My fellow JavaFX author, Jim Weaver, has organized a coding challenge that involves creating the best rich Internet application (RIA) in JavaFX. I met Jim at JavaOne this past spring; he's a great person and he is very active in the RIA space, and JavaFX in particular. See his post here:

http://learnjavafx.typepad.com/weblog/2009/10/announcing-the-javafxpert-ria-exemplar-challenge.html

The deadline is April 10, 2010, and there is a cash prize of $2,000. Not only does the application need to be written in JavaFX, it must be visually appealing as well. The judges are not only developers, but also graphic designers, so UI aesthetics are going to be very important. You can read about the judges here:

http://learnjavafx.typepad.com/weblog/2009/10/the-ria-exemplar-challenge-mötley-judging-crüe.html

As an example, Weaver has submitted an application called SpeedReaderFX. This RIA takes a very unique and very visual approach to help you absorb a lot of information quickly. You can read more about it here:

http://learnjavafx.typepad.com/weblog/2009/09/introducing-speedreaderfx-powered-by-javafx-and-jfxtras.html

    ...and view a demonstration video here (which is very interesting, by the way):

http://learnjavafx.typepad.com/weblog/2009/12/speedreaderfx-13d-proto-ria-exemplar-challenge-extension.html

Good luck if you decide to enter. Happy Coding!

-EJB