There are people I know who, upon visiting a stranger's house, will surreptitiously peek inside the medicine cabinets. A prescription for Prozac or Cialis can (apparently) tell you a lot about the people living there.
Not me.
If I'm in the snooping mood, I'll duck my head behind the TV or entertainment center. Because, in my most humble opinion, the way a man wires his devices tells you a heck of a lot more about his character and intellect than anything else.
Time was, watching TV was a simple proposition. As long as the thing was plugged into household AC, and the rabbit-ear antenna was angled just so - then you were good to go. But those days are long gone. My relatively simple entertainment system has no less than ten AC power cords (TV monitor, surround sound receiver, powered subwoofer; wireless access router; NAS device; Apple TV; Xbox 360; Harmony Link controller; DVD player; and ATT U-Verse decoder.) Simply getting 110VAC to all those boxes requires almost fifty feet of high-power cable. Add in the two dozen various HDMI, optical, and speaker wires - and you've got the makings of a nasty-looking, potentially dangerous mess of wires and cables.
Many, many years ago I learned the value of a good electrical installation from a guy who wired machinery in my factory. The basic principles: Separate high power, low power and data cables from each other. Label and color code them where possible. Provide strain relief. And use lots, and lots of cable ties.
Short note: You are coiling your excess cable properly, aren't you?
If there's a horrible rats nest behind your TV or computer system, get thee to a Home Depot or Ace Hardware (B&Q if you are in the UK, God only knows where if you're in france or Italy) and buy yourself a big old bag of cable ties. Shouldn't be more than a few dollars. Then spend a half hour or so carefully sorting, coiling, and routing your cables - securing them with your handy new nylon friends. (Hint - a pair or sharp scissors to snip off the excess length helps.)
Not me.
If I'm in the snooping mood, I'll duck my head behind the TV or entertainment center. Because, in my most humble opinion, the way a man wires his devices tells you a heck of a lot more about his character and intellect than anything else.
Time was, watching TV was a simple proposition. As long as the thing was plugged into household AC, and the rabbit-ear antenna was angled just so - then you were good to go. But those days are long gone. My relatively simple entertainment system has no less than ten AC power cords (TV monitor, surround sound receiver, powered subwoofer; wireless access router; NAS device; Apple TV; Xbox 360; Harmony Link controller; DVD player; and ATT U-Verse decoder.) Simply getting 110VAC to all those boxes requires almost fifty feet of high-power cable. Add in the two dozen various HDMI, optical, and speaker wires - and you've got the makings of a nasty-looking, potentially dangerous mess of wires and cables.
Many, many years ago I learned the value of a good electrical installation from a guy who wired machinery in my factory. The basic principles: Separate high power, low power and data cables from each other. Label and color code them where possible. Provide strain relief. And use lots, and lots of cable ties.
Short note: You are coiling your excess cable properly, aren't you?
If there's a horrible rats nest behind your TV or computer system, get thee to a Home Depot or Ace Hardware (B&Q if you are in the UK, God only knows where if you're in france or Italy) and buy yourself a big old bag of cable ties. Shouldn't be more than a few dollars. Then spend a half hour or so carefully sorting, coiling, and routing your cables - securing them with your handy new nylon friends. (Hint - a pair or sharp scissors to snip off the excess length helps.)
