Cactus oil burner

Cactus oil burner from alt-gifts

What better way to relax and help set a tranquil mood at your desk than with one of these funky USB powered oil burner/mood lights.

Technorati Tags: USB

USB Hamster Wheel

USB Hamster Wheel from Feeling Chilled

This is a really fun computer accessory which will have you laughing hard! Ok so it’s not computer science, it’s simply a real looking hamster in a wheel. But when connected to your PC via the USB cable, the little hamster will run as you type – the faster you type, the faster the hamster runs! It’s hilarious, if a little distracting, but we love this none the less.

Technorati Tags: USB

Instant Music Vinyl & Cassette Ripper

Instant Music Vinyl & Cassette Ripper Available from I Want One of Those

Years of teen angst slavishly devoted to making the ultimate compilations of all time on countless Memorex C-90s, – they were what Saturday and Sunday afternoons were for back in the ’70s and 80’s.

Technorati Tags: Cassette, Music, Ripper, USB, Vinyl

Doctor Who Tardis 4-Way USB Hub

Doctor Who Tardis 4-Way USB Hub is available from Firebox

Today’s computers are triumphs of technology, but divvy designers always seem to scrimp on the USB ports. A shame because practically every electronic device on the market is now USB-friendly – from cameras and MP3 players to phones, lava lamps and drum kits. (If you don’t believe us, just type ‘USB’ in our keyword search box). And who can be bothered fiddling around the back of their computer looking for spare ports?

Technorati Tags: DR WHO, HUB, USB

I-Axe USB Guitar

I-Axe USB Guitar from I Want One of Those

If you fancy yourself as the next Jimi Hendrix but haven’t the space or finances to mess around with all the paraphernalia that accompanies an electric guitar, then the iAxe is for you. Thrashing away on a guitar has to be one of life’s great pleasures (for you at any rate – if not the people having to listen to you), and with the achingly cool iAxe USB Guitar, heaven is just a strum away.

Technorati Tags: Guitar, I-Axe, Music, USB

USB Cannon

USB Cannon from Firebox

The battle for office supremacy knows no decorum: blowing soggy clumps of tissue through biro blowpipes, boinging rubber bands around, chucking cups of cold coffee over colleagues’ heads (or is that just us?). It’s almost enough to make you want to knuckle down and do some work. Almost.

Technorati Tags: USB

USB Doomsday Device Hub

USB Doomsday Device Hub is available from ThinkGeek Electronics

The secret to the USB Doomsday Device is very simple – it has three levels of failsafe protection. In order to arm the Device, you first need to activate switch one. Then, you need to activate switch two. Then (and stay with us here, because this is where it gets a little crazy), you need to activate switch three.

Technorati Tags: USB

USB Doomsday Device Hub

USB Doomsday Device Hub is available from ThinkGeek Electronics

The secret to the USB Doomsday Device is very simple – it has three levels of failsafe protection. In order to arm the Device, you first need to activate switch one. Then, you need to activate switch two. Then (and stay with us here, because this is where it gets a little crazy), you need to activate switch three. Switch three is a key switch, and only authorized personnel should have a copy of the key. Once all three switches are turned on (in order) the Main light will glow red. This means the Device is armed and very dangerous.

All that is left to do is flip back the plastic shield and press the red button for an explosive sound effect. But what really happens when you press the button? We’re not sure. Perhaps 15 kittens explode; perhaps your bank account lowers by a fraction of a cent; perhaps you start an interplanetary war trillions of parsecs away by blowing up the caravan of Queen Knorb’l. But one thing is clear – before pushing the button, you must ask yourself, “Do I feel lucky, punk? Well…do I?” Because, who knows, the explosion you hear from the USB Doomsday Device might just be the sound of your brain vaporizing.

Oh yeah, and you can also use the USB Doomsday Device as a 4 port USB hub. No one will mess with you with this baby on your desk.

USB Doomsday Device Hub is available from ThinkGeek Electronics

USB Podcast Kit

USB Podcast Kit is available from I Want One of Those

It’s an indisputable fact that our own lives, thoughts and insights are considerably more important and fascinating that anyone else’s. Thanks to the internet, we can now enlighten the world with our wit and wisdom by producing our very own Podcasts. At last someone has put together the ultimate Podcasting kit that comes with everything you need to broadcast professional and fascinating (well that bit’s up to you) podcasts to the planet.

Technorati Tags: podcasting, USB

USB Podcast Kit

USB Podcast Kit is available from I Want One of Those

It’s an indisputable fact that our own lives, thoughts and insights are considerably more important and fascinating that anyone else’s. Thanks to the internet, we can now enlighten the world with our wit and wisdom by producing our very own Podcasts. At last someone has put together the ultimate Podcasting kit that comes with everything you need to broadcast professional and fascinating (well that bit’s up to you) podcasts to the planet.

Behringer (a name to be reckoned with) have bundled a studio-grade USB audio interface with comprehensive DAW and podcasting software, and also thrown in a professional 5-input mixer with 2-band “British” EQ, high-quality headphones and a dynamic broadcast-style microphone plus cable and stand. All you need is something interesting to say – though that doesn’t seem to be a pre-requisite anymore either – and you’ll be ready to educate, fascinate, amuse, and possibly enrich us all. Tell it to the world!

USB Podcast Kit is available from I Want One of Those

USB Chameleon

USB Chameleon is available from I Want One of Those

If the Culture Club worked in an office (now there’s a thought) then the place would be stuffed with tunes “Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon” and PCs would be decked-out with USB Chameleons (and possibly some rather dodgy wardrobes).

Technorati Tags: USB

USB Chameleon

USB Chameleon is available from I Want One of Those

If the Culture Club worked in an office (now there’s a thought) then the place would be stuffed with tunes “Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon” and PCs would be decked-out with USB Chameleons (and possibly some rather dodgy wardrobes). Yes we agree it would be quite Chameleon themed but still, we can’t see Boy George in a faceless cubicle just doing the accounts, can you? Ok we got a bit distracted there. The USB Chameleon is a bizarrely loveable desk buddy. Pop him on your computer screen, plug him into a spare USB port, and watch as he randomly rolls his eyeballs in opposite directions, and sticks his tongue out to catch passing flies. Utterly pointless, endlessly diverting.

USB Chameleon is available from I Want One of Those

USB Turntable

USB Turntable is available from Firebox

Digital music is great but isn’t it a pity you can’t transfer your old records on to your computer? Well guess what? You can! That’s right vinyl lovers, thanks to the ingenious USB Turntable you can put all your LPs, 12″s and singles straight into your digital library.

Simply plug this chic little turntable into the nearest USB port, fire up the idiot-proof Audacity software and start converting your collection. Forget about clumsy adaptors, special drivers and mismatched software. It’s easier than, er…well, it’s easier than putting a record on!

USB Turntable Just think of all that lovely vinyl you’ve got languishing in the loft. Fair enough, some of it should probably stay hidden (no, we don’t know why we bought Bruce Willis’s Return of Bruno LP either), but even if it’s just for the sake of nostalgia, hearing all the records you grew up listening to makes for a fantastic trip down memory lane. And if you’re one of those trendy DJs (we’re talking Carl Cox, not Pat Sharpe) who likes mixing it on the decks with vinyl you can put all your bangin’ anthems on to your PC for transfer to CD or MP3.

USB Turntable Featuring adjustable gain, anti-skating control and high-speed vinyl recording function, the belt-driven USB Turntable can also be connected to any home stereo with CD or auxiliary inputs. This means you can spin your records through your regular system when you’re not converting them. You can even don a big pair of tinted glasses and pretend you’re Simon Bates. If you want.

Whether it’s Whitesnake, Wham, Spandau or some ancient disc belonging to your dad, the USB Turntable can convert it. And it doesn’t matter what speed the records in question are – this Turntable can handle both 33s and 45s. So why not forget about buying any new music for a while and rediscover your vinyl. All right? Not ‘arf!

USB Turntable is available from Firebox

Doctor Who Tardis 4-Way USB Hub

Doctor Who Tardis 4-Way USB Hub is available from Firebox

Today’s computers are triumphs of technology, but divvy designers always seem to scrimp on the USB ports. A shame because practically every electronic device on the market is now USB-friendly – from cameras and MP3 players to phones, lava lamps and drum kits. (If you don’t believe us, just type ‘USB’ in our keyword search box). And who can be bothered fiddling around the back of their computer looking for spare ports?

Not us. That’s why we use USB hubs. But we don’t use any old hubs to bolster our USB connectivity. Good grief, no! We use ones shaped liked Doctor Who’s Tardis. Why? Well, for starters we love Doctor Who. But more than that we love the Tardis. This ingenious product of Time Lord technology is surely one of the most iconic objects in sci-fi history.

What’s more, the good Doctor’s Tardis (yeah, yeah, we know it stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space) is an obsolete Type 40 model with a jammed chameleon circuit, giving it the shape of a 1950s London police box. And it just doesn’t get any more eccentric or quirkily British than that.

The Doctor Who Tardis USB Hub boasts four ports in which to plug your various gizmos. Simply plug in and you’re away. But here’s the good bit: every time you connect or disconnect a device, the blue light on the top of the Tardis flashes and that unmistakable de-materialisation ‘vworp, vworp’ sound starts sawing away at your lugholes. Thankfully it doesn’t actually vanish into the time vortex, so you can enjoy the classic grating din again and again by plugging in more devices or pressing the demo button.

Perfect for Doctor Who fans or those of you who want to increase your USB connectivity via a pretend Gallifreyan time/space machine, the Tardis USB Hub makes an eye-catching addition to any work surface. And with 4 metres of cable, you can easily slip it out of view when the boss, wife, or anyone else who might disapprove of PC peripherals disguised as dimensionally transcendental vehicles, is around. Vworp, vworp!

Doctor Who Tardis 4-Way USB Hub is available from Firebox

USB Drum Kit

USB Drum Kit available from Firebox

To the purist, drums and electronics go together like liver and custard. But we’re not purists. And we quite like liver and custard. Besides, the days when the only sounds electronic drumkits could muster were pathetic, disco-ey ‘poos’ and EastEnders-style ‘dums’ are definitely over.

Unfortunately most of today’s electronic drumkits cost a small fortune. Not so the USB Drum Kit. Coming in at less than the price of a decent cymbal, this ingenious set up plugs directly into your nearest USB port and plays through your computer’s soundcard and speakers. Clever, eh!

Hear the drummer get wicked
Whether you’re a total novice or a seasoned skinbasher, the USB Drum Kit is an ideal practice kit as it can be played through headphones for virtually silent practice. The only noise housemates will hear is the tippity-tap of sticks on the kit’s rubber trigger pads.

And what about all those thwacktastic drum and cymbal sounds? Well, the USB Drum Kit’s ‘brain’ contains 233 realistic drum sounds and 50 preset rhythm patters, so you can have a bombastic rock kit one minute and a crisp funk kit the next. You can even compose complete arrangements and create and save your own customised patterns and songs.

Easily mounted on a compact rack system, the USB Drum Kit’s six playing pads are velocity-sensitive so you can create Dave Grohl-levels of percussive pandemonium or give it a little less wallop, Charlie Watts-styley. The pads can also be ‘choked’, which, for all you non-drummers out there, means they can be caught with one hand in order to instantly kill any sustain. (Think opening bars of Eye of the Tiger).

Two equally responsive pedals take care of all your bass drum/hi-hat action and we’ll even throw in a full tutorial system/CD video to get all you wannabe Keith Moons on the road to superstardom. For those about to rock, we salute you!

USB Drum Kit available from Firebox