Normally, I use America Online’s Instant Messenger. But this Friday? I’m switching to Microsoft Messenger.

Why? Because Microsoft is giving away cash to random Messenger users! As CNN.com reports:

MSN, which is expected to release the finalized version of its MSN Messenger 6.0 program on Thursday, will run a promotion offering $1,000 in cash to 10 users each Friday, starting July 25. The lottery will award $1,000 an hour from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. PT to randomly selected users. The weekly $10,000 giveaways will run for four Fridays, ending August 15.

Now this is what I call advertising: Giving away buckets of cold, hard cash. It’s a fine, time-honored technique, pioneered back in the 50s when Crazy Eddie used to hand you 50 bucks just for taking an Edsel for a spin. Not that Microsoft Messenger is, like, an Edsel or anything. Uh. Yeah.

Anyway, as of Friday, anyone online on MSN Messenger can find me by pinging “collisiondetection99”.

(Thanks to Slashdot for finding this one!)