I didn't want to tell you this (for fear of lessening my own odds), but Google is holding their Summer of Code again this year. To boot, Detached Solutions is a mentor this year. (In case you missed it, Dan Englender had a project last year, and was successful in getting the US$4,500 and t-shirt.) They have some ideas for projects that you may want to work on. Also, source code to MirageOS and all of their other programs has been released.

If you wish to apply to work on a project (being mentored by Dan, or Michael Vincent or perhaps some other member of Detached Solutions) for Detached Solutions or any of the other mentoring organizations, fill out a proposal on Google's Summer of Code site beginning on May the first. Note that you must be 18 years of age or older and a student at an accredited college or university. Please see the Student FAQ if you have any questions.

Update 24 May: The results are in. I'll keep it brief: Dans says Tabish Mufti, Kevin Kofler, Marinus Warmer, and Patrick Prendergast (tr1p1ea) were accepted, for (presumably in the same order) MyPocketCal, KTIGCC (IDE for TIGCC), Diffeq, and usb bluetooth. Congratulations to them, and better luck next year to those who weren't (such as myself). Quoting Dan: "We got approximately 50 proposals and were only able to fund 4 of them, despite having many more that were high quality."