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I have a problem. It is a problem I try to hide out of sight and out of mind, one I try to pretend doesn't exist. But it does, and every so often it raises its ugly head to bite me. Most recently, I needed to replace an Ethernet switch as I needed more ports. As I unplugged the old switch, my monitor turned off. Why? Because under my desk I have a cable catastrophe. The mere act of unplugging the old switch had so disturbed and enraged the rat's nest of cables under my desk that in retaliation it decided to turn off my monitor.
So intertwined and confused is the mess beneath my desk that even the most mundane of acts—plugging in a new gadget, removing an old one, sometimes just even moving my feet—threatens to destroy everything.
TFA addresses the perennial problem of cable jungles. I use zip ties. What are the best solutions Soylentils have come up with, and what are their pros and cons?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by cosurgi on Wednesday September 09 2015, @10:44AM
Instead of plastic zip ties I am using those wire-inside-plastic ties that are sold with every cable. When I buy something I do not throw away it, but instead I collect them. Now when you have your ties you do following:
1. disconnect all cables
2. identify sockets that need to be connected.
3. make cables as short as possible (and a little shorter) by folding them into a circle at the one of the cable ends
4. tie all cables together so they form a one very thick pipe-cable
5. connect them
You will be extremely surprised how well the step 3 solves this problem.
Look under my desk: http://janek.kozicki.pl/IMG_3296.JPG [kozicki.pl] , my PC is in the other room because I hate noise and no matter how much money I put into making the PC silent it is never silent. So instead I bought 5 meter cables for me (and 10 meter HDMI cables for my wife, be careful about cable bandwidth though). The cables that you see here are for 3 PCs and 4 LCD screens, plus USB & audio. Headphones, mouse & keyboard are wireless of course, because I hate cables too.
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#\ @ ? [adom.de] Colonize Mars [kozicki.pl]
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by pkrasimirov on Wednesday September 09 2015, @11:09AM
That's great until you have to change your mouse.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by cosurgi on Wednesday September 09 2015, @11:13AM
Actually I had to change it, because it broke few months ago (after few years of use). I did some research earlier and I decided that I like a particular model so I bought exactly the same mouse. Then I used the vendor's software to pair the new mouse with existing wireless mouse&keyboard receiver, and unpair the previous mouse. And that was it.
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#\ @ ? [adom.de] Colonize Mars [kozicki.pl]
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(Score: 4, Funny) by Anne Nonymous on Wednesday September 09 2015, @02:21PM
You can just zip tie the new mouse to the old one.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday September 09 2015, @05:15PM
Vim + Vimperator. You'll never need a mouse again.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 10 2015, @02:25PM
That's great until you have to replace your keyboard.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday September 09 2015, @03:10PM
To paraphrase Henry Ford.. Make cables as short as possible, but no shorter.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Tuesday September 15 2015, @10:13AM
Those wire-inside-plastic can be picked up at garden-stores - they are commonly used for tying up small braches.. Just in case you run out of them.