Salon | 21st: The 21st Challenge -- Ticklers for every situation

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T A B L E__T A L K

Which techno-buzzwords do you love to hate? Let it out in Table Talk's Digital Culture area

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R E C E N T L Y

Windows on their world
By Karen Lillington
On site at Microsoft's museum and shop: Where the Windows never cease
(02/09/98)

AOL's insecurity complex
By David Cassel
The online service can't even keep its own staff bulletin boards private
(02/06/98)

Let's Get This Straight
By Scott Rosenberg
Technospeak, part 2: A turnkey solution in every pot
(02/05/98)

The Net's new turf wars
By Rebecca Vesely
Domain name mavericks take their case to Washington
(02/04/98)

The little city that could
By Doug McLellan
Tacoma's power company rolls its own Net and cable service
(02/03/98)

BROWSE THE
21ST ARCHIVES

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Ticklers for every situation By Charlie Varon and Jim Rosenau

THE 21st CHALLENGE

C H A L L E N G E_N O ._5

Thanks to the profusion of schedulers, calendars and "personal information managers," computers now provide us with reminders -- "ticklers" -- of when to send birthday gifts and visit the dentist, even when to eat lunch. But much more can be done with this form. Send us one -- yes, just one -- tickler (or reminder) message of up to 75 words. Here's an example:

Millionth Keystroke

You have just typed your one millionth character since you acquired this computer 131 days ago. This puts you in the 94th percentile of productivity. Congratulations! You have won a free visit to the hand clinic of your choice.

R U L E S : Send your submissions via e-mail only to salon21st@salonmagazine.com. Please include your full name and an accurate e-mail address so we can contact you if you're a winner. By submitting your entry you give Salon permission to publish it. Deadline for entries is Feb. 17, 1998. The winning response this round will receive a signed copy of Salon technology writer Andrew Leonard's new book, "Bots: The Origin of New Species."

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N E X T_P A G E | Amazing results of our Haiku Error Messages challenge!