"Cyclometers can turn even a leisurely Sunday bike ride into a high-performance event by measuring distance traveled, speed, heart rate and even the number of pedal rotations each minute."
-- New York Times, August 2000
In the beginning was the stick. Then came the ruler, the plumb bob, the egg timer. And now, in the Silicon Age, human beings have created chip-based gizmos to measure absolutely everything. Or have we?
Readers are invited to invent a device -- hand-held or smaller -- that can measure something as yet unmeasurable. Give us its name, any new units of measurement and up to 50 words of Sharper Image catalog prose telling us why we cannot live another day without it.
EXAMPLE
Speech gun
Slow talkers got you down? Turn your speech gun on a colleague, politician or spouse. A chime sounds when the speaker falls below five syllables per second. Optional "Uh" counter available.
RULES
Send your submissions via e-mail only to salon21st@salon.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 and reuse it. Deadline for entries is Oct. 13, 2000.
PRIZES
The winning response will receive a copy of Salon Technology editor 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 of weeks after that with a whole new challenge.
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