Wow interesting to see that it works... I should retry that cheap junkie nGear combo hub/card reader that I have kicking around (or rather that I kick around regularly) just to see if it works like this; personally though this is one of those things that while it's interesting to see that it's possible, it's also kind of an indication of the whole "get what you pay for" mantra; sure it's possible to get the cheapest USB hub around to work, but for a few extra bucks why not just get one that works properly the first time?

My technical bet, btw, would be that the nGear/cheap hubs/etc aren't doing power negotiation properly/at all, or aren't identifying themselves properly to the Kernel when you first power them up (maybe they take a second or two to power before they can communicate properly?), thus the system is rejecting them on hotplug. When you do an lsusb you're forcing a re-probe of the USB bus and essentially causing any inactive but connected equipment to re-negotiate with the Kernel. That's my thought at least...

BTW off topic (or on topic, not quite sure!) the USB 360 adapters should be available in the next day or two... and Solio chargers are coming soon ;o)

Thanks,
-Rob