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It was supposed to be an April Fool's prank, but in the end, it was just too believable.

About four years ago, Scott Smith and his team of gadget, tech gear and novelty sellers at ThinkGeek.com came up with an idea for a prank product: a desktop George Foreman grill that plugs into a computer through its USB port. It was dubbed the iGrill, and it fooled many consumers and technology editors. As recently as last year, it was still showing up on lists with titles such as “Top 10 weirdest USB devices ever.”

The real joke was that there are so many strange and downright puzzling USB-powered office gadgets coming to market that a USB George Foreman grill didn't seem so farfetched.

“If you told me that this USB product was coming out, I would have believed it,” Mr. Smith says. “I might not be interested, but I wouldn't be surprised.”

Over the past few years, the USB (Universal Serial Bus) port has become the method of choice for powering office gadgets. Originally built to be an interface for computer peripherals such as a keyboard, mouse or iPod, the USB port has been seized upon as a safe, universal power source.

“For gadgets that would normally be battery powered, you can just go USB instead,” Mr. Smith says, noting that USB is the same on computers everywhere in the world.

As a result, workplace jokesters and office gadget freaks have never had it so good. This is the golden age of desktop distractions.

At the useful end of the spectrum are USB-powered tape dispensers, pencil sharpeners and paper shredders. In the pleasantly surprising category are things such as heating and cooling pads for mugs, and USB-powered mini-fridges to keep pop cans cool.

But the market for the strange and the sublime appears to be outpacing the rest. There's a USB-powered toy that can launch miniature rockets at colleagues; a USB desktop drum kit; gloves, slippers and knee pads that become toasty warm when plugged into your computer; a sensor that tells you if your posture needs correcting; an ashtray that eats smoke; a mask to keep office dust and allergens at bay; and a desktop toy that features a USB-powered stripper working a pole – maybe not the best conversation starter for the office.

Richard Chromik, an assistant professor of materials engineering at Montreal's McGill University, recently purchased a USB-powered microscope from ThinkGeek. He plans to use it to help display computer circuitry during lectures.

“It's certainly designed to be a kids' toy,” he acknowledges. “I'm going to have to turn the sound off on my computer because it makes weird outer space noises when you click on things.”

The USB gadget trend may have reached its tipping point with the just-in-time-for-Christmas release of the simplest, most useless and childishly vulgar gadget ever: a plastic dog that plugs into the side of your computer and immediately and unrelentingly begins to hump it. No on/off switch, no settings – just violent, senseless puppy love on your desk. The website that helped popularize USB Humping Dog explains that the dogs “live to hump; they hump to live. Period.”

“I would say that over the last year and a half to two years is when USB gadgets started getting really crazy,” says Jason Chen, a senior associate editor at gadget blog Gizmodo.com.

Mr. Smith of ThinkGeek makes regular trips to Japan to discover the latest in USB-powered office gadgetry (a company called Thanko is the reigning champ) and receives news of new products on a monthly basis. They just keep coming, he says. And Canadians are among his best customers.

One of his current bestsellers is a missile launcher than includes personal computer software to assist with targeting.

“Some people want to have the latest thing that nobody else in the office has,” he says.

His company passed on selling Humping Dog, but it did recently come up with another joke product that seems right at home among its USB office gadget brethren. The company launched the Fundue, a desktop USB fondue set. For $29.99 (U.S.), it promises to turn you into the “MacDaddiest, most svelte lemming in the office come lunchtime.”

Wouldn't you know it, the Fundue garnered a serious mention in PC Magazine. But the Fundue only ranked as No. 7 on the magazine's list of the “10 Weirdest USB Devices.”

Among others, it was beat out by a USB-powered hamster wheel replete with fake hamster, once again proving that in the world of USB office gadgets, truth can be stranger than fiction.

Special to The Globe and Mail