 Name this widget and win $100!
Start your new year off right. Give our Name That Widget! contest a try in 1999. 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. Start our new year off right, too! Make us laugh! Be flip. Be funny. Be fictitious! Don’t tell us what the widget really is. What fun would that be? Tell us what it could be. We’ll publish the winning entry and some fun runners-up in an upcoming issue. We’ll also tell you the manufacturer’s real name and purpose for the device. Please supply an e-mail or mailing address so we can notify you if you win. Happy New Year! |
From our November 19, 1998, contest
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Polaris Electronics’ latex dry-box sleeve would also work well as the RepRimander, a removable arm for use with pesky salespeople. |
FIRST PRIZE $100
It’s starting off as a happy new year for Paul Hoggard, the winner of $100 for our Nov 19, 1998, contest. According to Paul, the mystery widget is the RepRimander. When an unannounced sales rep shows up at your office, quickly slide the RepRimander over your arm. Then, when you shake hands with the salesperson, simply let go of the RepRimander and escape back to your cubicle. The rep will never know you left. (Note: For those reps who actually look up from their catalogs and attempt to make eye contact, you can purchase the optional fake head with eyeballs.)
Thanks for the holiday cheer, Paul, but the one-armed widget is actually Polaris Electronics Corp’s (www.polariselectronics.com) latex dry-box sleeve for use in controlled-atmosphere chambers. |
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RUNNERS-UP
"Thing" from The Addams Family in formal attire.
—Scott Holland, Lockheed Martin
The PigeonCuff. You use the PigeonCuff to retrofit park statues that collect pigeon droppings. Place it over the arms of statues, and a pneumatic pump inflates and deflates the device 10 times/minute. This motion is generally sufficient to discourage most pigeon landings, but PigeonCuff can also generate as much as 35 lbs of force to push off even the most persistent bird.
—Anthony D Gleckler, Arete Associates
Tri-Arm, an extra arm for the engineer who has everything! The device simply sticks to your chest, like a suction cup. The device is guaranteed to cut your loved one’s time at the office by one-third.
—Ryan Irion, Rockwell Collins Inc
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The Extenso-Arm, for use in meetings in which there’s only one jelly doughnut left, and it’s at the other end of the table.
—Andy Turudic, TriQuint Semiconductor Inc
The Autopatter. When you feel down after a great job that management overlooks, just back up to the Autopatter for all the pats on the back you deserve.
—Mike Hughes, Analog Devices Inc
The concept model for a line of adjustable clothing for fashion-challenged engineers who never know whether short or long sleeves are appropriate for an occasion.
—Neil Eaton, Emsys Engineering Ltd
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