idea. Again too bad you live on the west coast of USA and not say in Munich Germany
[...] Thanks to John for the inspiration. [...]
this is soo cool! i totally wish that i were on the west coast! you should really think about taking a weekend trip to richmond, va!!!
[...] watch the video to get all the clues. [...]
wow, this is well cool. Too bad i’m miles away from even thinking of that location.
To those who said this was too easy, you are right. This first one was pretty simple and was more of a race to see who could get there first. I will make things a little more complicated next time but it also about who moves the fastest.
hey, keep that shite burried deeep! who cares for crappy, buggy adobe updates anyway. worth 2.500 bucks is a joke.
@andy a lot of people care. Maybe someone should bury you.
Dude. Andy. The updates are awesome! I will agree that Adobe’s products are overpriced, though. $700 for Flash. That’s a freakin’ rip-off. Can you upgrade to Photoshop CS4 Extended from Photoshop Elements 3.0?
Man I was in Santa Cruz only a year ago driving all around and down to Bonnie Doon. Give me a shout when you make it to Dallas. Though you might bump in to the fantom pot plant planter or someone burying his wife apparently both pastimes are popular here. I don’t condone either. Good luck to who ever finds it and sink one in the 18th hole for me whilst your there…wrayski
@lee
peace man, don’t get personal. it’s just software, and not even good one. you should expect more from those dudes and not just clap for the crap they give you.
@personman
i’d even pay double, if these updates would actually improve something. illustrator is still a nightmare, photoshop the least intutitive ui around – get’s worth every year…
Hey Lee,
So I have a more serious question to go with this post. I noticed you said this: “This software can be installed on up to 3 machines so you can team up to make things easier if you want.” Is that a volume license thing? Or did Adobe change their tune on how computers you can install to?
Thanks for the help,
-Adam
P.S. You’re sites have been a great resource for me over the years!
Don’t post the lat / long – Thats a give away…
Great concept – But make it harder… A fragment of an address of a city.. on a scrap of paper in the scene.. Let’s See… How many ‘Portland’s” are there in the US?
Some name in the background that could be a street name….
Looking foward for Asterdam’s/Netherlands drop…I’am in!
just hope that clue will not be given at FITC – specialy because I can not go, and that is already a major incovinient by itself:(
Only problem is, spies rarely, if ever, bury their dead drops. Makes discreet retrieval too difficult and impractical.
And “MACS” spelled backwards is “SCAM”
Love the shoes!
–MGb
@MGb What’s it like being a hater who hasn’t ever done anything worthwhile themselves? It must be rough.
Hey bro !!
I simply loved the idea !!! Thats so cool !! Is there any chance for you to come to Brazil ?? This is a real treasure hunt !! hehehe
Keep cool bro !
waiting for you in Belgium, great idea by the way.
S.
[...] tomto míst? byl uložen software v cen? p?es 2500 USD. Další na Lee blogu. Asi tušíte, že to nebude v ?esku, autor byl zván, aby to zopakoval i v jiných zemích. V [...]
What is the song used for this video?
This is too easy. Is it under 15 feet of snow?
[...] across this site. What this guy did was perform a dead drop leading to a downloadable legal copy of adobe’s [...]
This is the greatest idea I haveseen in a lot of time. Congratulations.
Come to Mexico soon!
sucks im from maryland quess i have to buy it
will you be coming to singapore?
Awesome! Any missions near Seattle and I’m at your service…
This post is a year old, there is no mention of an end date and you will be on the East Coast in April and May. Is it still going on in each city, and where might those clues be?
Hey, if you want some help planting these “seeds”; and want one to end up in Atlantic Canada, drop me a note. Have shovel, camera, gps, and will travel.