The contest will take place in two stages: first, 20 finalists will be selected from proposals submitted on or before July 6, 2001. Their names and the titles of their projects will be announced on August 6, 2001. Each finalist will then receive a NIC as a prize.
On February 4, 2002, entries will be due from the 20 finalists. Final entries are to be in the form of a web site for your project, including relevant plans, a bill of materials, photos, documentation, source code and a CD image. Description and documentation of your project counts!
By entering this contest, you agree to allow the contest sponsors to copy and redistribute any of the materials you submit, except your address and phone number, in any medium. We will also keep your e-mail address confidential if you wish.
At our discretion, we will mail additional hardware and/or software to the finalists if it becomes available to us. We will not spam you, but we will provide e-mail and web forums for discussing the contest.
All software developed for the contest must be released under a free license. For purposes of this contest, a ``free license'' is one that is listed BOTH in ``OSI Approved Licenses'' at http://opensource.org/licenses/ AND ALSO in the Free Software Foundation's ``GPL-Compatible, Free Software Licenses'' at http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/license-list.html#GPLCompatibleLicenses.
Employees of SSC and The New Internet Computer Company, and their families, are not eligible to participate, but that won't stop them from trying to mooch a system anyway.
To enter, please send us a message answering the following questions:
1. What is the working title for your project?
2. What need or desire will your embedded Linux project satisfy?
3. What are your qualifications for carrying out an embedded Linux project, including programming and hardware experience? You may include URLs of related work (either hobby or professional).
4. What additional hardware, if any, are you considering using? (You are not required to use it in your final project.)
5. What software do you plan to develop? What tools and libraries do you plan to use?
6. What sources of information and support will you consult while carrying out your project?
Also, please include the following information:
1. Your full name as you would like it to appear in Embedded Linux Journal.
2. Your shipping address and phone number (confidential).
3. What to link your name to on the web site if you are a finalist.
Criteria for selecting finalists will be:
1. Will the project either satisfy a real need or have aesthetic, entertainment or scientific value?
2. Does the person or team have the skills and/or motivation appropriate to carry out the project?
3. Is the project different from other, previously constructed embedded Linux projects?
Judges will select final winners based on the following criteria:
1. How well does your project fill the need stated in your original proposal?
2. Does your project make efficient use of the components selected?
3. Is your project constructed in a craftsperson-like, high-quality and robust manner (both hardware and software)?
4. Is your software easy to understand for a user and for a potential contributor?
5. How well does your project's web site explain your project for users and for people who want to build something similar?
We will select one grand prize winner and two runners up.
Submit your entries via e-mail to eljeditor@ssc.com and put NIC Contest in the subject line.