GEEKGEM

USB was actually designed to allow many peripherals to be connected to computer using a single standardized interface socket but in the recent years, a lot of things have been manufactured that can be connected to computers via USB. We see a lot of unusual and weird USB devices now and then. Some of them are just pointless and some just suck.

You may also like our earlier posts about Eco-friendly gadgets.

Here is a list of some of the USB devices that are pointless and we wish weren’t even conceived.

When you are on your computer, you are probably there to work. You wouldn’t want anything to disturb you, would you? That’s where this USB pole dancer fits in. You type to make her dance, the faster you type the faster she dances. I don’t see the point, if you are typing why would you want to watch her dance?

If you want to waste $32.49 on USB device that shoots Missiles to more than 10 feet at an extremely fast rate and has  pre-recorded sound effects, get this USB Missile launcher. Not only will it make your workplace unsafe, but also make you look like a 5-year-old.

The whole point of choosing a Memory stick over an External hard disk is that the former is small and can be taken anywhere in pocket. But this Crocodile USB Memory stick won’t allow that because it is too big for your pocket and is bulky too.  It weighs 1.1 ounces, supports USB 2.0, and stores 128MB of data – which too much for a $44 “Pen Drive”.

If you are looking for some fun in your workplace, buy one of these “Blow the World” USB hubs. Just flip the two switches, turn the key, open the plastic cover, and push the red “ultimate destruction” button for some loud honking noises (What else did you expect?). The Armageddon USB hub retails for $55.50.

Alrite, this is one USB device that really sucks. It sucks the dust and dirt you may have on your desk. It weighs 3.5 ounces and can be used to clean the keyboards too.  Anyone buying this Duck Vacuum cleaner is surely wasting his money on something that he doesn’t really need because there are much cheaper and better non-USB alternatives out there.

The USB-Powered oil burner lights up in a random, warm or cool array of colors and at the same time fills up your room with fragrances. Think about it, you are sitting in your room. A friend of yours enters and he had played football and he stinks. You have to first boot your PC, connect the Oil Burner if isn’t yet connected and wait for it to start producing fragrances. Thanks, but I am buying a “real” Oil burner instead.

The office fondue features a fondue pot with LCD and heater, a blue FireGlow USB cable, six Fundue forks, and a recipe booklet. Use it to melt chocolate and cheese.  The Fondue comes with a Recipe bookletand 6 Fundue Forks with included monitor attachments.

This USB-powered gadget ball gives you a massage without ever leaving your desk. Cool, now I have to turn on my computer for a massage. I really don’t see a point why anyone should buy the USB Massage ball instead of a regular one.

You may call it a USB Plasma ball but I call it the “ball of ultimate distraction”. Why else would you want to buy a $13.81 red and blue plasma light streaming device if it wasn’t for the distraction it causes. Blue flashes of lightning will move towards your fingertips once you touch the ball.

This USB device is no better than the USB Pole dancer we mentioned above. The USB Boxercomes with fully interactive USB Boxer with graphics and sounds.  Unlike the USB pole dancer, you get to choose the mode of action. You can choose between Auto – Manual – Keystroke modes.

Want to keep your feet and hands warm when you are working on computer? Checkout these USB heating gloves and slippers. Just wear them and connect them to the USB port. the problem is, they come with short wires so you will have to keep yourself attached to the Computer all the time. I can imagine what it would be like when you get a phone call or someone at the door and smash your Laptop or cabinet to the ground and cutting the wires of the slippers and gloves too.

The USB Shaking Octopus is said to provide vibrating sensations to your head through the device’s legs. You just connect it to your computer’s USB port, place it on your head, press the button, and your headache goes away. As simple as that. The legs are adjustable so that you can also use the USB Shaking Octopus on your neck, waist, or whichever body part you wish. But the question arises, Do you really want a USB device to get rid of your headache? I mean, there are so many cheaper alternatives out there and just because this connects to your computer doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck.

Searching for the Google maps on your windows 7 phone? Well Google map is finally available for your windows phone. Windows phone 7 actually comes preloaded with the Bing map which off course is the contender for the Google maps. The Google map released their full GPS or turn by turn navigation and Microsoft was the one who soon followed it with its new app called Bing maps which features in windows phone 7.5 mango editions. The Bing map app is cool but still it lacks certain features like it is not as fast as the Google map and it location database also lacks sophistication. The turn by turn guiding system is good but when compared with Google it still lacks certain details.

Google map is available for all your window phone 7 devices. It provides extended features like fixing your location, latitude and voice search.

Well, the features Google provide with its Google map app for windows is quite less then what it provides for the other OS based devices like blackberry, iPhone or iPad and especially for androids. Android as originates from the same group (Google) enjoys all the features of the Google maps. And other devices experiences slightly compromised version of the app.

The features available on windows platform includes:

It provide you with a feature to store your business listings on the map like, if there is someone you know at a particular place then you could save the place with the acquaintance’s name, address and phone number.

With this feature you can see your own location on the map even if you don’t have a GPS enabled device.

This helps you to figure out where your friends are. You can check out to tell them your location or could share place with them.

This feature enables you to provide search string by saying anything.

Real time traffic listing helps you in choosing alternate free route instead of the one congested with the traffic.

This feature helps you to view street level images of the certain listed places and directions.

Wherever data is available this feature will provide you with the directions for your driving. It may tell you about the directions you should take in order to reach the certain point.

The Google map will also provide you with transit directions.

If you prefer walking Google map can help you here also. It can provide directions for walking also.

This feature help you in selecting the type of view of the map. This actually covers a layer on the map. You may select from traffic, terrain, satellite, search results and much more.

This layer gives you satellite view of the map.

This feature allows you to tag your favorite places on the map.

So, these are the features Google map has to offer on the windows phone. But simultaneously they provide much more features on android platforms like, biking directions, navigation or turn by turn GPS system, places, 3D maps, compass mode and etc.

Download Maps for Windows 7 Phone: You can download Google Maps for your mobile phone running Windows 7 operating system from the aforementioned link. If you run into any problems, drop us a comment below.

Themes are actually a property setting that allows you to customize the appearance of the pages controls and applications. Here are some cool themes by Microsoft designed especially for you window7 home premium, enterprise, professional and ultimate editions.

You might also want to checkout best Microsoft Office alternatives and use Yahoo Messenger on Windows 7 phone.

If you love abstract then, you are really going to like this. This is bold and beautiful free theme for windows. It comprises of sunbrusts, floating spheres, fractals etc. Which will give you a clear distinct look.

This theme is actually the incredible work by veteran photographer Don McCullin. Don McCullin worked as a creative partner with ASUS and Intel in their “search for incredible campaign”. This black and white theme includes images of antique musical equipment, dusty old records, guitar etc.

If you are a hard core Ducati fan than this theme is just for you. There is nothing like Ducati on the road. This theme gives offers closer look to your favorite motor bikes. This package comprises of the close ups and images of your favorite machine in motion. This theme also allows you to select red background to match with your favorite bike colour.

This is distinctly different. A collection of top Ferrari modals like F430 and F458. These low slung machine with stunning looks would be a vital enhancement to your tedious desktop.

Embedded with both high octane and elegant shots of the Porsche. The distinctive design and bolder looks, makes Porsche one of the most gorgeous machines around us. This theme pack consists of best of the Porsche street and racing modals all well equipped with euro style plates. If you are a Porsche fan then this one of the must have for you.

It’s the combination of pure awesomeness. This theme consists of the wallpapers of your favorite animation characters from Kung fu panda 2, the movie from Dreamworks. So, get your desktop ready for this martial art packed awesomeness.

The birds are angry, their eggs have been stolen by pigs. They don’t have wings but they are fighting pigs. This theme is inspired from one of the most famous mobile games “angry birds”. Anticipate the anger of the birds by one of the coolest themes from Microsoft.

Do you like the background images on Bing. Here is the collection of some of the finest Bing backgrounds. Awesome and gorgeous landscapes, birds and high resolution animal pics. All eye catching Bing images in a single package.

Know about the halo reach, the blockbuster game. This theme package comprises of the concept images behind the production of the Halo : reach. Get behind the scene and know what led to the development of the halo series.

Experience once again the avatar extravaganza, the lush green environment of Pandora, the native Naavis fighting humans to save their planet. The water falling flying islands and much more. Experience them on your desktop.

Microsoft Office is a multi-application software suite which is bundled with different sub-software like; Microsoft Office Word which lets you write official documents, letters etc.Microsoft Office Powerpoint- Helps you make presentation; Microsoft Outlook; Microsoft Frontpage; Microsoft Excel and a few more. While these software are filled with astounding features but at the same time they are very costly. When there are many free software available with exactly or even over the top features like that of Microsoft Office, Why bother spending your money?

In this article we will be informing and giving you links to free Office app counterparts which will enable you to do start your official or non-official work right now.

1. Open Office.org

This software suite has won many awards and accolades and is one of the best alternatives for Microsoft Office suite. This package actually includes five programs that all use the same engine making them inherently the same and extremely easy to learn and use. The 5 are: Writer (word processor), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (graphics) and Base (database manipulation). Writer can even easily do some things that Word cannot, like open PDF files without the addition of a plug-in or commercial add-on. As the software is open source it is maintained by a large community meaning help and bug fixes are freely available and quickly created. This is perhaps the leading free alternative to Microsoft Word/Office.

2. Google Docs

Google Docs is a web based and allows all the same features as provided By Microsoft Office; word processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations can be easily made by this easy to use Web based software presented by google. The plus point of Google docs is that you can share what you create with a single click which makes it a step advanced than Microsoft Office.

3. Jarte

This software is based on Wordpad engine and as they describe it is “‘a fast starting, easy to use word processor that expands well beyond the Wordpad feature set”. You can insert photos and tables and export to html or PDF formats. You can also send documents out via email.

4. KOffice

There are eight packages in this suite, including a spreadsheet, presentation software, project planning and image editing. It is fast, functional and open source. This software suite is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, Linux.

5. Zoho

Zoho is another web based software which has the same features like that of Google Docs, i.e., word processing,spreadsheet and presentation but there is a lot more Zoho has to offer than Google docs like a wiki, a planner, email and CRM.