I came across this contest last night (can't remember who pointed me to it). Red Gate is sponsoring a "Break the Code" contest. Basically they give you some string of characters and you have to decipher it. If you decipher the code then you send in your solution and they will put your name in a hat and draw for prizes at the end of September. Some of the prizes are pretty sweet, 1st place gets
- A year's subscription to Safari Books Online (worth $550)
- One ANTS Profiler Pro license (worth $495)
- Red Gate goodies
That's enough to get my interest. Here's some advice for people who think they have the mojo for this contest:
- Spend some time analyzing the coded encrypted string before hacking
- Go with your senses, if it "smells" like something then give it a try
- Repeat step #2, but this time think "What does this really smell like?"
I spent about 2-3 minutes just staring at the string and jotting down my observations before trying to decrypt it. Another 2-3 minutes coding and then BAM, I'd cracked the code. Seriously, that's exactly how long it took me. After some observation and analysis I had cracked the code on my first attempt. (This was while riding the MAX home last night.)
Now don't get any ideas that I am some super-hacker or anything. This code is meant to be cracked. After you crack the code you'll see what I mean. My claim to fame isn't that I cracked the code, but that in my notes I wrote down
"This smells of (name of solution goes here)."
Seriously, I actually wrote that down. Now I just hope they draw my name out of the hat. 
P.S. Congratulations to Red Gate for coming up with this idea. The contest is a great (and viral) marketing tool.