MICROSOFT OFFERING "MAD LOOT" TO ENCOURAGE SECURITY DEVELOPERS

Microsoft has announced they will pay developers for the next big idea in security. It's just not any amount of money though. According to the video, it is "mad loot and lots of it." Microsoft is betting the large first prize of $200,000 will entice developers to create the next big security offering. To win first prize the developers will have to create a "novel runtime mitigation technology designed to prevent the exploitation of memory safety vulnerabilities".

The second place finisher will receive $50,000 while third place finishers will get MSDN Universal subscriptions. Winners will be announced at the Blackhat security conference in 2012 and all participants have until April 2012 to submit their prototype and descriptions.

Click here to watch the video.

GOOGLE'S PRIZES ENTERS BETA; HILARITY ENSUES

Debuting in classic Google beta form, Prizes takes your Twitter or Facebook accounts and signs you up for cash prize-winning, user-created contest shenanigans. In case you missed that fine point, we'll reiterate -- users design the challenges, you post a solution (or vice versa). Like the $40 "Give my Dad a makeover!" competition we're completely unqualified to enter, or the $30 "Comprehensive 'get healthy' plan for living in a large, polluted city" game we're sure Al Gore could win in his sleep. It's a kooky idea, but we can definitely see the service having widespread appeal. Let's be frank here: Google + social gaming + prize money = solid user gold.