Partly inspired a little by this tweet from @marcoarment
Rewiring my desk every time I rearrange or get a new computer is strangely satisfying.
I'm a master of zipties and cable clips.
— Marco Arment (@marcoarment) June 24, 2012
and a post that came up in my reader about standing desks. It got us thinking that we should probably clear up our desk and get some of the bits and pieces tidied up.
I’ve such random things as two mouse mats, an external USB camera (who needs that ?) among the useless things I never use that are still on my desk. It’s out with the Velcro cable ties then. These things are are quite handy, you can tie a few of them together to allow you tackle even the chunkiest of cables. Or you can use them individually to tidy cables along the way. Velcro has the obvious advantage over zip-ties or cable ties that they can be reused, and you can’t damage the cables when trying to get them off.
If you can’t find Velcro, you can get ties that are reusable, so if you are someone like me who buys computers quite often, you’ll be able to do it quick and painlessly.
Re-arranging power supplies & cables
You’re probably like me, you have a multitude of cables, be it USB, power, earphone or video cables all vying for a space on your desk. Here are a few of my tips on how you can have a clean & clear work environment.
- Turn off your computer (so you might need to print this off before you tackle it)
- Let the computers cool for a minute or two
- Clear up your desk from any other bits that shouldn’t be there (get rid of old paper, glasses,etc)
- Disconnect everything and make sure the cables are in good condition.
- Then plug-in everything that needs to be in a power supply socket
- Run the power supplies cables to your computer / or monitors.
- Wire up the video cables, attaching them to the power cable
- Connect Ethernet cable if you have one
- Connect USB devices, use up the ports side by side, so when you need to add a new one you can easily access it
And then you can sit back and enjoy your clean desk !
One extra link for you today : A Magsafe to Magsafe 2 adapter review.