11.05.98 Name That Widget

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11.05.98

NAME THAT WIDGET

Enter our contest and win BIG!!

Bob Belcher of Wave Mechanics is the winner of the Name That Widget contest for the September 11, 1998, issue of EDN. Bob suggested that the widget (shown at right) is a Brain Enhancer, which allows the wearer to program a VCR, do his own taxes, and figure out which long-distance plan really is the best.

Good guess, Bob, but it's actually a three-cylinder air compressor from the Quincy Compressor Division of Coltec Industries (www.quincycompressor.com). Or perhaps you're ahead of us in recognizing that a brain with a better air supply works more efficiently. And "brain enhancement" does have a certain ring to it, after all.

11.05.98 WIDGET: You'll have to load this image if you want to play!

For a chance to be our next winner, take a look at the thingamajig at right and give it a name and a purpose. Name that widget! You, like Bob, 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).

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 several clever and amusing runners-up, in an upcoming issue. We'll also tell you what the manufacturer really calls its device and what the company would really like you to do with its doohickey.

From our Sept. 11, 1998, contest

FIRST PRIZE: $100

Bob Belcher of Wave Mechanics says this widget is a Brain Enhancer that enables you to program your VCR, do your own taxes, and figure out which long-distance plan really is the best.

Actually, it's a three-cylinder air compressor from the Quincy Compressor Division of Coltec Industries.

RUNNERS-UP

The Mind Sucker, a device invented by Dilbert and used on his manager, which accounts for the pointy hair.
—Bill Swift, TMI

A high-torque, Formula One Yugo engine.
—Martin O'Mara, PC Right Inc

A Mohawk-haircut blow-dryer for punk rockers.
—Hugh Duff, Technisonic Industries Ltd

An Expert Knowledge Retriever, for use on the heads of retiring engineers before it's too late.
—Daniel O'Brien, North American Capacitor Co

A three-phase hum suppressor. (When placed near chronic hummers, it plays loud polka music on three slightly out-of-tune accordions until the offender relents.)
—Jim Todsen, Burr-Brown Corp

The Beer Freeze—headgear that holds 72 oz of your favorite brew and keeps it cool with an integrated liquid-nitrogen cooling system.
—Troy Littlefield, Toko America

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