Controlling the Cable Congestion? 110
JaytheMover asks: "I've just moved, and my wife won't allow me to set up my desk as I had before. I had a gaggle of cables under my desk which only NOW seems to bother her in the new house. How do you guys keep this mess under control? I Googled 'Cable Organizer' and found this thing called the cable organizer at cable-safe.com which hangs the cords like in a closet or this cable snake thing which binds them all together. What do Slashdot readers use to keep their cable clean and their wives happy?"
Mine (Score:2)
Re:Mine (Score:3, Interesting)
I have a nice corner desk, but the box is on the left and the keyboard and mouse cords come from the right, I also have a ton of periphirals. I got tired of kicking the mouse out of my hand and wanted to be able to streach out my feet without fear of unplugging stuff, so...
First, I decided to group things by device, so i zip-tied the mouse and keyboard together, leaving enough slack to pull out the keyboard tray and get full range on the mouse. I then z
Re:Mine (Score:2)
Re:Mine (Score:2)
Re:Mine (Score:1)
For wires that are visible from the front of the desk I use wire loom that can be found in the automotive department of any big retail store (Wal-Mart). It comes in many sizes I would get 3 different sizes 32mm - 10mm. I also use colored zip ties vs the white ones, the color ties let me manage my runs so I know where a group of bundled cables end up. The black ties also are not visi
prenuptial agreement (Score:5, Funny)
Re:prenuptial agreement (Score:3, Funny)
At least the mother in law went to live elsewhere before I lost the office.
Re:prenuptial agreement (Score:2)
Avoid straight lines at all costs (Score:5, Funny)
What do Slashdot readers use to keep their cable clean and their wives happy?
First off, I avoid straight lines like that at all costs.
-- MaruksQ
Re:Avoid straight lines at all costs (Score:2)
I guess that's a name we haven't used for it yet!
It still is one of the ways to keep her happy, though...
split tubing and duct tape (Score:2)
I'm cheap. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I'm cheap. (Score:1)
Zip or Twist Ties (Score:4, Funny)
Oh geez. (Score:2)
Just to be clear... (Score:3, Interesting)
For heavy wires, doubling up the staples and doubling or tripling up on the twist ties is a good idea.
Re:I'm cheap. (Score:1)
Telco guys use wire, not velcro, zip, twist (Score:2)
If you do your own cabling, this makes sense. You just take a scrap of cat5 (if you had crossconnect wire, you'd probably already be clued to this) strip and cut to an appropr
laptop (Score:2, Redundant)
Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper... (Score:2)
Hell Yeah. It seems anyone who's making Southpark references are getting modded down.
What gives?
keep her out (Score:3, Funny)
desk (Score:2)
I don't. I keep my gf under control. My TV has DVDs of DS9 constantly running on it, she stays out when it's on.
Give her the requirements (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Give her the requirements (Score:1)
Every once in a while I need to disconnect something and it had better be accessible. If I had to crawl under my desk to undo the cables she had so nicely braided for me I think I'd lose it.
I like that 3" split cable idea.
Boy, are you asking the wrong crowd (Score:2, Funny)
A. Most slashdot readers are sadly (?) not constrained by this requirement. Perhaps you could explain to the majority of the readership here, what a wife is, and how you get one.
B. Most slashdot wifes probably accept the cable mess as "one of those things I love about him." Anyhow, I suspect slashdot wives in general have a fairly high tolerance of cable messes.
C. Which those married readers with wives who aren't particularly tolerant of
Re:Boy, are you asking the wrong crowd (Score:1)
This is a common assumption, but how true is it? This would make an excellent question for a Slashdot poll.
Are you:
* hetero & single
* hetero & married
* hetero with girlfriend/fiancee
* gay & single
* gay & virtually married
* gay with partner(s)
* bi & single
* bi with girlfriend and boyfriend
* bi engage
Re:Boy, are you asking the wrong crowd (Score:1)
* hetero with boyfriend/fiance
* bi with girlfriend
* bi with boyfriend
info [wikipedia.org]
Wire Management (Score:5, Insightful)
You can try wire duct of the type that Panduit sells [panduit.com]. Run a long channel or two along the back of your desk and you can pop the top and stuff all your extra cable inside the channel and route the wire neatly out the slots where they are needed. More expensive but easier to reconfigure.
Now, as to part two - keeping my wife happy:
I try to hit the toilet when urinating and wipe up if I don't. I do my share of the dishes, cooking, laundry, etc. I take out the trash. I surprise her with flowers when she isn't expecting any. I help fix problems at her mother's house. I stop what I'm doing and give her a hug and kiss when she gets home from work. Somehow, the issue of a couple of stray cables hidden under the back of the desk hasn't concerned her at all.
Re:Wire Management (Score:1)
I have a ton of equipment all interconnected in the main room (3 cpus, 2 monitors, wireless router/switch, cable modem, keyboards/mice, mixer, guitar amp, effects processors, guitars, keyboard (musical), midi equipment, DAT, power conditioner, dv camera (firewire), digicam, iPod, speakers, headphones, audio ins/outs, etc... you get the idea!). After figuring o
Old Stage Hand Trick (Score:3, Informative)
The most common technique is to use good old fashioned string. Most hands refer to it as Tie Line [production...online.com]. Run a wire where you need it, tie it up. Tie line is usually cut to about half a yard (or metre), tied in a clove knot [geocities.com], and finished with the s
Re:Old Stage Hand Trick (Score:1)
Re:Old Stage Hand Trick (Score:2)
Re:Old Stage Hand Trick (Score:1)
Re:Old Stage Hand Trick (Score:2)
When my submarine was in the shipyards, the yardbirds used heavy gauge wire about a foot long for securing temporary cables, ducts, etc... (As well as to stash coffee cups,
Re:Wire Management (Score:2)
BTW, before you go too far down this path, duct tape is a bad idea also.
Re:Wire Management (Score:1)
Re:Wire Management (Score:1)
In my new office I made sure to arrange furniture so that I have access to the back of everything, But even with cable ties it looks like shit. My main cumputer desk is 4' tall, so I doubled over an old blanket, and stapled it to the back of my desk. It makes things look nicer, and keeps dust down. As for heat, only the monitors sit on that desk. So all you see from the back is 2
Part 2 (Score:1)
I wish more people will read this.
Give your wife what she really needs, with love and respect, and you'll get the same (or you'll find out you married the wrong person).
Marriages comprising of spoiled, selfish and moody children (vs adults) rarely work out.
Velcro One-Wraps (Score:1)
Velcro straps (Score:4, Informative)
Only then did she realize that cables aren't just there to annoy her.
I'm not meaning she's dull either; we're often annoyed by stuff we experience the point with it
(think road work: "What the hell are they digging up the road for. Can't they see I'm trying to drive here?..." etc).
Second, velcro straps are good for getting the cables off the floor.
Our cables are now basically hanging rat's nests, but without the monstrous dust bunnies, and it's easier to vacuum.
I agree (Score:1)
My method: (Score:3, Insightful)
This neat crap bugs me, it reminds me of an incident many many years ago, on the first PC network I ever used. I was a developer and we had an early Corvus OmniNet. It used flat cable, and we bought only 100ft cables, that was the max length and we figured better too much cable than too little, and we planned to move to bigger offices where we would need longer runs. But some of us were within 20 feet of the server, so we had huge piles of ribbon cable bunching up behind our desks. So one day the office manager came in on a weekend and decided to clean up, and coiled the extra 80 feet into a nice coil, put a wire tie around it, and put it back behind our desks. Then on monday we came to work and the network was shot to hell, we couldn't get decent speed or reliable file transfers. I checked cabling and found the coiled cable behind my desk. I uncoiled it and instantly got back to reliable net use. I went to the manager and informed her that you can't coil 80 ft of ribbon cable in a nice neat cylinder, you're just making an induction coil, signals can't pass through it. He didn't believe me, so we had to call Corvus, and they confirmed. They said that if you wanted to neaten up your cable, you had to make a loosely bundled accordion fold about 3 ft long. So he made us all rebundle the cables. Total loss of productive time, about 1 business day. Neatness can be destructive, never let neatness interfere with productivity.
Personally (Score:2, Flamebait)
Wireless (Score:2)
Some wires must be. However wireless keyboards and mice are nice. Wireless networking isn't THAT expensive either (compare to divorce if you must) so keep the internet connection in the basement or something. That gets rid of a few.
Put a USB hub on your desk (one wire, 2 if powered), when you need the printer, scanner, real keyboard/mouse (wireless doesn't always work for games), game pad, steering wheel, external CD drive, webcam, and so on, pull it out of the closet, plug it in and use it. Put away
Re:Wireless (Score:1)
Two cheap solutions (Score:1)
2. If #1 doesn't make your wi(fe / ves) happy, paint a shoebox to the room color (or use wallpaper if your room has wallpaper) and stuff all the Tied excess cable into it.
3. Kill your wi(fe / ves).
4. Problem(s) solved!
Black burlap (Score:2)
Duct tape. (Score:2)
A Possible Scenario (Score:3, Funny)
"Sweetheart? The car won't start."
"I know. I thought about what you said about the wires on the computers and decided you were right. They're an eyesore. So when I was working on the car, I decided all those ugly wires under the hood had to go. See?" [Hold up handful of wires].
"But the car won't run without those!"
"I know. Neither will the computers."
If she's not fully convinced yet, walk over to the TV and start fiddling around with the coax cable.
IKEA et al (Score:2)
Last time my wife & I were at IKEA, we got some cheap home office organizing stuff like what you seem to be looking for here. One promising item they had was a cable organizing tray [ikea-usa.com] that can be attached to the back of your desk. They also have these donut-shaped reels [ikea-usa.com] that can be used for spooling up excess cable. But the main one, which I can't seem to find on their website, was a simple slitted black tube that you could use to snake all your cabling together.
Note that I don't have anything to push b
Re:IKEA et al (Score:1)
Re:IKEA et al (Score:1)
And probably in your (or your buddy's) garage in a pile of junk. It's called an old garden hose, and you can just cut to length and split that down one side and away you go. For larger cable runs, use an old vacuum cleaner hose. Same idea, same price. Probably free out of a junk pile, as I said.
Two things (Score:2)
For the past two years I had a store bought desk made of particle board that comes as a kit. It was cool, but it broke when I moved out over the summer. When I got back to school I built my own desk. I took a tape measure and determined how high, wide and d
Wireless Warning (Score:1)
In my college we had a case where a student was "magically" seeing someone typing on her computer, when in reality it was a girl about 50 feet down the hall who's wireless keyboard signal was being picked up by this girl's wireless keyboard receiver. (Of course, how that signal made it thru about 7 cinder block dorm room walls is still beyo
Grouping... (Score:2)
Find all the groups of cables that go from one place to annother, ie (Desktop->Back of computer (mouse, keyboard, microphone, monitor, video camera)) and (Shelf of computers->Powerbar (power cables)) and (Shelf of computers->Router (Cat-5s))
Now tape each group together so it forms one mega-cable.
Just be really carefull when you replace a device that you don't cut any cables when you cut the tape. I did this myself; last time I replaced my mouse I also had to replace my keyboard.
Re:Grouping... (Score:1)
cables under control and happy wives... (Score:2)
This sounds like a job for... (Score:2)
Failing that, get some velcro and a staple gun.
3M Hook and Loop Fasteners (Score:1)
I like the 600" x 1" roll with 8" perforations. Allows me to cut them down the middle and in half if needed. 300 1/2" x 4" straps for less than $7. Great for all kinds of organization tasks.
Here are some of the places I've found them:
Mouser [mouser.com]
Jensen Tools [jensentools.com]
I use zip ties (Score:1)
CordKeep'r (Score:2)
draw the line (Score:3, Insightful)
You don't believe me? Look at the living room, the kitchen and your bedroom, for example. Are they arranged and decorated as they would be if you lived there alone, or as they would be if she lived there alone? I thought so.
But as you are a long term guest, and because of your various useful functions (getting things off high shelves, opening jars, killing icky things and changing fluids) you should be alloted some small parcels of guy space.
Traditionally, guy space is found in the garage, the basement, the attic or sometimes in a room in the house that the wife can find no other use for. They are filled with things; guy things; things that the wife will not tolerate anywhere else in the house but cannot outright ban. Your power tools, your games [wizards.com], your books [oreilly.com], your semi-abandoned projects, your things that are too close to working again to throw away,
This is where your computers should be.
Once you establish that your computers are in your space - where everything is as it should be - let your cables be as they should be. The general condition of the guy space must constantly remind her that here, she is the guest A rat's nest of computer cables on the floor sends that message subtly but strongly.
Re:draw the line (Score:1)
I appear to not be one of those mismatches, but only time will tell. (Though lasting 12 yrs as of age 30 is better than anyone I've ever met my age, period.)
My point? Give your wife a spanking.
simple, and cheap/free (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, simple. (Score:1)
Simple, we didn't get married. Now, if you'll excuse me, my frozen pizza is done.
Karma: desrever
Solution (Score:2)
More stuff (Score:2)
All the cables are tangled up out of sight behind the big boxes. All I have visible is mouse/keyboard cables, and a camera connection cable, tucked under a monitor until I need it.
Politely but firmly.... (Score:2)
If you do, then the compromise should be that you will stop doing that if she stops messing with your stuff.
Honestly, some times you have to say no, and make clear how unfair it is to be told how to put things like a child,
Now, if you do not ever do anything to keey the house tidy then, yeah, sucki it up and follow the advice of other
What Ever Happended To.... (Score:2)
Other things to consider are things such as: combo cable modem/wireless router, combo scan & fax printers, wireless kerboard and mouse combos.
Having said that, the area behind my computer looks like a rats nest too.
Dude, talk to your wife (Score:2)
Good excuse to buy new hardware (Score:1)
A cool project in and of itself. I am waiting for a 17" Flatscreen with built in speakers, a USB hub, and USB speakers. That way I can just run one USB wire to the PC for all that (still need power though).
I like having the mouse and keyboard attached, keeps the kids (and me) from running off with them (like they do with the remotes).
Get a desk with a back to it. (Score:1)
Using zip ties doesn't really reduce the clutter, they just lump it all together. And it's also a PITA when you need to find out where a particular cable goes.
Re: Slashdotters are not keeping their wives happy (Score:1)
What kind of sick fuck thinks jokes about killing women are funny? Dude, get some help.
What the hell, this was not Trollish! (Score:2)
Those of you that felt it was necessary to mod me down, understand the context before you go crazy.
In the show he's talking about not taking any crap from a woman. Not that I actually advise "telling her to go make you a pie", or whatever, but christ. This was hardly deserved.
This was supposed to be funny. If anything, just ignore it, don't waste your mod points on me.