Proper Cable Coiling

When I first got audio cables, I long pondered what was the best way to coil them. After using audio cables for over 10 yrs, it is only recently that I have learnt the correct way of doing so. I also realized my dad (a general contractor for over 30 yrs) already did this with his 100 foot power extension cords. To think I always wondered why I couldn't coil up that cord like he did...

The problem: The instinctual way of coiling cables results in kinks and excessive turns. If you think about it (and this may take a moment), the traditional way of coiling cables results in one TWIST of the cable for every loop you make.  This means when you uncoil it you will be left with all those twists and turns in the cable.

The solution: The technique commonly called the "over/under" method of coiling cables eliminates this problem, and you can coil a perfectly straight cable, be it a 10 feet of 100 feet long.

The litmus test: A properly coiled cable can do this: hold one end in one hand, and throw the rest of the coil. If it lands perfectly straight with no twists/loops/knots in it - you succeeded.

Video Tutorial:

Also seen on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over/under_cable_coiling

P.S. For those still reading this post (gasp), I will mention an important detail that is still unsettled in my mind. The one downside of over/under coiling: when you uncoil you MUST pull each end of the cable from the correct side. If you don't, you will get knots! For long cables this isn't that hard to do, but for my 10 foot guitar cable this is a common problem that results in knots when uncoiling.  Sigh, my quest for perfect cable coiling still alludes me...

P.P.S. For those who learn by understanding: coiling a cable means you MUST twist the cable.  This is unavoidable. Why the over/under method works the way it does is because for every clockwise twist you introduce, you also introduce a counterclockwise twist.  Then they will cancel each other out. Arguably both the traditional & under/over method 'twist' the cable just as much, however the under/over allows for much much better cable management, especially for longer cables.

P.P.P.S. Yes I am detail oriented.  I have an insatiable curiosity to try to find ultimate truths... even for things as "boring" as coiling cables.

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2008 - The Year in Pictures

Another year comes to a close. For the photography lovers out there, here's a compilation of some websites "Best Pictures of the Year". They're ordered roughly in how good I think they are (the Boston.com ones are simply head and shoulders above the rest...)

Boston.com's The year 2008 in photographs (Also see Part 2, Part 3)
BBC's Year in Pictures 2008
Time.com's Pictures of the Year 2008
New York Time's Year in Pictures
MSNBC's Year in Pictures
Sidney Morning Herald's Photos of the Year
Telegraph.co.uk's Pictures of the Year 2008
Reuter's Pictures of the Year

My fav is found in Boston.com's collection:

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Urban Fable

Prologue:
I'm a cyclist.

Act I: Summer
Angry guy in car: Get off the f***ing road!

Act II: Winter
Angry guy on sidewalk: Get on the f***ing street!

The end.

Moral:
You have heard it said: "You can't make everyone happy".
Unfortunately it seems cyclists don't make anybody happy :*(

Author's Note:

There are jerks in the world. Cycling is better for the health, the wallet, our traffic, our noise pollution, our environment and our time. It's a tragedy...

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M&Ms and Halloween

Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels.

Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them breaks and splinters. That is the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round.

I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world.

Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its environment.

When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3x5 card reading, "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes."

This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free 1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this "grant money." I have set aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we will discover the True Champion.

There can be only one.

-Taken from an email forward. Author unknown.

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Things that pass...

No one will believe this who has not lived long and looked hard, so that he knows how suddenly a passion which has for years been wrapped round the whole heart will dry up and wither. Perhaps in the soul, as in the soil, those growths that show the brightest colours and put forth the most overpowering smell have not always the deepest root.

Excerpt from Till We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis)

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The Real Measuring Stick

The day will come when the progress of nations will be judged not by their military or economic strength, not by the splendor of their capital cities and public buildings, but by the well being of their peoples: by their levels of health, nutrition and education and by the protection that is afforded to the growing minds and bodies of their children.

From The Progress of Nations United Nations Children's Fund (1996)

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I don't have one and I don't even miss it (except for Jeopardy)

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