Archives for March 2022

Can you believe we are at the end of March? It seems like we were kicking off the new year just a few days ago. Time is FLYING.

In This Issue: What feeds you? | TP-Link Gigabit SFP to 1000Base-T Fiber Converter | Importance of Fiber Optic Cleaning | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – What feeds you?

Something that has been on my mind a lot lately is “What am I surrounding myself with?” The environment and what we are “feeding” ourselves has a huge impact on our attitude, mood, mental health, and overall well-being. At least I know it does for me. Up until about 5 years ago, I lived in such a negative mindset for much of my life. Part of the reason for that is what I allowed to influence me and feed my way of thinking, whether that was what I was watching, listening to, reading, the people I was choosing to be around, or what I was allowing to captivate my thoughts.

We are bombarded with negativity, despair, discouragement everywhere we look nowadays. Social media and our phones make it so much easier to be exposed to these emotions and mindsets. TV and media do not help with this at all either. Avoiding this stuff and staying away from negative people won’t 100% solve the problem, the rest of it falls on us to take care of for ourselves. That’s why what and who we surround ourselves with is so important. I am sure you have heard the quote that we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with. That is definitely applicable for the people and the shows we watch or music we listen to as well – whatever we allow to “feed” us.

For me, I have decided I want to feed myself with things that are going to lift me up, encourage me, and challenge me to be better, more positive, and stronger. It’s the same way with the people that I hang out with. I hang out with a lot of people that are more healthy than I am, much better runners than I am, have more insight into the Word of God than I do, and are way smarter than I am. (Not sure, why they want to hang out with me…haha!) But they challenge and sharpen me to be a better person in the direction that I want to go.

It is not always easy for me to stay focused on my goals, encouraged, and positive every day, but here lately I have really learned that I have to dust myself off from the day before and start the new day with a renewed attitude and surround myself with the right stuff that day.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts on this with you this morning. It helps hold myself accountable when I say stuff like this out loud. haha!

Have an awesome Thursday!

Jason

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Product Spotlights & Updates

This USB-C hub has everything you need all in one device. Equipped with SD/Micro SD card reader, Gigabit Ethernet adapter, and USB 3.0 ports you can’t go wrong with this hub. Better yet, it’s backed by our lifetime warranty!

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Learning Center Article – Importance of Fiber Optic Cleaning

Installing fiber optic systems is not easy. It requires multiple levels of expertise in design and application, and its why fiber optics experts are always in high demand. While installations will vary heavily depending on the components and applications at play, there is one thing that is necessary for every installation, and it’s easy to overlook. Every system needs fiber optic cleaning to ensure that it will work properly.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Bruce Willis is taking a break from acting as he battles aphasia, a condition that affects the ability to communicate.
• President Biden is preparing to order the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve.
• Will Smith was asked to leave the 94th annual Academy Awards ceremony Sunday after slapping presenter Chris Rock, but refused. The organization behind the Oscars said its board of governors have initiated a disciplinary proceeding against Smith for violating the group’s standards of conduct.
• PlayStation has announced that PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now are coming together in an all-new PlayStation Plus subscription service that provides more choice to customers.

Happy National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day! Owning your own business is the goal that many people strive to attain. It takes countless hours of nurturing and hours of hard work. Today is the perfect day to support a small business! We’d love to hear more about your favorite small businesses to support.

In This Issue: We made it! | Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Switch | What are SFP’s and How do they work? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – We made it!

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! Last week I mentioned that I’d be participating in a 200-mile relay race over the weekend and I’m happy to report that I survived! We had 8 runners on our team split between two vans. The runners in my vehicle took the beginning legs of the race so we had to be up by 3 AM and at the start line by 4:15. We took turns running until around noon when we handed off to the runners in the other van. It was nice to get a bit of a break during the afternoon, although we were too hyped up to catch a nap! We resumed running again around 8 PM and ran until 1:30 AM.

At that point, we drove to the exchange zone where the other van would eventually pass the baton back to us. It happened to be a school parking lot which was very quiet so we rolled out sleeping bags and slept on the sidewalk in front of the school. It was extremely cold and windy, but we were so tired that we still caught about 3 hours of sleep. We picked back up running around 9 AM and ran until we finished the race at around 12:30 PM! It ended up taking us 30.5 hours which was way better than the 33 hrs we were expecting. I think the adrenaline had everyone running faster than they planned to! It was an awesome experience and I’m so glad I did it, but also so glad it’s over!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Cisco 3850 Series of switches is an industry-leading, enterprise-class series of access switches that offers superior performance, scalability, and reliability. The Catalyst 3850 Series is the first to feature a built-in wireless controller with up to 40 Gbps of capacity on 48-port models. Further, it supports up to 100 access points and 2,000 wireless clients per switching entity (or stack). These switches are stackable for up to 9 members and come equipped with Cisco’s popular StackPower technology. StackPower is an innovative power-sharing and redundancy technology that allows members of the stack to share in one of two power pooling topologies.

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Learning Center Article – What are SFP’s and How do They Work?

High-end networking demands high-end equipment. You have a plethora of options, but eventually, you have to make decisions on which technology covers each of your applications. When considering all of those options, an understanding of SFP transceivers is pivotal. It’s a core technology that serves as a primary workhorse in many networks. This guide is going to explain all about SFP and its primary uses.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Sony is bundling its existing PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now services into one single subscription service called PlayStation Plus.
• Dairy Queen is expanding its burger offerings as the fast-food chain looks beyond Blizzards and other desserts. The new Stackburger line is Dairy Queen’s biggest menu expansion in two decades, with five burger varieties for U.S. customers.
• A former nurse in Tennessee has been convicted in the accidental death of a patient after she injected her with a paralyzing drug instead of a sedative. RaDonda Vaught, 38, was convicted by a jury Friday of criminal negligent homicide and gross neglect of an impaired adult after a three-day trial in Nashville closely watched by medical professionals.
• Apple is reportedly scaling back production of its new budget iPhones in China, less than three weeks after launching the product. This decrease is reportedly an early sign of the Ukraine war and inflation’s negative impact on electronics demand.

Happy Monday! The final four are set – is your team still in? Who are you rooting for to make it to the end?

In This Issue: Back at it! | HP BL460c Generation 8 | What is the difference between Cat6 and Cat6A? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Back at it!

Ever had one of those weekends where you had a checklist of things to do, but something happens to derail everything? Well, I had one of those weekends when a stomach virus attacked our entire family. I’d imagine it was like being on a cruise ship with rampant norovirus. Needless to say, it was not a fun weekend. Thankfully, everyone started feeling better Sunday night. The one good thing about being sick is that it makes you slow down and for us, we got some extra rest. I’m now ready to tackle the new week, well-rested, and feeling good.

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Blade servers are specifically designed to pack a lot of power in a small space. Blade servers can be used as a dedicated server or added to a virtual environment. The user is able to condense their server footprint and easily manage multiple servers from one point. Since they are smaller in nature, they have a better overall power consumption. The BL460c G8 is equipped with two small form factor (SFF) hot-plug drive bays, SD card slot, two (2) PCIe 3.0 mezzanine I/O expansion slots, and sixteen memory slots. The BL460c G8 has the ability to hold more ram and higher performance processors than the previous generations.

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Learning Center Article – What is the difference between Cat6 and Cat6A?

Designing a network from scratch is a major undertaking. Even for small networks, there’s a lot to consider. Once you have your layout and basic design, you still have to make a plethora of decisions. Many of those decisions will be tied to specific hardware choices, and they will be heavily dictated by which cabling you prefer for your applications.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Anyone 50 years and older could soon be eligible for a second booster dose of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize the additional booster shots without holding a meeting of its independent vaccine advisors.
• The Biden administration is set to propose a new minimum tax targeting the wealthiest American households in its fiscal year 2023 budget
• ExxonMobil has been working with Denver-based Crusoe Energy Systems to mine bitcoin in North Dakota for over a year. The pilot program, which is operating in the Bakken region, launched in late January 2021 and had begun expanding by July.
• Capital One has become the “official bank and credit card partner” of Major League Baseball.

Happy Friday! We’ve made it through another week and we’ve approached the end of another month. Can you believe it? As you reflect back on this month, what’s a goal you’ve accomplished that you are proud of?

In This Issue: Favorite Candy | Nylon Cable Ties | Basics of MPO/MTP Fiber Cables | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Favorite Candy

Happy Friday, folks! Q1 is coming to a close next week. It’s hard to believe we’re that far into 2022 already!

I’m going to start this post with a question: what is your favorite candy?

Why am I asking that? Our goal is to provide a friendly and memorable experience with every interaction you have with us. We are here because you give us the privilege of serving you!

Many years ago, we started including a small pack of M&M’s in every package. It was a way for us to say “Thank you.” Plus, the reality is most technology upgrades occur during off-hours, and this would be a snack to help make it through that time. We didn’t realize the impact sending this little pack of M&Ms had until we RAN out of M&Ms for a few weeks. We got messages like, “everything with my order was great, but where are the M&Ms?” We, of course, made up for the missing M&Ms and now do whatever is necessary to ensure we don’t run out!

Here at CK, we love M&M’s! What is your favorite candy? Maybe it’s a seasonal favorite such as Cadbury eggs?

Have a great weekend!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Nylon cable ties help to hold medium size bundles of wires and cables neatly out of the way. They are an extremely versatile way to organize and bundle wires and cables. Additionally, they are easy to install and can be cut off for rework very easily. They lock tightly and won’t stretch or slide

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Learning Center Article – Basics of MPO/MTP Fiber Cables

Fiber optic cables drive modern communication. They are the only viable means for arranging the ultra-high-speed systems that run the backbones of digital communication. Long-range internet connectivity is dominated by fiber optic cables. Perhaps more importantly, the massive data processing that goes on at data centers does the majority of the workload for internet communications and digital information handling.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• President Joe Biden announced a new initiative meant to deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of European energy profits that Biden says are used to fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine.
• Uber is becoming friends with a former foe. The company has reached an agreement to list all New York City taxis on its app. This could ease the ride-hailing giant’s driver shortage and temper high fares.
• Russia is considering accepting bitcoin as payment for its oil and gas exports.
• Apple is preparing a hardware subscription service for iPhones. The service would allow customers to buy an iPhone through monthly payments.

Happy National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day! Today we celebrate raisins coated in a shell of either milk chocolate or dark chocolate. Moviegoers have been snacking on chocolate-covered raisins for many, many years. Somehow, popcorn, a box of chocolate-covered raisins go together perfectly.

In This Issue: Where did March Go? | Cisco 2821/2851-1/2 Router Chassis Fan | Wired vs Wireless Networks: Which is better? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Where did March Go?

Hey everyone! Hope your Thursday is starting off fantastic! Can you believe that we are almost to the end of March?!? It is crazy! This month has flown by but it has been SUPER busy, both at CK and personally.

From a personal perspective, I wanted to share a quick update on the race last weekend and the knee. Went to the doctor for the knee to just make sure nothing bad was going on even though it has been doing a bit better. The doctor confirmed that it is I.T. Band Syndrome. (I.T. is fitting for my line of work I guess, Haha!) He said my knees looked like they were in great condition it is just that the repetitive motion of the routes I am running and then running on the treadmill has worn out the I.T. band on my right knee. He gave me some stretches, exercises, and some advice on switching up my running and I should be good to go in a few more weeks. With the race, I did much better than I thought I would even with the race being a slight incline up a hill for most of the way. I finished at 25:30, 11th overall, and 1st in my age group (I guess it pays off getting older, LOL!). Overall, I was very pleased and the knee did very well. Thanks for all the well-wishes last week!

At CK, man do we have some exciting stuff heading your way very soon! I have mentioned before that we have been in the process of building a new website. It got slowed down over the past year or so with Covid and other things but it is full-steam ahead now! We signed off on the design for the homepage, site frame, and the learning center this past week. We are currently working on the designs for the product pages and other items. I really think y’all will enjoy the new look, layout, and all the “bells & whistles” that will come with the new site. I can’t wait to show it to y’all very soon! The whole project has really got me pumped up about all the cool stuff we can do for y’all on the new site.

I really appreciate every one of you taking the time to stay connected with us through these daily emails. It means a ton to us when you email us back when we chat with y’all through these emails.

I hope y’all have an awesome day and an amazing weekend! Make it a great one!

Jason

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Don’t let your Cisco router overheat. Cool things down with our Cisco 2821/2851 Router Replacement Chassis Fan. This fan is compatible with 2821 and 2851 routers. What makes this fan the right investment for your Cisco network? It will replace fan1 or fan2 (*1pc fan) in the chassis, so you can keep it in stock for whenever you need it most. These fans are all-new, third-party replacements.

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Learning Center Article – Polarity for MPO Cables

High-end fiber optics are important to modern networking, but they’re a lot more complicated than some of their older counterparts. If you need the power of fiber, you might be looking into MPO systems. They can hit some of the highest speeds on the market today, but utilizing them requires knowledge. One key piece of knowledge that can help with MPO systems is polarity. Without this knowledge, you won’t get a connection across any of your lines.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• The CDC said it’s monitoring the worst avian influenza outbreak since 2015, which has devasted poultry farms along the East Coast and Midwest. Although the risk to humans remains low, the CDC said it will monitor those who’ve been exposed to domestic and wild species infected.
• President Biden met with NATO allies on Thursday in an emergency session about Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine as the conflict reached the one-month mark. The 30-member alliance gathered at its Brussels headquarters to talk about plans to beef up NATO troop rotations in countries along the southern portion of its eastern flank — and contingency plans in case Russian aggression intensifies.
• Alaska Airlines plans to convert two of its midlife Boeing 737-800s to add to its fleet of 737-700s cargo planes.
• Google and Spotify will release a future version of the Spotify app that will allow users to sign up inside the app to pay Spotify directly for a subscription.

Happy Wednesday! We’ve made it to the middle of the week. We hope that your week is going well! Are you dreaming of the weekend? We sure are!

In This Issue: Exciting Times! | Kendall Howard 15U | Wired vs Wireless Networks: Which is better? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Exciting Times!

Happy Wednesday!

Hey CK Friends! I’m back! For those who are new, I recently had my second son who was born on 2/2/2022! Isn’t that a cool birthday to have? I must admit, I prayed for this birth date since finding out I was pregnant, so it’s not a huge surprise to me. 😊

The last 7 weeks have been amazing with my bundle of joy, and he is growing up so quickly. My older son (3 years old) is taking on the big brother role well and the love he has for his baby brother is unmatched.

In other news, I returned to work a tad bit earlier than expected as I was offered a career opportunity that I could not say no to. Though the last 7 years of working for CablesAndKits have been amazing, I was inclined to take a leap of faith and jump into a new role. This is not a goodbye, but a ‘see you soon’.

As you already know, the Customer Solutions Team are rockstars and are ready to serve you. They are an amazing group of ladies who have become more like family to me, and I know they have your best interest at heart. So next time you chat or talk to anyone on the team, get ready because they are definitely going to SERVE YOUR FACE OFF.

Shanyce

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Kendall Howard 15U, 18″ Deep, Open Wall Rack design allows for maximum airflow and easy access. It can hold up to 130 lbs and is easy to install. It includes 25 x 10-32 rack screws. Made in the USA, the heavy-duty, high-quality, cold-rolled steel construction comes with a Lifetime Warranty.

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Learning Center Article – Wired vs Wireless Networks: Which is better?

When it comes to designing your network, you have to make one basic decision before you get to anything else. Do you want wireless connectivity? The truth is that wired and wireless networks offer significant pros and cons when compared to each other. It’s important to have a good appreciation of those pros and cons before committing to your network design or plan.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Adidas announced a new network that will allow more than 50,000 student-athletes to be paid ambassadors. They are the first major sports brand to create a name, image, and likeness network for college student-athletes.
• World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty has shocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement from the sport after winning three major singles titles in the last three years.
• Jamaica will begin the process of removing Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state after Prince William and Duchess Kate leave the country this week. It comes amid the Cambridges’ royal tour, which palace sources have described as a “charm offensive” to win over people of the Caribbean, where the queen remains the reigning monarch of eight countries.
• Two tornadoes sliced through the New Orleans area Tuesday night, the National Weather Service confirmed Wednesday morning, leaving in their wake destroyed homes, downed power lines and at least one person dead. Residents are waking up to the powerful storm’s destruction and nearly 4,000 remain without power