Mid June, a post appeared on nin.com from Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor about the number of downloads his free album, The Slip, received in North
America. He wrote that his “computer wizards” came up with a way to show each download visually and accurately via Google Earth.

Reznor & Sudjam made the map into a true fan experience by using it as a virtual treasure map. One early July evening, fans noticed a question mark had appeared in the NIN KML file. The question mark was tagged with the clue, “under a rock”. Suggesting that if you went to this location, something nin-related would be under said rock. This began a series of ‘treasure hunts’ that led would be scavengers on a hunt around Los Angeles for private show passes.

Trent Reznor’s Post about The Slip KML

Read Sudjam’s Blog on the development

A fan’s account of his search for the question mark