Who needs friends when you’ve got all these ports! If you worked in the AV club in high school or do that shit for a living now, this shirt was made for you. It resembles the back of an expensive McIntosh receiver as far as my eye can see.
The crew at my old puking grounds, Gizmodo.com, have whipped up one of the most comprehensive guides to cables on the ‘net. Whether it’s USB to Firewire or CAT-5 or even DVI, you will leave incredibly educated on the subject of tech-related cables. Been trying to figure out what kind of charger that weird phone you got off Craigslist takes? This will help you find out.
So here’s the biggest load of crap to hit the home entertainment market. The Whitelight Glass Fiber-optic Cable made by Nordost is supposed to deliver the best possible audio to your home theater. Your equipment better consist of McIntosh and nothing less, ’cause a pair of Whitelight cables will run you $32,825. Yes, that’s over thirty thousand dollars. I’m sure even the snobbiest audiophile would scoff at that price. Here’s a list of some stuff you could buy if you spent $25 on a set of gold-plated AV cables and saved the rest:
Remember in school how all the network cables stayed hidden with those nice plastic shells that went up and down the walls and side to side on the floors? Wish you could do the same for your home? Now you can, thanks to Brooklyn-based designer Karl Zahn. His Picket Fence project looks to keep your cable collection tucked away behind a classic white picket fence. Sure, there’s wireless solutions, but that’s not ideal for all of us.
You stick a picket on your floor’s skirting board and continue as you see fit. Create a whole wall that resembles your mother’s garden and keep that CAT-5 on the DL. No word if the Picket Fence system will ever be released commercially, though you could always hit up The Home Depot and build your own.
If you’re not the DIY type, then the project we told you about a while ago which helps you declutter your desk isn’t going to do much good. And if you have a crap load of wires, then a small aid like the diminutive Wall Cleats won’t help much either. For a cable tangle of super-sized caliber, the Spacestation is called to duty.
The Spacestation’s ingenious design not only cleans up all of your cables, but acts as a USB hub for all of your gadgets. Keeping all of your computers connections neat and plugged at the same time. (more…)
Looking for a slightly less masochistic way to take control of your wires than the One Man Tied hook? This Wall Cleat is an innovative design that allows for your loose, unplugged cables to be wrapped around two projected tabs that extend from the outlet.
A simple gadget like Wall Cleats means you don’t have to buy an outlet, plus an extra gadget, to keep dangling cables organized throughout your home. For extra organization, check out this DIY to declutter your desk. — Andrew Dobrow
Feeling a little masochistic? Well don’t go beat your kids just yet. Here’s a safer alternative to unleash some of that built up violence. One Man Tied is a unique cable tidy hook that not only helps organize your cables, but leaves you with the satisfaction of a fresh torture, without the guilt.
This 4″ tall poor little man is available in both orange and white (although awkwardly shown as red on the product’s page). As you tidy up your cables, you’ll start to realize why the One Man Tied looks to be in such agony. But, look at it this way. No need to hit your kids, no screaming wife, no pleas for mercy, and most importantly, no need to create excuses when you bring your kid into the hospital with a fractured skull. Hell, no more hospital bills! Well worth the $12 for violent child beaters. — Andrew Dobrow
Cables are a reality of any geek, but that doesn’t mean they don’t suck. Any time you see another wire making its way into your home, you know that sooner or later, you get to untangle it. It’s just like a birthday present!
This Cable Carpet tries to take care of the issue of running wires across rooms by letting you cut the wires straight through the room. It lets the wires groove their way through the carpet, and with plastic clips, the wires keep their position. Yet, they are still visible. But then again, isn’t that grey duct tape you used to use visible as well? –Nik Gomez
Cable Carpet Ugly and Useful…Sort Of [via I4U News]
