<![CDATA[Gizmodo: cable management]]> http://tags.gizmodo.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gizmodo.com.png <![CDATA[Gizmodo: cable management]]> http://gizmodo.com/tag/cablemanagement http://gizmodo.com/tag/cablemanagement <![CDATA[Bluelounge's Refresh Station Charges Four Devices At Once, Is Pretty In Pink]]> The Refresh charging station is like a beautifully slimmed down version of Bluelounge's Sanctuary charger, with half the connections: 2x iPod/iPhone, 2x USB, plus single Micro USB and Mini USB plugs.

It can charge two iPod/iPhones simultaneously while also charging a Blackberry and a bluetooth headset for instance. In fact, using the two iPod connectors and two of your own iPod cords, you could even charge four iPod/iPhones at the same time.

It's good to see they've thrown in Micro USB, too. That's a nice bit of future-proofing given that most cell phone makers (in Europe at least) will soon be using it universally. You can pick one up in white, black or pink for $90. That isn't exactly cheap, but the Refresh definitely looks like a pretty slick piece of kit. [Bluelounge via Yanko Design]

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<![CDATA[10 Of Your Biggest Cable Management Disasters]]> Last week I asked you to show us your cable management situation. Not surprisingly, elegant solutions were hard to come by. What we did have was complete chaos.

ITLawMan: Yes. That is a boom box. Its for music on hold. Sue me.
FannyGaia: this is my setup in my basement - note the wifi router suspended from a pipe using and old phone cord to boost reception upstairs
sixty4: Here you have it folks your chance to see cable management at its best and I sell my services for $4.99 an hour! That's right, for $4.99 an hour I will come to your house and hose your wires up too!...

This add ends in 25 seconds so act fast before its gone!

These wires are for 2 computers + 1 Altec Lansing sub woofer and 4 surround sound speakers and at least 2 computers that are no longer a part of the network but I have not removed the wires. There may be other misc wires from cell phone from a year ago, a battery charger and keyboards that are hooked to nothing but pure air :( There are 3 daisy chained surge protectors as well, covered in skin dust.The 2 monitors and 2 printers are about 5 feet away so the additional wires run behind the white floor cabinet pictured; hidden and out of site. There are several books and clean printer paper on the white floor cabinet pictured as well, hidden. In addition its a glass tabled top so you can see the arrangement from above while you wait for Twitter to come back online. These all run off one plug, the other wall plug on the adjacent wall is for the air conditioner and router. I did use 3 cable ties to tidy up a bit; red ones to match the color of fire hazard.
Excelcior: 2 PDAs, 2 kbds, 2 mice, 3 printers, 2 scanners, a router, a cable modem, 2 switches, 5 game controllers, 2 game consoles, a monitor, a VCR, an FM antenna, and 2 sound systems. And that's just what's hooked to the 4 computers.
It's hard to see just how many there are because of the brown desk top, but they're stacked about 12" deep. Cheers!
karateelf: It really needs some organization!!
emmetation: I think about this every day...
retardedbaboon: real deal
stillinbeta: Our Media Center. Two TVs, 4 game consoles, hard drives, routers, etc.
Cubcicals: Here is my hell. only part of it/save me nothing helps
asanya: i think i need a bit more than cable management lol lots of old PC parts the PC its self is old run windows xp with a amd athlon 850MHz

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<![CDATA[Show Us How Badly You Need One Of These 10 Cable Managers]]> If you have a tangle of cords and power strips behind your desk, you might want to consider one of these cable management solutions. And while you are at it, show us a picture of what your are dealing with.

If you have neatly organized your cables, feel free to show that in the comments too. Even if it's just zip ties, well-organized cabling can be like a work of art.

To be honest, this is my favorite solution on the list—so much so that I am planning on doing this one myself. Going to your local hardware store and picking up a rain gutter and accessories then installing it under your desk or along the wall is a cheap and effective DIY solution. [Lifehacker via Link]
Cablox adhesive pads stick to the bottom of your desk, allowing you to wind cables out of the way through the nodules on the business end. [Cablox via Link]
If you are creative enough, you might find something around the house that can serve as a basic cord wrangler. In this case, Wolverine Mighty Muggs toys decently handle small jobs. [Geeksugar via Link]
The Cordotz cable organizing system goes beyond simple zip ties and colored tape with candy-colored cordwraps, cordstraps and cordidentifiers. [Cordotz via Link]
This snake-like contraption conceals your cords and channels them down to the floor. [CableOrganizer]
Many of the workstation desks coming out these days have built-in cord management systems. The Swan Desk concept pictured here takes that idea a step further by allowing you to weave your cables through the desk in an artistic way. [Les Chics Types via Link]
Cablebox is a simple box with open slots that tucks away cords and power strips that would otherwise be lying in a heap on the floor. [Bluelounge via Link]
The Cable-Safe is basically a shelving system that you can neatly hang cords and power strips from. Aesthetics aren't addressed so much with this solution, but it will keep your cords off the floor. [CableOrganizer]
Inside the WireMate, users can wrap and fasten cords in place. After the cover is attached, the unit can be mounted anywhere that's convenient or out of sight. [CableOrganizer]
Why fight with power strips—all you need are more outlets. This extreme solution is only a concept, which is just as well considering that practicality and safety don't seem to factor into the design. [Ironic Sans via Link]

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<![CDATA[Gutters Are Good For Rain, Great For Cable Management]]> If you thought Wolverine was a good cable wrangler, get a load of Lifehacker reader Seandavid010's rain gutter solution. It's smart, it's practical and it's easy to pull off yourself. [Lifehacker]

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<![CDATA[Cordotz Candy-Colored Cord Management System]]> Cordotz is a colorful three-point cord management system that consists of cordwraps, cordstraps and a cordidentifier.

First, the cordidentifier matches each cord on your power strip with easily identifiable icons. The cordstraps keep cords bundled together and, finally, the cordwrap winds a cable into a tidy bundle. Sure, you could do the same thing cheaply with some tape, zip-ties and Wolverine, but this is sooo much fancier. Each of the three systems is sold separately for $10 apiece. [Cordotz via Crunchgear]

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<![CDATA[Vine Camouflage Disguises Unsightly Cables]]> While we wait patiently for wireless power systems to come of age, managing unsightly cables remains an annoying problem. Perhaps camouflage is the answer.

This vine-shaped cellphone charging cable from Microworks is one application of this idea. It's only a design concept at the moment, but I can picture something more elaborate—like a faux houseplant that is actually a gadget hub, with multiple branches that extend out and double as charging cables. It certainly would be a lot better than having cables slithering out of every socket like some sort of robotic Medusa. [Microworks via Spoon and Tamago via Dwell]

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<![CDATA[Desk Grommet With Cable Trap Looks Incredibly Useful]]> This grommet is just a design, but we wonder why it took someone this long to come up with such a genius (and obvious) idea. Like a regular desk grommet, it's a big hole that lets cables through. Unlike a regular desk grommet, it's got notches on the side of different sizes to grasp and hold your cables so they don't fall on the ground, making you breath in dust for a few seconds as you fish it back out. Again, design for now, but we'd love to see this thing be standard in every desk. [Yanko Design]

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<![CDATA[iPod, Well-Hung with Hangman]]> The unfortunately named Hangman attaches to your iPod's universal dock connector on one end and a belt loop or anything else (a nipple piercing?) on the other. Plus, it helps manage that pesky wire, too, letting you unravel just the right amount, and then you can completely wrap it up around it when you're done. Hangman is available in white or gray for $19.95.

This is not a bad idea for the latest scratch-resistant iPods, freeing them from those dog-ugly cases and tidying up that cable mess until someone invents an ultra-tiny Bluetooth earbud system that actually works.

Product Page [neat.products]

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<![CDATA[The Cable ID Cord Management System]]> Come on man, admit it: your work area is nothing but a spaghetti and meatballs of cables and plugs and such. It's okay, some of us (me) call that neo-cybereclectic... which is a (made up) euphemism for "I'm too lazy to tidy things up, so I'll pretend I like it the way it is by giving it a fancy artsy name." Last time I had to unplug my router to make place for something, it took me three whole minutes of following a cable from source to socket.

Well, to solve this all too common of problems, German company Sternform Produktgestaltung of previous fame will be distributing a product called Cable ID. Manufactured by Dutch firm Cleverline, it's nothing more than a set of rubberhelixes of different colors, designed to easily attach themselves to cables. They are flexible and you can write on them so as to be able to identify which cord goes where at a glance. -DP

Product Page [Sternform via Core77]

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