My (Hot) Cup Runneth Over

7:00 PM -- The holiday season would not be the holiday season without the bizarre gifts that land on my desk from vendors. But, I have to say, Advanced Digital Information Corp. (Nasdaq: ADIC) truly surpassed itself yesterday when I opened up a package to reveal: a USB beverage warmer. Yes, I am now the proud owner of a hotplate-style device that I can plug into a desktop USB port (Voltage: 5VDC; Heating Temperature: 80-110C degrees). Truly, my life is now complete -- never again will my cup of Joe go cold whilst I ponder the vagaries of storage networking.

Surely any CFO worth his salt can see that this is the way forward for companies. Why spend millions on executive bonuses when you could be pumping that money into cutting edge technologies that liven up my otherwise miserable existence? (See 2005 Top Ten: Executive Payouts.) CEOs beware -- your loss is my childish gain.

James Rogers, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch