Nate Lawson is working on a X1541 cable that has a USB connection. With the xum1541 and the OpenCBM software it is possible to transfer data to and from a 1541 disk drive and a modern PC. It supports high-speed parallel cables, so you can use nibtools and make low-level images from a diskette. The xum1541 is based on a Atmel developers board and a small pcb for connecting the 1541 disk drive.