I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “what the heck is this? Fish Tank Fridays used to be cool.” Well, this is a USB hub. With fish in it. Again. I can’t help it, people just keep on makin’ these things! And I can only assume that people (other people) keep on buying them. This one has a magnetic paper clip holder on top and four USB ports in the bottom, with 2 fake fish, some LEDs, and…
And…
Sigh. You know what? You’re right. This is NOT a cool Fish Tank Friday. I’m in the mood for something bizarre and random, not a lame fake fish USB hub that holds paper clips. Soooo, how about this:
I’ve spent several years working as a network technician, and can appreciate the need for security. Unfortunately many people just don’t seem to understand the importance of locking down their wireless network, and thus I can connect to no less than 3 such networks while sitting in my living room. Sure, some of them might know it’s a bad idea, but are scared to set up their encryption for fear of destroying the internet. Well, if you pick up one of these new wireless routers and a USB adapter, anyone can set up a secure network.
With these new EZLink-enabled devices from Asus, you can set up a secure network simply by pressing a button on the router, then a button on your USB wireless adapter. Alternatively, you can simply enter a PIN which is located on the device. Either way, this is definitely the easiest method for securing a wireless network that I’ve seen.
The USB-N11 adapter supports 802.11n Draft up to 150Mbps, and will work on Windows, Mac and even Linux operating systems. No word on pricing or availability.
Online store GeekStuff4U is selling a USB powered version of a carnival classic, whack-a-mole. For roughly $42(the listed price is 21.00€) you get this little tabletop game where you “whack” little ghosts by pressing them with your fingers when they light up.
It keeps score and has sound effects for the whacking. It’s too bad the ghosts don’t pop up and down like the real whack-a-mole. Then again, I was never good at the real whack-a-mole, so I might have a fighting chance with this version. Cotton Candy and seedy gamer merchants not included.
USB-powered coffee warmers are nothing new, but they are usually little coaster like devices that range in quality and leave your coffee either at a nice temperature or at just above frigid. But never has a device that can heat up your beverage had the possibility of branding you or a co-worker.
When I see the Heat Me coffee heater I think it is both neat and more dangerous than any other heaters whose only flaw is that they may heat up your elbow. For now the Heat Me is still in the concept stage but with billions of coffee drinkers around it’s sure to be created regardless of it’s dangers.
I don’t drink coffee myself, I choose a healthier lifestyle by only drinking a 6 pack of red bull each day.
Are you one of those people that likes to freak people out for no apparent reason? Good, I’m sure we’ll get along just fine. If you’re in the market for a new flash drive, but want something a little different, you have to check out this crazy looking Hacked! drive.
This little 2GB flash drive appears as though you’ve ripped the end off of a USB cable and stuck it into your computer. I think this one would be a little funnier if it were some kind of Bluetooth dongle. Then you could tell everyone that you decided to go wireless, which would make them shake their head and quickly walk away. No word on pricing or availability.
There are plenty of gadgets that need charging while you’re on the go. The old standard was that all your gadgets could be charged by plugging an adapter into the cigarette lighter of your car. Now more devices, like mp3 players, use USB to get charged. This multi-use charger has two USB slots and two cigarette lighter outlets so that you can keep your gadgets running regardless of which method is used.
The charger also handles up to 20 amps, which should be enough to charge 4 items at the same time. It also comes with a kit to mount the charger to the dashboard and can be wired directly into your car’s wiring. At under $20 it looks like a great deal.
Have you ever thought about switching to a Mac, but decided against it due to the high cost? I can’t really blame you, as I’ve been meaning to save up for another one for several years now. Sure, you can go the Hackentosh route (which I have done) but you need very specific hardware and a good bit of patience to get everything working right. However, thanks to the EFiX USB Dongle, you might have an easier time.
Essentially what this little dongle does is allow you to install Leopard from a standard retail CD onto a variety of PCs. The compatibility list with various motherboards is fairly large, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding one that will work. The device will set you back $125, which means you could build a Hackentosh for a fraction of the price of a full Mac.
If you’ve ever been to any kind of trade show in the last few years, you’ve no doubt gotten a USB flash drive from one of the vendors. They hand them out like candy these days (I think I had close to a dozen by the end of my last show), but unfortunately they don’t help the company stand out. This Push Button USB Webkey may very well start replacing promotional thumb drives.
Rather than giving you a 512MB flash drive (or a 16MB one, which is almost completely useless these days) a company may hand you this strange-looking USB hub. There’s actually more than meets the eye with this two port hub. If you press the top of the hub, it will automatically open up your default browser and navigate to a specific address. Seems interesting enough, though I’d rather take a flash drive any day. Then again, free stuff is free stuff.
When you consider how much desktop real estate these Star Wars themed USB hubs take up, and the fact that they only provide 4 extra USB ports, I’m pretty sure they’re only going to appeal to the Star Wars crowd. But since that crowd has made Lucas quite a bit of coin over the years, I’m also pretty sure that Lucasfilm isn’t that concerned. When plugged into your PC they both make various Star Wars related sound effects and while the Darth Vader bust also has glowing red eyes (I’m sorry, which movie featured that?) R2D2 has blinking lights and will actually turn his head back and forth. In fact you can see him in action here:
Thankfully you can switch off the sounds and other effects which will probably become pretty annoying after about 10 minutes. And both USB hubs will be available in Japan in July for about $66.
Related Tags: Fish Tanks, USB
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