Archives for November 2022

It’s the perfect day to cozy up and fill your house with the warm, comforting aromas that come with bread making to celebrate National Homemade Bread Day! Do you have a bread recipe that you love to make?

In This Issue: Friendsgiving | Cisco ISR 4000 Blank Faceplate | Advantages of Multi-Gigabit Switches in Business | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Friendsgiving

Happy Thursday!

This month is absolutely flying by! A week from today is Thanksgiving. That is crazy! I am hosting my neighborhood running club’s “Friendsgiving” at my house this Saturday, so I have been cleaning and marking stuff off the “to do” list like crazy. Nothing like having about 25-30 people over to your house to inspire you to do things you have been putting off for months. Haha!

We are doing a Mexican food theme for the get-together. We figured since everyone would be stuffing their faces with traditional Thanksgiving food the next week, we would do something different for this. I am looking forward to all the different Mexican dishes everyone is bringing. I am a Mexican food nut!

It will be great having everyone over for a day of fellowship, food, football, and games to start this new tradition. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving tradition or memory?

Have a great rest of the week and weekend. If you are traveling next week, have a safe trip. I hope everyone has an awesome time celebrating Thanksgiving with your loved ones and those close to you.

Jason

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Product Spotlights & Updates

This Cisco compatible ISR 4000 NIM slot faceplate is specifically constructed to cover the NIM slot in Cisco’s 4000 series integrated services routers. This allows your router to improve airflow and run better for a longer period of time. Not to mention, it makes your router look a little more attractive. This Cisco accessory is compatible with a variety of models.

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Learning Center Article – Advantages of Multi-Gigabit Switches in Business

When you’re building a business network, there’s a lot to consider. How many people are going to access the network? What kinds of things are they going to do while connected? How much bandwidth does each user need? How much does the whole network need?

It can be a lot, and in pursuit of answers to these questions, you’re going to think a lot about networking hardware.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Yale Law School and Harvard Law School both said Wednesday they will no longer participate in U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of law schools.
• Two Cambodian wildlife officials were among eight people charged with running an international monkey smuggling ring that shipped primates to the U.S. that were poached from the wild and falsely labeled as coming from breeding facilities.
• On 11/16, Starbucks unveiled the new Starbucks Reserve Empire State Building store. Spanning 23,000 square feet and three floors, this unique store celebrates connecting over coffee through innovative experiences such as immersive hands-on workshops and guided tasting flights as well as new coffee beverages and craft cocktails, and an extended artisan menu of Princi food only available at this location.
• Fans of Taylor Swift encountered a number of issues while trying to obtain tickets to the singer’s latest tour via Ticketmaster. These complications have reinvigorated calls from activists and politicians for the Department of Justice to investigate the decade’s-old merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation. Ticketmaster and Live Nation have been accused of abusing their market power by hiking up ticket prices and adding arbitrary fees to purchases.

Happy Wednesday! The weekend is right around the corner, do you have plans?

In This Issue: T-Swift Ticket Queue Success! | HPE Aruba 2530 Series Switch | Advantages of Cloud Networking | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – T-Swift Ticket Queue Success!

Good morning and Happy Wednesday!

I don’t know about you all but I am thankful we’re halfway through the week. For some reason, it was a tough morning to get up and get going this morning – but I’m on my second cup of coffee and am ready for the day.

Now, I have to admit. Yesterday was a big day! As a dedicated Taylor Swift fan, I was one of the many who spent quite some time in the TicketMaster queue yesterday attempting to snag some tickets to see Taylor on her Era’s tour. It was a success! I was able to snag 3 tickets for myself, my mom, and my best friend to attend in April. This will be my first Taylor Swift concert, and I am PUMPED.

I will say, as I was sitting in the queue and dealing with TicketMaster’s site completely shutting down – I found myself scrolling through endless tweets on Twitter about other people’s experiences with TicketMaster and there were some comical tweets that came across. Check out this article that highlights a few of them.

Anywho, I hope everyone enjoys the rest of this week! Thanksgiving is just around the corner.

Ashley

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Aruba 2530 Series of switches was designed to offer cost-effective, reliable, and secure access layer connectivity for a wide range of uses from enterprise, to branch offices and small to mid-sized businesses. These easy-to-deploy switches feature an energy-efficient design which lowers power consumption for greater energy savings. These rackmount switches come in a wide variety of options including 8, 24, and 48 port models, PoE+ options, Gigabit and Fast Ethernet models as well as compact and fanless models. They are easy to deploy and manage using Aruba AirWave or Aruba Central with Zero Touch Provisioning.

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Learning Center Article – Advantages of Cloud Networking

You have heard plenty about the cloud over the years. It went from being a vague mystery to a modern expectation. Most apps these days include cloud support, and we all plan around cloud resources on a regular basis.

What you might not have heard is that cloud technology is expanding and providing new opportunities beyond accessing software and applications. There are things like cloud networking that provide a whole new way to approach digital communication.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Apple officially launched the new Emergency SOS via satellite feature that’s available for the iPhone 14 models.
• Toyota Motor revealed new versions of the Prius hybrid and Prius Prime, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Both are considered “electrified” vehicles rather than all-electric.
• Mortgage application volume rose 2.7% last week compared with the previous week. This past Thursday saw the sharpest one-day drop in the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage since daily record-keeping began in 2009.
• To the moon, again! NASA launched the Artemis I mission on Wednesday from Florida, with the agency’s most powerful rocket ever kicking off a nearly month-long journey with a ground-shaking liftoff. While no astronauts are onboard, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is carrying the Orion capsule on a demonstration for NASA’s lunar program. Artemis I will not land on the moon, but the spacecraft will orbit nearby before returning to Earth in 26 days.

Today is the day to put on the kitchen gloves, grab some soap and a bucket full of hot water and clean out the fridge to prepare for the holiday season! Got to make sure you’ve got plenty of room for all the yummy leftovers 😋

In This Issue: Thanksgiving Festivities 🎉 | Cisco 7841 Four line Unified IP Phone | Useful Tips for Selecting PoE Cables | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Thanksgiving Festivities 🎉

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday!

Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week!? That blows my mind, but I’m very much looking forward to it! I come from a large family (on my mom’s side) and growing up we always did Thanksgiving dinner at my Meemaw’s house. My mom is one of 6 kids and there are 14 grandchildren so it was always a big crowd at holidays! Now that the grandchildren are adults, the family has been expanding again as there are currently 7 great-grandchildren with one more on the way next year!

All that to say, it’s a big crowd every time we get together! It’s loud, slightly chaotic, and requires a LOT of food, but it’s always so much fun! My Meemaw is 86 years old and is still hosting which is incredibly special so I’m looking forward to getting together and continuing holiday traditions that have been part of life since I was born! We are blessed and have much to be thankful for this year!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Cisco 7800 series is designed for eco-friendly businesses with energy-efficient technology to support green initiative goals. The 7800 series portfolio is ideal for mid to large-sized corporations that want to update their phone systems. Administrators have access to adjust features to save on energy consumed throughout the office. This series includes an integrated solution for occasional communication needs and is designed to improve an organization’s people-centric communications. The 7800 series also delivers advanced IP features and crystal clear wideband audio performance.

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Learning Center Article – Useful Tips for Selecting PoE Cables

PoE is an amazing way to make networks more efficient. By cutting power cables and the infrastructure needed to run them, you can really save a lot of money on parts of your network.

On top of that, modern PoE equipment is powerful, easy to manage (if that’s your preference), and full of potential. With a little bit of planning, you can use PoE to improve what your network can handle while saving money at the same time.

If that sounds like a nice goal, then there are a few tips that can help you strategize around PoE a little better.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Home Depot reported Tuesday its third-quarter revenue increased nearly 6% to $38.9 billion, beating analyst expectations, as the retailer continued to beckon customers despite rising costs
• After two failed attempts, NASA plans to launch its new mega Moon rocket early Wednesday from Florida, less than a week after the massive machine withstood a hurricane.
• Amazon is planning to lay off approximately 10,000 employees in corporate and technology roles beginning this week.
• Google agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states over location tracking.

Happy Monday! We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We’re praying for you this week! If there’s anyway we can pray for you specifically, please let us know!

In This Issue: A Dose of Humble Pie | Cat6 RJ45 110 Type Keystone Jack | What Are the Differences Between a Switch and a Bridge? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – A Dose of Humble Pie

Good Monday Morning!

The CK Thanksgiving feast last Friday was a blast. It was great to talk to everyone that I hadn’t seen in a very long while. We enjoyed lots of food and great conversation! I was struck by how tightly knit our team is even though we’ve been working remotely. I look forward to our next gathering!

So, I learned a lesson in humility this weekend. My 8-year-old daughter had some pretty lengthy Math homework and was done in a matter of minutes (that I thought would take much longer). I was a bit skeptical that she completed the math homework that quickly. And while checking on it, I came up on a problem that I thought was incorrect. And I told her it was incorrect, and she got a little upset and said, “no daddy, this is right, here’s how you do it”. And proceeded to logically tell me all of the steps that she went through to solve the problem. The problem was indeed correct, and I misread the instructions. Wow was that a dose of humble pie!

I was extremely proud of her and embarrassed of myself at the same time. She’s already surpassed me in intelligence when I was her age… and it seems like she’s only getting smarter. I loved how she didn’t accept what I told her and was brave enough to let me know. She wasn’t dismissive either, she actually worked the problem with me and showed me the conclusion.

I think this was a big lesson for me not to be dismissive or underestimate people…even if those people are 8-year-olds. I hope you have a great week and a productive Monday!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The CablesAndKits Cat6 110 Type Keystone jack supports both T568A and T568B wiring with a 4 x 4 termination layout. To terminate using a 110-punch-down tool. This keystone jack is 8P8C and is completely backward compatible with lower-rated cables including Cat5e. The jack itself has gold-plated contact pins and utilizes a printed circuit board design. This design provides superior quality and maximum performance. Compatible with standard surface mount boxes, keystone wallplates, and patch panel blanks.

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Learning Center Article – What Are the Differences Between a Switch and a Bridge?

Putting together a single, small network is relatively easy. Things really get complicated when you need to join multiple networks together. That’s where concepts like bridging come into play, and understanding the specific technology options available for this aspect of network design is essential to success.

To that end, you’ll find a simplified breakdown of bridges and switches below. It will help you see how devices can be leveraged to join networks and the trade-offs attached to those devices.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Disney and Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” snared an estimated $180 million during its domestic debut. The Ryan Coogler film now holds the record for the biggest opener in the month of November and the second-highest opener of 2022.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made his first visit to Kherson since the southern city was recaptured. He hailed the Russian withdrawal as the “beginning of the end of the war” but also acknowledged the heavy price Ukrainian soldiers are paying in their grinding effort to push back the invading force. Zelenskyy walked the streets of the city Monday, just hours after warning in his nightly video address of booby traps and mines left behind by the Russians before their retreat.
• Satellite-to-smartphone connectivity venture AST SpaceMobile announced that the wide antenna of its recently launched test satellite deployed successfully. The unfolding of the BlueWalker 3 antenna marks a critical milestone in the company’s development of a global network to provide 5G broadband service directly to smartphones.
• Nearly a decade after Jeff Bezos first announced drone delivery, Amazon says it’s finally ready to start air-dropping packages — literally. The latest drone model will drop packages from 12 feet in the air.

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to all of the military veterans who have served in the Armed Forces. We are grateful for your dedication and service.

In This Issue: Inbox Zero | Webcam 1080p w/Autofocus Camera | What is a RAID? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Inbox Zero

Happy Friday, folks! Does this icon energize you or leave you feeling stressed?

The email icon doesn’t bother me; the red dot showing HOW MANY emails are unread gives me stress! So much so that I turned off the notification badge on my phone for most apps a couple of years ago. This simple change relieved a lot of stress!

I recently read that we hold an average of 200 emails in our inbox, receive 120 new emails daily, and only respond to 25% of the emails we get daily! I set a goal this week to get to Inbox Zero. Here is a great article covering the details of Inbox Zero. My favorite line from the report is, “Stop treating every email like a Christmas present that must be savored.”

I am down to 19 emails in my inbox this morning, so I have yet to reach Inbox Zero. I’m confident I can get there by the end of the day!

What are your favorite email management practices?

Have a great weekend!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

This webcam is perfect for Zoom, Skype, Teams, and any other video conference platform. The quality of 1080p allows you to share videos with clear and fine detail. In addition, the built-in wide-angle microphones match users’ voice quality to the crystal clear video quality and make it feel like you are face to face.

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Learning Center Article – What is a RAID?

When it comes to computer systems and servers, you have a lot of data to manage. It’s normal to want robust backups so that you never lose important information. At the same time, backups are costly, and they can slow down server systems.

In order to find the best options for various goals, you can manage storage disks in a number of different ways, and one of the most trusted and popular options is to implement RAID.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Apple is expected to release iOS 16.2 next month with several new features, including the new Freeform collaboration app, Live Activities changes, a handful of Lock Screen widgets, and much more.
• Google Play will allow Spotify and Bumble to bill U.S. users for subscriptions directly inside their Android apps.
• Consumers have booked fewer flights for Thanksgiving week than they did three years ago, before the Covid pandemic. Domestic bookings are down 7% from the same point in 2019, but high fares have translated to a 3% increase in revenue.
• Ukrainian forces swept into the key southern city of Kherson on Friday, hours after Russia said its military had completed a rapid retreat from the area — a setback for President Vladimir Putin and a major development in the nearly nine-month-old war.

Happy Thursday & Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps! Marines, thank you for your service!

In This Issue: Favorite Thanksgiving Food? | Surge Protector Power Strip | Advantages and Disadvantages of VOIP | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Favorite Thanksgiving Food?

Good morning & happy Thursday!

Well, we are exactly two weeks out from Thanksgiving. I talked about being thankful last week, but this week I want to talk about the food! Haha!

So, this year is going to be a bit different for me. I am going to run a half marathon early that morning and then I will head home and start getting everything ready for the family Thanksgiving dinner. With the race, I will feel even better about the dinner this year since I won’t have to worry about how much I eat after burning all those calories that morning. Lol!

Everyone seems to have their “go to” dish that they love making and taking to Thanksgiving dinners. Every year I make a crockpot mac & cheese that I have kinda tested and developed over the years. I never have to wonder what they want me to bring but I need to bring a couple more dishes this year too, so I am trying to figure that out. I had the thought, “Hey, I have access to the best people in the world every Thursday in this email, why not ask them?” Haha!

So, what’s your “go to” dish that you love making for Thanksgiving? Let me know. I may be able to make one of those to have for the dinner.

I hope everyone has an awesome rest of the week and weekend!

Jason

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Powering up your workplace or home safely is a must, but it gets harder as more people have devices they need to plug in. Distribute electricity safely and effectively with a Surge Protector Power Strip with (6) 15A Outlets and 12ft Cord. Although each strip weighs only 1.54 pounds, it can prevent surges of at most 90 joules, and each outlet can transmit up to 125 volts of power. Stretch the cord for up to 12 feet to accommodate rooms with few outlets, and use the LED switch to turn off your strip if you’re leaving for a while.

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Learning Center Article – Advantages and Disadvantages of VOIP

Everyone has a phone, but fewer and fewer people have landlines. Even as that trend continues, there are cases where a landline makes a lot of sense, and you want to have a stable, reliable phone for specific calls.

When that is the case, you actually have two options for your phone. You can get a traditional landline that runs through the old infrastructure, or you can run your phone through the internet, utilizing something known as VOIP.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Apple said that it will spend $450 million with U.S. companies including Globalstar to enable its new emergency satellite texting feature.
• The collection of Paul Allen, the late co-founder of Microsoft, was a treasure trove of masterpieces spanning 500 years. Several works sold for three or four times their estimates, with several artists setting new records at auction, including Vincent van Gogh, Edward Steichen and Gustav Klimt. The sales total for the Allen collection is set to soar even higher, as another 95 lots head to auction.
• The Director for ‘Black Panter: Wakanda Forever’ did not know how to swim prior to filming. Ryan Coogler said, ‘If actors are in the water, I’ve got to be in there too.’ With Coogler as the type of director who prefers to be as close to his actors as possible, rather than stuck by the monitors, he found himself strapped to a hookah at the bottom of a water tank, learning how to free dive alongside them.
• Meta has laid off 13% of its staff, more than 11,000 employees, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees Wednesday.