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A L S O__T O D A Y Microsoft über alles: Have Gates & Co. peaked? 21st reviews tech highs and lows of '98 - - - - - - - - - - T A B L E__T A L K Did you shop on the Web this holiday season? Share your experiences in the Digital Culture area of Table Talk - - - - - - - - - - R E C E N T L Y Are we having high-tech fun yet? By Janelle Brown Entros joins the pack of game palaces for grown-ups (12/23/98) The science of selfishness By Andrew Brown Richard Dawkins' latest book says that selfish genes don't make selfish humans (12/22/98) Let's Get This Straight By Scott Rosenberg Yes, there is a better search engine. While the portal sites fiddle, Google catches fire (12/21/98) Microsoft on Microsoft By Karlin Lillington How does the software giant spin its own history in its reference products? (12/18/98) Pod people By Janelle Brown Peapod, the online grocery service, sounds great -- but can it deliver? (12/17/98) - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE 21ST CHALLENGE ARCHIVES - - - - - - - - - - 21st Log SF classic "Lensman" moves to the desktop _______

____{ THE 21ST CHALLENGE NO. 17 } BY CHARLIE VARON AND JIM ROSENAU The situation: For several years you've been out of touch with an old friend. Now you learn the friend has joined an apocalyptic, millennial cult that's cut off from the outside world -- no newspapers, no CNN, not even access to the Internet. Once a year, however, your friend is allowed to receive an e-mail message of up to 23 words. Readers are invited to submit such a message. Try to bring your friend up to date on the events of the year and convince him or her to rejoin the world. - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 Jan. 8, 1999. - - - - - - - - - - - - P R I Z E S The winning response this round will receive a copy of Salon technology 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 | Dec. 24, 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.