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Speedcabling - Untangling For Fun and Profit

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the you-gotta-be-kidding-me dept.

ibnsuleiman writes "A new competitive sport is emerging amongst IT professionals and hobbyists. Speedcabling tests the ability to untangle the rat's nests that grow inside and outside of the beige boxes that pervade todays homes and workplaces. The first public competition was held in an LA gallery for a $50 gift certificate to a local Italian restaurant. The winner, LA web developer Matthew Howell, had to untangle a dozen ethernet cables in record time leaving them in working order to win."

16 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. Hmmm... by hbean · · Score: 5, Funny

    finally a sport where steroids wont help you!

    --
    "Give someone a program, frustrate them for a day... Teach someone to program, frustrate them for a lifetime."
    1. Re:Hmmm... by explosivejared · · Score: 5, Funny

      finally a sport where steroids wont help you!

      I can see the doping scandals already... Loser: Check his inhaler! I know he's taking stimulants! Look on the inside of glasses I know he's got a hologram of Natalie Portman to keep him relaxed! HE SO CHEATED!!

      --
      I got a catholic block.
  2. Well, makes more sense than curling by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Apologies to my Scottish and Canadian friends. But, really??

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:Well, makes more sense than curling by RabidMonkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      Curling combines the skillful art of hitting things with other things, ice, and beer. What more could you desire out of a sport? Sure, theres a lack of bikinis, see ice for a reason.

      --
      We emerge from our mother's womb an unformatted diskette; our culture formats us. - Douglas Coupland
  3. Next on... by airedalez · · Score: 5, Funny

    ESPN 8 the ocho!

  4. Limited real-world relevance by Ed+Avis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The trouble is, the techniques that help you disentangle a bundle of cables not attached to any equipment are not applicable when some of the cables are plugged in and need to stay plugged in, as usually in real life. They need a variant of the sport where there are thirty cables, some plugged into various patch panels at both ends, some at one end only, and some free; your task is to extract the loose and dangling cables and leave the working ones.

    --
    -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
    1. Re:Limited real-world relevance by QuietLagoon · · Score: 5, Funny
      They need a variant of the sport

      What they really need is a life.

    2. Re:Limited real-world relevance by MT628496 · · Score: 5, Funny

      You mean that you don't just rip the switch out of the rack and throw it up in the air? I thought everyone untangled like that!

    3. Re:Limited real-world relevance by nmg196 · · Score: 4, Funny

      > They need a variant of the sport where there are thirty cables, some plugged into various
      > patch panels at both ends, some at one end only, and some free; your task is to extract
      > the loose and dangling cables and leave the working ones.

      It's called Network Administration.

  5. I was nearly with you until... by east+coast · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the blurb: The winner, LA web developer Matthew Howell, had to untangle a dozen ethernet cables in record time leaving them in working order to win.

    Working order? Man, there's a catch to everything. I guess I can put my weed whacker with it's steel blades back...

    --
    Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
  6. Just part of my job by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Funny
    This is what one of our wiring closets looks like. Untangling cables to have some sense of order is just another job duty.


    And in case anyone is wondering, yes, those are punchdown boxes you see. It would be horrible to run the cable directly to the switch without having boxes and patch cables on each end.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  7. Are there rules? by msauve · · Score: 4, Informative

    I mean, is this legal?

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    1. Re:Are there rules? by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 3, Funny

      I mean, is this legal [polywater.com]? Provided that everyone involved is of the age of consent, I'd say yes.

      --
      My blog
  8. his secret? by Sidlon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I hear he spent a lot of time training with this.

  9. I can't believe... by RealErmine · · Score: 4, Funny

    that there is finally a story where my following formalization of the process of wire entanglement is on-topic.


    Kevin's First Law: For any number of wires, strings or similar objects, the probability of complex entanglement between them increases exponentially with the inverse of distance. Time required to entangle is also affected in a similar fashion. This phenomenon can be observed in consequence, but not in action.


    Also, for those who are interested, my second law is formalized thusly:


    Kevin's Second Law: There exists no robot that cannot be improved in form or function by the addition of a flamethrower.

    --
    Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!
  10. Irritating Wire, the Japanese version by spun · · Score: 4, Funny

    Some of the cables will be live and have shorts in the insulation.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton