Well it seems that the response so far has been overwhelming for the competition.  We've had some great additional software license donations (thanks to GUI Innvotions, In The Hand, IDSS and IntelliProg) and and even $300 cash so we'll be opening up some new categories.  I need two things:

1. What categories would you like to see?
2. What cool stuff should we buy with the $300?

Well I shut down commenting a while ago due to blog spammers.  I'm turning them back on and we'll see if it remains a problem.

Peter Foot has donated 4 copies of the InTheHand Pocket Outlook library and Alex Yakhnin has donated a couple Intelliprog RAS component licenses as well.

If this keeps up we'll have to add another category or two to the .NET Compact Framework Coding Competition.  Any suggestions?

This is worth a watch.

So I got a call from a lawyer for a “multi-billion dollar global packaging company” yesterday.  Normally calls from any lawyer would make me nervous, but she was simply looking to clarify the OpenNETCF Shared Source License.  Evidently there are some minor tweaks that they'll be more comfortable with.  Considering that a few non-lawyers drafted it, I'm shocked they only had some minor items, and I think the changes can only help support adoption of the technology.

At any rate, once we covered the issues, she asked (just for her own edification) why we're giving away our software.  She said that they use plenty of open-source stuff, all of which they have to pay for (support, packaging, or whatever) and that the OpenNETCF model is truly unique.  She was curious “how we pay the rent and eat. Is is simply a philosophical idea you're promoting?”  A damned good question!

We (OpenNETCF members) like to help people.  We hate seeing people reinventing the whell over and over doing mundane crap when they could be doing something fun and interesting.  We don't ever plan on charging for the libraries.  We currently use it as a “resume builder“ for our Consulting Company in the hopes that someone will say “hey these guys know their shit!  Let's hire them to do x, y and z.“  That's panning out, but not quite at the speed we'd hoped.

We're considering a couple other options as well, like selling “support packages“ for the SDF and even acception some sort of donations.  If you've got any ideas (or an extra shoebox full of twenties lying around) contact us!

Wei-Meng Lee just donated 4 copies of his book .NET Compact Framework Pocket Guide for the coding competition.  Thanks Wei-Meng!

Since you're reading my blog, I'll give you some “insider information.”  OpenNETCF Consulting is going to be sponsoring a coding competition in which you can win some cool swag.  The official announcement will happen tomorrow, but you can get a jump on it today!  We'll also be dropping version 1.2 of the SDF for the competition with lots of new fun features.

Here's the 4-1-1 (the links and all may not be active until tomorrow):

First Annual OpenNETCF Coding Competition

OpenNETCF Consulting is pleased to announce that we are sponsoring our First Annual .NET Compact Framework coding competition. 

The competition will run from July 15, 2004 until midnight GMT, August 31, 2004 and everyone is invited to compete.  All entries will be accepted, though OpenNETCF.org board members are not eligible to win.  Submissions must follow the the submission guidelines (detailed later) and be posted into the OpenNETCF Wiki (again, more details later) before midnight GMT of August 31, 2004 to be scored and eligible for any prizes.

The general purpose of the submissions is to demonstrate using the .NET Compact Framework and the OpenNETCF Smart Device Framework.  To help make the competition objective we have a well-defined score card that all submissions will be scored against, and each submission will be scored by at least three judges.

Category:         Smartphone

Prize:                Microsoft Smartphone Developer Kit

Sponsor:           OpenNETCF Consulting

Entries in the Smartphone Category simply need to run on the Smartphone 2003 platform.  Beyond that it’s up to your imagination.

Category:         Security

Prize:                Security First Ethenticator MS 3000 PCMCIA Fingerprint Reader

Sponsor:           Technobrains.com

Since we have a fingerprint reader, we figured a Security Category would be apropos.  What does “Security” mean?  Maybe encryption, maybe something we’ve not thought of.  We’d like to not steer anyone, so again, let your imagination go wild.

Category:         Vanilla CE

Prize:                Visual Studio 2003 Professional

Sponsor:           OpenNETCF Consulting

A lot of focus is placed on the pocket PC, but there are lots of non-Pocket PC devices out there and they deserve some recognition.  Other than the fact your app should target the Windows CE platform instead of the Pocket PC or Smartphone, it’s up to you what you do.

Category:         Pocket PC

Prize:                Hewlett Packard iPaq 4150 Pocket PC

Sponsor:           OpenNETCF Consulting

Since the Pocket PC is the popular mainstay of Compact Framework development, it wouldn’t be right for us to leave it out.  Targeting the Pocket PC platform is the only Category rule here.

We also have the following prizes that will be given for submissions that don’t win but receive honorable mentions:

-         Very useful SanDisk 8in1 USB 2.0 Card Reader/Writer (qty 2)

-         Newly swiped Microsoft Windows Embedded logo short-sleeve shirt (qty 3)

-         Microsoft Embedded DevCon 2004 T-Shirt (at least it’s unworn!) (qty 1)

-         .NET CF Programming with VB.NET by Paul Yao and David Durant (thanks Paul) (qty 1)

-         Any other cool swag we garner between now and the end of the competition

All entrants will also receive an ultra-cool OpenNETCF.org sticker (fancy, eh)!

All submissions will be as a new topic in the OpenNETCF Wiki found at wiki.opennetcf.org (there’s a link on the front page to the competiton and these rules).  Basically you need to edit the Competition Submissions page, add your app title (Camel case, use no spaces – play in the Sandbox if you need help) and then post the following items:

1. In the Wiki text for your submission, provide the following (there’s a sample available):

-         The category you’re submitting for (you can only have one category)

-         General description of what the app does

-         The idea or purpose the app means to serve

-         What you think is the best part of the app

-         Any explanations for usage, installation or whatever the judges might need to make your app work.  While we’re all technically competent, try to make it simple because if we can’t figure it out, we simply won’t judge it.

2. Attach your source code in a single ZIP file.  Do *not* include the bin or obj folders or any compiled executable (viruses are not appreciated! ).

You may make any changes after the original submission up until the deadline.

You can submit as many apps as you’d like, but you can only win with one.

For fairness to everyone, all submissions must have been written during the competition time frame.  Obviously this is on the honor system, but if you submit something you've been working for a year on, it will be fairly obvious.

All submitted code must be the submitter's original work and must not have any other license, copyright or whatever attached to it.  Please read the Fine Print below.

Feel free to add any comments about other submissions at the bottom of the Wiki text page, but do *not* modify the original author’s text or code.  Modifying another competitor’s submission is a quick route to disqualification and stern looks from all.

Here’s how we run a tight ship and keep complaints about favoritism to a minimum.  All submissions will be scored against the scorecard below and the highest score in each category wins.  We’ll have at least three judges score your submission, but we’ll try to get more (if you’d like to be a judge, contact us) if we can.  The judges’ scores are final – there’s no arguing or negotiating allowed.  Bribery of judges is frowned upon unless it’s a large sum of money.  Extortion will definitely get you disqualified.  Now let’s get to it. 

You can get a maximum score of 100, broken down into 11 Items:

Bonus points:  We’ll give a bonus point for each valid bug you find and fix (in the SDF, not in your submission) during your development up to a maximum of 5 points.

No competition would be complete without some fine print.

1. All submissions become the property of OpenNETCF Consulting but will remain as shared source under the same license as the OpenNETCF.org Smart Device Framework.  Visit www.OpenNETCF.org for more details on the license.
2. OpenNETCF Consulting and OpenNETCF.org are not responsible for any damage, problems, disasters or anything caused by either our code or any submitted code. 
3. All submissions must be the author’s original work and cannot contain code or material that is already copyrighted, owned or otherwise spoken for by any person, company or entity other than OpenNETCF or the submitting author. 
4. No submissions that fall under the GPL, LGPL or similar license will be accepted.  We simply cannot afford the risk.
5. No warranty is offered or implied for anything we do.
6. All prizes are as-is.  They’re all new (in boxes where applicable) and we’re making a good-faith effort to provide them in working order, but if they don’t work or something like that, we’re not responsible and not bound to provide a replacement.
7. Unclaimed prizes will be held by OpenNETCF Consulting
8. Winners will be announced when judging is finished.  We make no promises as to when that will be but we’ll try to be expedient.
9. Anything we’ve not thought of should always be inferred to go in our favor and any we reserve the right to change any of these rules without notification or explanation.
10. We reserve the right to disqualify any entry or entrant as well as delete any submissions without notification or explanation.
11. We reserve the right to add to this fine print without notice