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A L S O__T O D A Y Internet U. By Andrew Leonard A new documentary looks at the benefits and hazards of the Net as global lecture hall - - - - - - - - - - T A B L E _ T A L K The Freudian send: Discuss your most embarrassing e-mail sends in the Digital Culture area of Table Talk - - - - - - - - - - R E C E N T L Y Let's Get This Straight By Scott Rosenberg Sad and lonely in cyberspace? The new Net-depression study is something to get bummed about (09/03/98) Look, ma, no ink! By Janelle Brown The technology industry tries to invent a better book. Will publishers bite? (09/02/98) The long bust? By Andrew Leonard With the collapse of stock prices, Silicon Valley hype also takes a fall (09/01/98) The saint of free software By Andrew Leonard Maverick Richard Stallman keeps the faith -- and gives Bill Gates the finger (08/31/98) Just the facts, RAM By Christopher Ott Do computers in the classroom promote a conservative vision of education? (08/28/98) - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE 21ST CHALLENGE ARCHIVES - - - - - - - - - - _______

BY CHARLIE VARON AND JIM ROSENAU It's not hard to tell the alpha male from the pack these days: He's the one with the wireless whatever in his pocket. Readers are invited to invent and describe (in no more than 75 well-chosen words) a high-tech device that the corporate fast-tracker can't afford to be without. - - - - - - - - - - - - E X A M P L E Pocket Sniffer: Want to know who's bluffing? This high-tech nose knows. Detects "fearomone" level better than a barking dog. Includes masking filters to fool competing brands. Nine-volt battery not included. - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 Sept. 14, 1998. - - - - - - - - - - - - P R I Z E S The winning response this round will receive a copy of Ellen Ullman's book "Close to the Machine," winner of a Salon Book Award for 1997. In addition, five entrants selected at random will receive complete sets of Nan McCarthy's "cybertrilogy" from Pocket Books: "Chat," "Connect" and "Crash." 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 | Sept. 4, 1998 Charlie Varon is a humorist and playwright. His works include "Ralph Nader Is Missing" and "Rush Limbaugh in Night School." Jim Rosenau is a writer, editor and software designer in Berkeley, Calif. Jim and Charlie are also co-founders of the citizen group Californians for Earthquake Prevention and partners in Mockingbird Productions, which offers a full line of comic services.