I used to have this problem as well, and in my experience the secret to managing the mess of cables is to remove everything that doesn't have to be there. In this case, he could move the modem and router to another room (or different area in the same room). Though it would decrease the throughput rate, he could also attach the USB hard drive to the Airport and access it over the network. Also, since the only USB devices I see are the keyboard and mouse, he could get rid of the hub as well, and with all that stuff gone he could easily get away with a single power strip instead of two.<p>Now what used to be a huge rats nest of cables has been pared down to the MagSafe, the speaker power unit, and a single power strip, which is much tidier. My personal setup is very similar to his, except that I use an external screen with my MacBook instead of the laptop screen, and I connect it all together with the new Henge Dock that just came out.