1:40 PM -- Back from Telecom '05, I can report a poor offering of schwag.

What's with the pens? Why do all the marketing people in the world feel the need to distribute some kind of elaborate contraption with blinking lights and neon logos as a poorly disguised excuse for a pen? Most of them end up straight in the trash bin.

I encourage you to report on the worst schwag -- and particularly the most stupid pens -- on the message board below.

Also, here's a tradeshow trivia quiz: Name the booth and tradeshow featured in the picture below.

— R. Scott Raynovich, US Editor, Light Reading