heinz creates world's smallest microwave (and you can plug it into your laptop) (link)
06.08.09 - the daily mail - by sean poulter

forty years ago this next month, in what has been seen as one of man's crowning technological achievements, america put a man on the moon. since then, other than the invention of the roomba, things have been a little slow on the technological breakthrough front...until now. what be this new beacon of progress? the world's smallest microwave, a portable device dubbed the "beanzawave."

this tiny innovation runs off a computer's USB port & comes to us courtesy of a design commissioned by the good folks at heinz, who were looking for a portable way to cook up their "snap pots." the daily mail's sean poulter describes the gadget as a way for "workers tied to their desks to create a warm snack, or hot drink, to see them through the day." the design, which uses "a combination of mobile phone frequencies," was designed by a "microwave expert" & "an authority on industrial design." microwave expert! that sounds like a deliciously scientific profession! too bad i had to go & get a film degree like a sucker.

heinz did a little research & it turns out that people really need tiny USB microwaves. as poulter notes, their research discovered that "69 percent of office workers find they are so busy at their terminals that they do not have a chance to go out for lunch every day." this data only tells part of the story. it's not like we're always busy. sometimes, it's that we love our jobs so much that we wouldn't even think of leaving our desks, even for a snack. currently, the tiny microwave is only in the design stages, but if we're lucky, heinz will fast track the beanzawave into production. they'd better, because if by years' end i can't use my computer to make smores & spreadsheets simultaneously, i don't know what i'll do...but i do know i won't be getting up from my desk to do it.