Pixel Bender, which you can download for free from Adobe Labs, is an engine that enables programmers to create image transformations not currently available in Photoshop CS4 or other Adobe apps.

If you have the programming chops, you can enter a Pixel Bender kernel contest and win one of two prizes: an Alienware Area-51 PC or an NVIDIA graphics card.

Contest entries will be accepted from January 1 through 31, 2009.

For more information, go to www.nzone.com.