You’ve probably guessed that gold-plated cables for your home theater are entirely unnecessary. Still, there must be some small quality difference for all that price, right? Mint.com‘s blog lays out the answer: No, not at all. More »
Blog Archives
Why You Should Never Pay More Than $10 For HDMI Cables [Infographics]
Posted on March 31, 2010
Repair a Broken Ethernet Plug with Zip Ties [Clever Uses]
Posted on December 8, 2009
We’ve all been there at some point, you’ve got a perfectly functional Ethernet cord that somewhere along the line had its tab broken off. Don’t buy a new one or re-terminate the cord. Fix it with zip ties.
While we're no stranger making our own Ethernet cables—you can probably find a few RJ-45 connectors hanging out with the dust bunnies under our work bench—sometimes it's not convenient or you don't have the tools to strip an Ethernet cable, strip and reposition the pairs, and re-terminate it. It's an even bigger annoyance when the only reason you find yourself having to do it is a missing plastic tab on the connector plug.
Over at the ever-growing how-to site Instructables, they have a tutorial on how to fix a broken RJ-45 connector using two zip ties, a razor knife, and a pair of pliers—although if you're going full MacGyver you could skip the pliers. When you're done you'll have a functional tab on your Ethernet cable. Check out full tutorial at the link below and if you have your own clever use for zip ties or other inexpensive tools—duct tape anyone?—we want to hear about it in the comments.
Repair a Broken Ethernet Plug [Instructables]
$5 IKEA Coat Hanger Offers Solid Cable Management [Clever Uses]
Posted on September 1, 2009
Weblog BitsOfMyMind shares a very simple idea that turns an inexpensive coat-hanger rack into a simple and streamlined cord management solution.
Back when I detailed how to go cordless in your workspace, I championed a $10 cable management add-on from IKEA. I’ve since gotten several emails from readers unable to find the cable management accessory in stores, which is why I love this coat-hanger workaround.
It was built by screwing Ikea Antonius coat hangers to the underside of the desk using long enough wood screws. To give it a bit of stability, I used a hollow tube (like piping cut to length) for the hangers to sit on.
You can find the Antonius coat hanger BitsOfMyMind used here, but it looks like you'll have to head into stores to buy it. The point, though, is that you really don't need to buy this particular coat hanger—any similarly constructed coat hanger could do the trick nicely. (Though we do love the paltry $5 price tag on this one.)
Cable management [BitsOfMyMind via Hack a Day]