Thanks Gilles, I think this is very cool what you are doing.

In fact, way back in an earlier thread, there was a little skirmish over 
  whether you would be entering or not and you announced that you would 
not be.  It shocked me at first but then my immediate reaction was to 
want to respond with a proposal that maybe you could act in some sort of 
technical advisory capacity for participants.  But the idea never got 
past the fanciful stage and I wasn't sure how it would be received.  In 
retrospect I kinda wish I'd suggested it then.

On a personal note, I did not enter the contest myself for a complex of 
reasons, but one huge obstacle for me was the high resolution required 
in the specification.  I know that had I made the proposal, and had you 
accepted, questions about the pitfalls of producing high res images 
would have been salient for me.  And still are.  It seems to me that 
that is one of the milestones that separates you and the other 
organizers, who have greater experience technically, from many of us who 
are less far along.  Just wanted to throw that into the mix as you are 
putting together your tuts.

-Jim