To print this page, select "Print" from the File menu of your browser salon.com > Technology April 24, 1999 URL: http://www.salon.com/tech/chal/1999/04/24/number_21 21st Challenge No. 21 Prayers for the digital age - - - - - - - - - - - - By Charlie Varon and Jim Rosenau "Forward into battle! God is great!" "Guide me, O Great Spirit, through my evening commute." Since the dawn of our species, human beings have beseeched a higher force to watch over us in all endeavors, from the lofty to the mundane. So why are there so few digital-era prayers? Is it because we have devolved into rational silicon materialism, longing more for RAM than for spirit? Readers are invited to submit up to three brief prayers, blessings or supplications. Each should be no more than 50 words and should be suited to a specific ritual of the Information Era: the day's first cold boot, the installation of a new network, the recovery of a large file, etc. Submissions may draw on any religious tradition or spiritual practice, existing or imagined. 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 Technology permission to publish it. Deadline for entries is May 3, 1999. P R I Z E S The winning response will receive a copy of Salon Technology senior correspondent Andrew Leonard's book, "Bots: The Origin of New Species." In two weeks we'll publish a winner and some selected entries -- then start over a couple weeks after that with a whole new challenge. salon.com | April 24, 1999