there are several different types of USB cable endings, each one of which comes in a male and a female variety. The majority of peripherals will have the female on the device so that the cable is usually completely male on both sides. The end types are A (the wide rectangle connectors), B (the nearly square connectors that have the top two corners cut off), mini USB (what a lot of camera's and music devices use, also comes in A and B varieties), and there are a few more connector types that aren't really popular and don't really popup that often. But if the cable ending fits into the slot, then your USB cable will work.
