4 ms·
Speedcabling (2008)
- Syonyk 5y agoProof that no matter how vile the task, you can make a competition out of anything.
- tdeck 5y agoIn England they have a nettle-eating contest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bottle_Inn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bottle_Inn
- klyrs 5y agoI've got a trick for eating nettles which involves handling the top of the leaf and carefully folding the spiny underside away, but that takes about 30s per leaf. Don't think I'd come anywhere close to placing with that strategy... no pain, no gain, I guess
- userbinator 5y agoAlso known as the "I'm better than you" principle.
- londons_explore 5y agoVideo?
- skinwill 5y agoIf the storage process involves "putting in a dryer" I consider the cable trashed. Put the cable away properly and save yourself some time installing. Faced with a rats nest of cable I will purchase a reel of fresh wire and add my own ends. I have spent way too much time in my youth untangling cable but haven't we all made mistakes when we were in our 20's? Eventually everyone needs to grow up, take the pills they gave you at the clinic, and recognize your time is valuable.
- interroboink 5y agoAnd yet, I find something satisfying about untangling knots. Also darning socks, repairing cheap electronics, and other "not worth my time" activities. Perhaps it is a character flaw (: Optimizing for efficiency and optimizing for happiness can be quite at odds, and the people at the clinic sometimes miss that, I find.
- BenjiWiebe 5y agoI like doing things like this because so often the alternative is throwing the item away and buying a new one. I enjoy the times when I can avoid participating in throw-away society.
- darkstar999 5y agoYou may be confused. The dryer is used to tangle the cable. The competition is about untangling it. I doubt anyone is using these cables for their intended purpose afterwards.
- throwaway744678 5y agoPoe's law strikes again!
- zild3d 5y agoExpected a video, so here ya go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKy_pmuB9-g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKy_pmuB9-g
- ugjka 5y agoMade me laugh
- darkstar999 5y agoI don't get it, it didn't look fully untangled. It seems like they should have to bundle it too.
- H8crilA 5y agoYou only have to separate them: > A wire is considered separate when it is in contact with no other wires. Each contestant must separate each wire, and demonstrate its separation by holding the wire above their head.
- chiph 5y ago"Loosen everything up first" is a pretty good way to start. I use it with Christmas lights every year.
- CraigJPerry 5y agoThe “roadie wrap” technique works on Christmas lights - you can’t do a satisfying throw and have the cable unfurl perfectly like you can with a roadie wrapped power cord but xmas light strings are usually too long to throw out to unfurl anyway plus the lights catch on the wires so throwing is out but putting the loop on the floor and having it perfectly unwrap as you pull the end never gets old :-)
- wyclif 5y agoYou can also crack or break some of the bulbs that way.
- rascul 5y agoThis is a competition for untangling cables? That's a real thing?
- BasilPH 5y agoMy professional bias had me expect people wiring Ethernet cables in 6.23 seconds, crimper in a carbon fiber holster.
- miguelmurca 5y ago> all rights reserved motherfuckers
- darod 5y agohow many cables were harmed in this event?
- PeterisP 5y agoAll of them.
- lucb1e 5y agoMore seriously, why the high heat requirement during tangling? Does that make the cables get more supple or so? Can't even imagine that 3 minutes gets it up to temperature though, kinda seems like a waste. I wonder if it's a joke in the article that I'm just taking seriously.
- fb03 5y agoI don't think it's fair since both cables aren't tangled in the same way. There needs to be a DSL or something for describing cable turns and moves so that one could reproducibly recreate the runs used for the competitions :)
- teeray 5y agoI initially thought this was a competition for terminating Cat-5e/6 cables. That would also be a good one.
- mturmon 5y agoHmm, it's part of the (lamented) Machine Project in Echo Park, LA. They did a bunch of playful and intellectually-interesting science + art crossovers over the years. One that people here may remember is the hyperbolic-geometry knitting associated with Margaret Wertheim (https://twitter.com/margaretwerth https://twitter.com/margaretwerth).
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- joshspankit 5y agoTo make this a true competition, all winning cables must pass in-spec continuity checks.