[Here's your host...] NAME THAT WIDGET

October 22, 1998

FROM OUR
SEPT. 1 CONTEST

[Sept.1 widget]

The P-pod, which allows a shielded operator to measure the level of obfuscation in any political speech, measures such obfuscation in blatant subterfuges per second, or BS/sec. Actually, the photo depicts RF protective clothing from Holaday Industries.

AND THE WINNER IS....
Dave Pariseau of Technology Plus Inc

BUT THESE ARE PRETTY GOOD TOO...

An engineer's PMD (personal marketing detector)
—Walt Brown, Dialogic

A Three Mile Island remote control
—Don A Jones, Northrop Grumman

Arthur C Clarke's famous flashdark (just as a flashlight shines light in the dark, the flashdark shines dark in the light)
—Pat Phillipps, Luxtec Corp

A dork detector, for detecting geeks and nerds
—Mike Suhar

A cow-flatulence detector (commissioned to track cow-flatulence emissions with respect to ozone depletion)
—Boone Birdsell, JVC Magnetics America

Dave Pariseau of Technology Plus Inc is the winner of the Name That Widget contest for the September 1, 1998, issue of EDN. Dave suggested that the widget (shown at left) is a P-pod (portable political-obfuscation detector). According to Dave, this device allows a shielded operator to measure the level of obfuscation in any political speech. It measures this level in blatant subterfuges per second, or BS/sec.

In fact, the photo highlights RF protective clothing from Holaday Industries (www.holadayinc.com). This flame-retardant and durable clothing provides improved personnel protection within RF and electromagnetic fields. It has a shielding effectiveness of as much as 60 dB at frequencies from 2 MHz to 10 GHz. As for the object in the person's hands, we still don't know what it is. Perhaps it truly is Dave Pariseau's P-pod. Your guess is as good as ours!

For a chance to be our next winner, take a look at the device below, and name that widget! You too could win $100. Send your entry (or entries), along with the issue date, by e-mail (widget@edn.cahners.com), by fax (Wallace P Widget, 1-617-558-4470), or by mail (Wallace P Widget, EDN Magazine, 275 Washington Street, Newton, MA 02458). Tell us what you think the widget is and what you think its purpose might be. Remember: The idea is to make us (the judges at EDN) laugh, not to guess what the widget really is. We'll publish the winning entry, along with a few funny and creative runners-up, in an upcoming issue. We'll also tell you the manufacturer's real name and purpose for the device. So stay tuned.

Name this widget and win $100

[This issue's widget]

Deadline for entries: November 5, 1998

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