10 Craziest and Creative USB Hubs

Meet some weird designs that are going to make your coworkers think you have the coolest cubicle in town

Aphrodite Bust USB Hub

 Aphrodite was the Greek Goddess of love and now she can be your Goddess of Hub with the Aphrodite USB Hub. This bust is made of ceramic with a slip resistant base and has 4 ports to charge all the USB gadgets you love.
(Link | Via)

Pig Buddies USB Hub

 To put some fun into the daily boring USB's and USB Hubs we see day in, day out, in every home, office and work place. (Link)

Airplane USB Hub

 Big ol' jetliner, don't carry me too far away. I really like the design of this USB Airplane Hub with Fan. The aircraft's propeller serves as a real working fan (with an on/off switch just above the cockpit) and the wings each have 2 USB ports to plug your gadgets into. When you plug this airplane into your computer it makes a sound like a jet engine taking off, which is only mildly annoying. Unlike a lot of other novelty USB Hubs, this one doesn't look like they just took some cool object and randomly slapped a few USB ports into it - the ports look like they belong on the plane. Nice one. (Link)

Tulip USB Hub

 Turn your desk into a blooming garden with this pretty tulip USB Hub! Four USB high-speed ports are included, with one colorful red flower for each. (Link | Via)

Robot USB Hub

 All hail the mighty Roboto, come to conquer our desks and lay siege to our peripherals! Bow before his diminutive wrath!

Standing a towering four inches tall, it really does wind up and stomp about your work space when it isn't commanding your accessories with its four USB slots, or controlling your mind with its glowing green eyes. Roboto is available from Fred Flare for $24. (Link | Via)

Skull USB Hub

 Who in their right mind would NOT want this USB Hub on their desk? The top of the skull is even hollowed out to hold your fave candy (Candy Corn anyone?), keys, spare change, paper clips, razor blades, plastic spiders or even eye of newt! You can pick this baby up at ThinkGeek.com for $24.99.

Macabre and yet useful! (Buy it Here | Via)

Medusa USB Hub

 Far too many peripheral hubs are cranked out without a single thought given to design, but thankfully, the creators of the Medusa Hub realized that aesthetics do matter. This interesting piece, which is sure to claim a section of prime real estate on your desk, boasts a trendy white finish, four USB 2.0 sockets, a pair of FireWire 400 connectors, a fan, and even a light.

Medusa was a mythical creature, a Gorgon woman with snakes for hair that was so ugly, she'd turn anyone who looked at her into stone. (Link)

Chocolate Bar USB Hub

 This is a good choice for those USB fans. Shaped like a chocolate bar, the modular USB set could be a delicious device for your computer. Each piece functions as a modular flash drive, and the central hub's touchscreen allows you to organize your files without connecting to the computer. (Link)

LEGO USB Hub

 These stackable LEGO USB Hubs are available from Korean retailer, DCX, for 15,920 KRW ($12 USD). (Link)

Transformer USB Hub

 Ok, forget every USB Hub you've seen before…. these Transformers Hubs are the shit! He doesn't transform into your typical boom box, but into a fully functional USB HUB device disguised as a laptop computer. The USB HUB carries 4 ports and is usable in Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista and MAC operating systems. When transformed into robot mode, Blaster can be posed in a variety of ways due to the multiple joints of movement, and will surprise anyone passing by your cubicle. Hey, where did that robot go, and why do you have two computers on your desk? This USB HUB truly is More than Meets the Eye! (Link)

Ten strangest cars at the Barrett-Jackson auction

From three-wheel electrics to mini-semis, here are the ten most bizarre collector cars selling at this week's Barrett-Jackson auction.

 

 

 
With 1,300 vehicles set to sell at this week’s Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., the managed mania of collectable cars will hit its annual high. Thanks to a growing number of million-dollar models and a penchant for publicity, Barrett-Jackson draws more gawkers than any other such event. Thanks to its open doors for any seller willing to forgo an auction reserve, it also offers a welter of weirdos. Here’s our pick for the most outlandish, starting with a 1998 Corvette with $90,000 invested in a stroked engine, nitrous and a paint job that looks like a fiery rash. 

 

 
1968 Ultra Motorhome: Any wealthy person can invest in classic Ferraris and Porsches, but it takes real gumption to put your money on a Corvair-based motorhome built with airplane construction techinques and all the brown, durable fabrics the late '60s could muster. It could be the coolest band van ever.

 

1971 Kelsen Sports Rider EV
Americans laugh from afar at the antics of European three-wheelers like the Reliant Robin, but there's something shameful in our attic: the Kelsen Sports Rider EV. While it looks like a cast-off from the rides of a traveling carnival, the Kelsen was sold to carry living people on public roads, its plain.

 

There are two ways to get that big rig feeling while driving a pickup: Convert your pickup into a faux Peterbilt, or take a real Peterbilt and cut it down to size with a pickup bed. This example took the latter course, preserving the Caterpillar diesel and 9-speed Eaton transmission of the original. Best of all, you don't need a commercial driver's license.

 

 
1969 2-Man Sonar Submarine
This Yellow Submarine comes with...wait for it...a guitar signed by Sir Paul McCartney. Since it's not actually usable as a submersible, you'll just have to sit inside and hum "Blue Jay Way" while imagining the depths of your nearest fish pond.

1952 Chevy Pickup ratrod
This slammed pickup has already sold for $28,600, because real "patina" -- i.e., rust in several shades of rust -- has become the hottest trend among rat rodders. Forget the Mercedes and Packards; this is the best example of why people sell their cars at Barrett-Jackson.

 

1973 Datsun Custom Roadster
Given the multi-million dollar prices commanded for '60s era Ferrari 250 GT Lussos, the market is clearly calling for increased supply to meet demand. One answer: Recreate the Ferrari body on a Datsun chassis. Impressimo!

 

1999 Oldsmobile Silhouette OSV #2
Barrett-Jackson often becomes the gateway for show cars of yesteryear from the SEMA conference, like this candy apple-red Oldsmobile Silhouette OSV. Because nothing got people excited for an Oldsmobile minivan like a one-off with custom wheels and floormats.

 

2008 Devon GTX
Of all the rare cars at auction this week, only one can claim to be the stillborn plans for a 21st century American supercar. The Devon GTX was envisioned by its creators as a way to launch a supercar business using the tooling and parts of the Dodge Viper, which Chrysler attempted to sell before its bankruptcy in 2009. The Devon was a good-looking model, but with Chrysler now reviving the Viper on its own, there's little room for a privateer.

Top 10 Unbelievable Prison Smuggling Stories

People have been smuggling things from explosives to exotic birds into prisons for years.

Here's oddyfunny list of the best ways to smuggle banned goods into prison.

    The inmate who had condom stuffed with 30 items crammed up his anus

  

Florida prison officials found 17 Oxycodone pills, 1 cigarette, 6 matches, 1 flint, 1 empty syringe with an eraser over the needle part, 1 lip balm container, 1 condom, 1 CVS receipt, and a coupon ... in Neil Lansing's, 34, rectum.

The woman who tried to sneak husband out of jail in suitcase

Police in Chetumal, Mexico say a woman was caught trying to sneak her common-law husband out of a Mexican prison in a suitcase following a conjugal visit. Prison guards checked the bag of 19-year-old Maria del Mar Arjona and found inmate Juan Ramirez Tijerina curled up inside in the fetal position.
Her husband is currently serving a 20-year sentence for illegal weapons possession

The obese inmate who tried to smuggled gun under his fat rolls

A 500-lb. inmate at a Texas prison was able to sneak a gun past prison guards after cleverly using his fat flab to his advantage. George Vera smuggled an unloaded 9mm pistol past several frisks and searches by wedging the gun between his fat folds.

The gang members who stashed cell phones in their backsides

A Mexican prison gang all got caught hiding cell phones inside their backsides. Guards were tipped off by one of the gang member's mother who complained to them that her son couldn't get good reception in his cell. After not finding any cell phones in their bunks, they had them all x-rayed, where they found the devices neatly packed away. No wonder her son had crappy reception.

The inmate whose family melted drugs drawn into children's coloring book

Three inmates and their loved ones tried to smuggle drugs into a New Jersey jail on the pages of a children's coloring book. The drug called subozone, is normally used to treat heroin addiction but is classified as a controlled dangerous substance, and was dissolved into a paste and then painted into the coloring book. Scribbled at the top of the offending pages were the words "To Daddy".

Charged in the case were prisoners Zachary Hirsch, Charles Markham and Paul Scipione. Also charged were Markham's mother, Debbie Longo, of West Wildwood, New Jersey, and Katelyn Mosbach, of Trevose, Pennsylvania, who was still being sought.

The Columbian inmates who trained drug smuggling pigeons

Inmates and their accomplices in Columbia used trained pigeons to smuggle both drugs and cell phone parts into the prison courtyard. The plan was foiled only because prisoners got greedy and overloaded cargo, causing the pigeons to be found by police a block away from the prison.

The strippers who were smuggled into a Miami jail posing as paralegals

Wealthy drug lords behind bars in a Maximum Security Federal Detention Center in Miami figured out a way to get strippers into prison. They had their expensive lawyers hire the strippers and pose them as paralegals or legal assistants. Supposedly, the women not only would take off their tops and let the men touch them, but they also snuck in items such as Playboy magazines, alcohol, and money.

The prison guard who attempted to deliver a heroin burrito to inmate

Sometimes the criminals aren't the ones behind the bars, they are the ones outside of them. Los Angeles County Sheriff deputy Henry Marin, 27, attempted to bring a heroin-stuffed burrito into a courthouse jail for an inmate. Supposedly, this wasn't the first time the sheriff deputy engaged in this type of conduct and is now no longer watching prisoners or delivering burritos.

The arrested man who had a gun hidden in his rectum

Michael Leon Ward from North Carolina was arrested and apparently stashed a .38 barrel revolver in his rectum. According to police, the unloaded 10-inch weapon was not discovered until after the suspect had been booked into a cell in the county jail and had a thorough strip search. Thankfully the gun was unloaded.

The father who had heroin stored in his anus to be given to inmate son through french kiss

A Colorado father and his inmate son tried to come up with a plan to smuggle heroin into prison. The plan was made through a series of phone calls between the two but, little did they know, authorities were listening. The plan was for the heroin to be brought into the prison by a female accomplice and then give to the son via a mouth-to-mouth kiss. The father, Mr. Donald Denney, 56, unable to locate a woman with a clean record to visit the prison, decided he would do it himself. Needless to say, authorities were waiting, and after a search found the heroin firmly planted where it shouldn't have been. 

Strangest Circuses in The World

Forget any fear of circus clowns. The strangest shows on earth feature backflipping cats, race-car stuntmen, and burlesque puppeteers.
At London’s Hoxton Hall, acrobats scamper up each other’s shoulders to form a pyramid—although it hardly looks human. The performers are unrecognizable beneath elaborate ant costumes complete with antennae and googly eyes.

Circuses have always been a bit offbeat, but they’ve morphed well beyond the classic three-ring spectacle of clowns and animal tamers. Today’s strangest circuses are small and innovative. Some, like the Insect Circus, push the boundaries by incorporating burlesque or performance art, while others are reviving near-extinct sideshow traditions for a new generation.

“Circuses were once the biggest shows in town,” says Marc Hartzman, author of American Sideshow. “People didn’t have the same mediums of entertainment that we have today.” As audience interest drifted in the 1970s, circuses began adapting, particularly in the U.K., the U.S., France, Canada, and Australia.

A painter by trade, Mark Copeland founded the U.K.-based Insect Circus in 2002, designing fantastical costumes for the acrobatic “ants,” a winged trapeze duo that go by the names of Baron and Baroness Flutterby, and others. He is especially proud of a stag beetle shell worn by three performers. This lumbering six-legged “insect” takes on a matador in an act that resembles a Spanish bullfight.

Still other circuses get their strange factor from sideshow elements like sword-swallowers and actual insects. Adam G. Gertsacov, creator of Acme Miniature Flea Circus, practices a craft that dates back to the late 1800s. After graduating from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, he wandered from circus to circus until he got some career-changing advice. Legendary clown Avner Eisenberg told him to “focus on the fleas,” and Gertsacov hasn’t wavered since. He trains 12 fleas at a time to perform tricks like being shot out of a mini cannon into a Hula-Hoop dubbed “the hoop of death.”

For truly death-defying stunts, look to Delhi, India, where the Diamond Maruti Car Circus has become infamous for performing while hanging out of speeding vehicles. For 25 cents, you can peer over the edge of a pit and watch performers on motorcycles and in cars zoom in circles as they grab hands and stand up on their seats—an unbelievable performance that also qualifies as one of the

Even in an age of entertainment overload, the world’s strangest circuses share the ability to keep you on the edge of your seat. Here’s a sneak peek at their shows.

The Mill by Ockham’s Razor, England

This circus is built around one of mankind’s most humble yet revolutionary inventions: the wheel. Suspended from a 23-foot-high rig, performers execute aerial stunts around a large wood and metal wheel. Only five aerialists manage to keep this prop in constant motion throughout the entire performance.

Strange Factor: A high-flying human-scale hamster wheel, suspended from the ceiling by only rope. 

 

Moscow Cat Circus, Moscow

Any owner will admit that cats can be fussy and difficult to train. But with no more than kind words and gentle gestures, veteran circus performer Yuri Kuklachev coaxes his cats into tricks ranging from handstands to aerial acrobatics. It’s a talent his oldest son—now his sidekick—has inherited.Strange Factor: Kuklachev’s cats perform alongside human mimes in variety shows including The Nutcracker and Cats from Outer Space.

Sideshows by the Seashore, Coney Island, New York

Sideshows highlighting freakish abilities used to be everyday entertainment. But now Coney Island amusement park is the only venue in America where you can experience a traditional 10-in-1 circus sideshow. It’s a squeamish throwback that’s been entertaining crowds since 1985 and fits in well with Coney Island’s reputation for the outrageous.
Strange Factor: A snake charmer named Serpentina who performs with a 15-foot albino Burmese python.

Circus Monoxide, Australia

Traditional aerial and juggling acts may be part of the lineup, but each show also comes with an unconventional theme that provokes audience members. (Superb & Broken dramatized the search for passion and meaning in everyday life through three characters, including a neat freak and a father who dreams of donning red sequins.) A live band plays throughout the show, building up the anticipation for stunts like performers being catapulted out of a bus.Strange Factor: A bathtub act during which a female aerialist plunges in and out of the water.

Diamond Maruti Car Circus, Delhi, India

So much for fastening a seat belt—these stuntmen perform tricks while hanging out of speeding vehicles. For the ticket price of 10 rupees (25 cents), you can watch as the cars race around in a pit accompanied by motorcycles. The show promises a view so close that you could give the performers a high five.
Strange Factor: An act called “The Wall of Death,” in which performers race their motorcycles and cars, stand up on their seats, and hold hands with each other.
 

007, San Francisco

The international man of mystery has run off to join the circus—at least that’s what this troupe would have you believe. With high-flying acts and futuristic dancers, James Bond and his Bond Girls put on a campy show complete with a hero-versus-villain plot that entails aerial stunts and theatrical fights.Strange Factor: Aerial Bond girl dance sequences, accompanied by psychedelic lights, music, and disco ball.

Acme Miniature Flea Circus, New York

Inspired by Hubert’s Flea Circus in Times Square, which closed in 1957, Adam Gertsacov pieced together the tricks of the flea trade from his circus mentors. The Acme Miniature Flea Circus’s bloodsucking insects have tumbled their way through four different countries and 38 states since the mid-1990s. The only thing Gertsacov asks from his audience? No dogs allowed.
Strange Factor: Two fleas race to a finish line while pulling a chariot. Other less fortunate fleas are shot out of a mini cannon into a Hula-Hoop called the “hoop of death.”

La Soirée, London

Filled with bizarre acts, La Soirée is a prime example of a contemporized variety show that borrows from circus, burlesque, and vaudeville traditions. Look for roller skaters doing tricks, rocker stuntmen, and puppeteers whose decidedly adult work has been described as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert meets Moulin Rouge as written by Pedro Almodóvar.Strange Factor: An opera-singing drag queen named Le Gateau Chocolat belts out renditions of everything from pop-rock to opera.

The Insect Circus, England

In 2002, Mark Copeland stumbled upon a book about circuses and began working on paintings that played with scale, eventually creating a series in which insects took over the roles of circus animals. And like that, the idea of a real creepy-crawly circus was born. The 10 circus members wear elaborate insect costumes for classic hat tricks, air stunts, and comedic numbers.
Strange Factor: A wasp tamer performs with two life-size wasps. Each wasp balances on a high wire and jumps through hoops.

10 of the Best – and Worst 9/11 Tattoos

It’s been a decade since the twin towers fell. Life has changed as nobody would’ve imagined. As the nation begins to pay tribute to the fallen, we take a look at ways in what New Yorkers have done to keep their loved ones’ memories alive.

We start with the more permanent memorials — in loving memory tattoos of those who were affected the most. These are fine folks who simply wanted to express their pain in a more unique way — getting tattoos with loaded meanings to them and something to remind them for a lifetime.

A soldier with a 9/ 11 tattoo stands with other soldiers with U.S. Army Able Company, 3-509 Infantry Battalion inside protective shelter during an afternoon rocket and mortal attack on Combat Outpost (COP) Zerak on Jan. 22, in Zerak, Afghanistan. Getty Images / Spencer Platt.

A soldier with a 9/ 11 tattoo stands with other soldiers with U.S. Army Able Company, 3-509 Infantry Battalion inside protective shelter during an afternoon rocket and mortal attack on Combat Outpost (COP) Zerak on Jan. 22, in Zerak, Afghanistan. Getty Images / Spencer Platt.

 Most offensive tattoo ever!

Another super hero tattoo.