Google, which previously sponsored the 2002 Google Programming Contest, 2003 Google US Puzzle Championship, CodeCon 2003 is now sponsoring something new:
Do you have exceptional programming skills? Can you make computers perform like silicon puppets with just a few well-expressed commands? Are you at ease when faced with a hard stop and a group of peers evaluating every line of your code? Here’s your opportunity to display the grace of the true professional in a reward-rich environment.
The basic idea seems to be that you're given a bunch of programming puzzles, and asked to solve them quickly and completely, and then you can try to throw edge cases to crash your opponent's code. (Sounds like the ICFP Programming Contest.)
Code can be in Java, C++, C# or VB.NET. Winners get T-Shirts, cash, and a trip to Google. Registration opens October 1.