It seems that kids these days are simply born with the jeans to run computers.  I know of 7 year old kids doing Power Point presentations already!  They have incorporated YouTube videos, slides with more animation then what I’ve ever done and all before the 4th grade.  Impressive.

On that note, it’s worth making their computer environment a bit fun.  With USB keyboards, USB mouse, flash drives, digital cameras, iPhones etc, it’s required to have a USB hub, even at the kids computer.  So why not get them a fun looking Lego USB hub?

USB Fever now carries these 4 port USB hubs for just $12 USDs.  It’s a USB gadget they need, in a fun familiar form factor they recognize.

It would be very cool if the USB Lego hub would stack, but with a flat bottom, it doesn’t.  Shame.

In case you are color blind and can’t see the different colors available in the picture, you can purchase red, black, yellow or blue 4 port Lego hubs. (more…)

GetUSB.info reports on all many different USB hacks which take ordinary items around your house or office and turn them into something different.  Today we bring you the USB printer cartridge.

This is a low tech project easy for just about anyone to do.  I wasn’t going to report on this because of it’s simplicity, but then I got to thinking.  This is a great way to have a USB drive with content you don’t want anyone else to find, hidden nicely in your inkjet printer.  At least for me, the color inkjet printer we use only prints black because we really didn’t need color and the cartridges are too expensive.

The full USB hack is laid out really well at Instructables website, but it boils down to 5 basic steps:

Step 1 = Gather up your tools

Step 2 = Break into the USB stick and disassemble the inkjet cartridge [messy]

Step 3 = Clean everything out

Step 4 = Position the USB stick inside the case [ink cart full of silicon]

Step 5 = Button it up and use.

Considering the simplicity of this project, you also have a low budget, about zero cents.

The Netbook Mate by Fantom solves many problems with the popular netbooks, it gives you expansion!  Simply use a USB cable and connect from the Netbook to a Fantom USB port and you’ve suddenly got:  A DVD burner, USB ports, 160GB hard drive and ergonomic dock station!

Now on sale from Buy.com

Expand the storage capacity of your Netbook with Netbook Mate. Its combination of easy slide in/out 2.5″ removable drive, DVDRW,two built in USB port hub and cooling fan enhances your Netbook in every way and gives you the ultimate portability.

Easily carry your photos, music, video and files where ever you go. Because your Netbook lacks an optical drive, doesn’t mean you have to live without one. The Netbook Mate will let you burn discs or watch movies at any time. Simply connect your Netbook Mate to a USB port on your Netbook and you are done; Installation is that easy! The Netbook Mate fits most brand Netbooks from 8 to 11 inches, it is extremely compact and light weight.

How would you like to be heading up the marketing meeting where you name a product, “USB Porn Detection Stick?”  Better yet, how would you like to be the QC team in charge of making sure this type of technology would work?  That’s the job worth fighting for.

Dvice posted an article about a USB stick that does just that, it uses high level scanning software to detect images related to pornography.  What I mean by high level, is the scanning software will even detect the deleted files.  To be specific, I’m not sure if they are talking about the scanning software simply going into your Recycle Bin, or if the scanning software can actually scrub your hard disk for partial images, either way it’s an interesting concept.

Application:  Best for corporations looking for a reason to fire their employees, over-the-top-crazy-girlfriends, and of course forensic teams trying to build a case against the kiddy porn sick-o’s.

MSRP is $100.

Global USB Flash Drives Market to Reach 568.98 Million Units by 2015, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on USB Flash Drives. The world market for USB Flash Drives, by volume sales is projected to reach 568.98 million units by 2015. The market currently witnesses challenges manifested in the form of the ongoing recession and resulting erosion in consumer confidence.

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) February 17, 2010 — With data storage needs evolving from “dumb” storage models, such as, compact flash cards, SD cards, floppy drives, CDs, smart media, and other removable storage devices, to more intelligent self-computing portable storage solutions, its USB flash drives’ time in the sun. With a long list of benefits stacked in its favor, USB flash drives are outshining other types of storage devices in the marketplace. The market over the last couple of years witnessed heady growth patterns. The ongoing global economic recession has, however, put the USB Flash Drives market on a “high alert” after forcing a retarded growth in the volume sales, as seen in 2008 and early 2009. Given the intense competition and deceleration in growth in USB flash drives market, innovation will be the name of the game for industry players. Continuous, and effervescent innovation remains critical in ensuring sustained kindling of customer enthusiasm. In short, incorporation of new value-added features and services into USB flash drives, such as, creative industrial designs and form factors will help keep customer interests sufficiently ignited.

As stated by the new market research report on USB Flash Drives market, Europe and Asia-Pacific collectively account for a major share of the global USB Flash Drives market. The sluggish growth in the market can primarily be attributed to tightened budgetary conditions and reduced spending triggered by the financial crisis, the impact of which continues to diffuse in the marketplace. The economic slowdown and the resulting erosion in consumer confidence, steadily deteriorating consumer sentiment as a result of falling (more…)

Here is a simple and incredibly fun USB hack where you turn an old CPU into a hot plate for your coffee, tea or some liquid fragrance [in a dish].

This very useful USB hack can be done in 4 steps.

• Step 1) Tools and Materials

1. A dead CPU. (Ofcourse you can use a working one but it won’t be feasible.) 2. A USB cable 3. A Fan grill with screws. 4. Any box (I used a wooden tie box cover) 5. A rotary Tool (the best tool ever invented) 6. Epoxy 7. A creative artistic mind…[continute]

• Step 2) The Idea

A CPU will still have some working electronic circuits even if it stopped functioning probably. And this project will use the heat generated by running some Volts in the CPU through a USB cable.  First things first. Be Very Careful. Connecting a malfunctioning CPU to your computer may and will damage your computer’s ports or even worse. If you don’t have enough…[continue]

• Step 3) The Steps

First, prepare the base. You have to find a thin box or a box cover to use as the base of the plate. I used a tie box cover made of wood because it has the same thickness as my laptop. Now put the CPU over the base you picked and mark a square to drill with your rotary device. The square must be a little bit bigger than the CPU. The reason behind the bigger hole…[continue]

• Step 4) Preparing the hot plate

locate the ground pins in your CPU and that can be done by reviewing the CPU data sheet or simply by the devastating trial and error. Cut the USB wire and pass it through the hole you made previously in the base. Strip the USB cable and locate the black and red weirs (black wire = ground, Red wire = +5V). You can cut out the white and green data weirs for more space…[continue]

Clearly this tutorial is from Instructables…Thanks Eric!

Hovercam X500 is great name for the function it performs, hovering over documents to project via camera.  The Hovercam is meant to replace the age old overhead projector we are most familiar with from grade school.

The X500 USB imaging device has a 5 megapixel sensor mounted on a swing arm that can either scan and recognize or monitor and project anything on the surface underneath. As a scanner, the HoverCam performs as a 600dpi equivalent scanner. Scans are snapped as photos would be, in an instant. No more waiting for the slow trudging of the scan sensor to run up and down the page.

The free software that is included with the X500 is called HoverCam Flex. The Flex is not surprisingly built on the Adobe Air platform, and is a desktop based application that connects directly to their web services. Images can be uploaded, saved, published, shared and OCR’d with a quick drag and drop. The HoverCam Flex service also provides quick integration with other cloud services like Google OCR, Picassa, DropBox and e-Fax. The benefits of the software alone might be worth the $199 asking price of the HoverCam X500.

To get the Hovercam X500 just visit Amazon and you’ll get a better price than the MSRP. (more…)