Archives for May 2023

Happy Thursday & Happy National Star Wars Day! Today is for all the Star Wars enthusiasts, so May the Fourth be with you! 💫

In This Issue: Dog Sitting & Family Time | Cisco Aironet Articulated Dipole Antenna | Understanding Wavelengths | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Dog Sitting & Family Time

Happy Thursday,

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of dog-sitting three small dogs – two pups and one adult. Let me tell you, these little furballs were full of energy and kept me on my toes the entire time. Whether we were just sitting around or going outside, they were always up for some fun, crawling everywhere and licking everything. The best part of my weekend was definitely getting to spend time with these adorable pups. They were so cute and cuddly, and I loved every minute I got to spend with them. It was a nice change from my semi-cuddly cat, who can be a bit “anti-me” at times. Overall, my weekend was made so much better by these little dogs, and I can’t wait to spend more time with them in the future.

I am looking forward to this weekend and gathering together with friends for Cinco de Mayo! It is also a few family members’ birthday so I will be making phone calls to try to spend some time with everyone since I am sure to be the only one not with them in person. I look forward to seeing them again sometime soon.

Have a great rest of your week everyone!

Joi

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The AIR-ANT4941 can be used with all Cisco access points equipped with a RP-TNC connector. Designed for indoor use, at 54Mbps this antenna gives approximately 90 ft of coverage.

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Learning Center Article – Understanding Wavelengths

No one ever accused fiber optics of being simple technology. Instead, we tend to acknowledge that this powerful technology is difficult to design and complicated in its application. Mastering those complications is often worth it because it enables us to build better networks and do a better job with those networks. In that endeavor, we can tackle a brief tutorial on wavelengths and how they impact fiber optic designs.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• The Food and Drug Administration approved GSK’s RSV vaccine for adults ages 60 and older.
• Knowledge of civics among the nation’s eighth-graders fell for the first time since the federal government began testing children under the current framework in 1998. Read more here. 
• Google launched passkeys Wednesday, which will let users access the company’s services without entering a password each time. 
• The Federal Trade Commission proposed to bar Facebook parent company Meta from monetizing kids’ data after it says the company violated a 2020 privacy order.

Happy Wednesday! We hope you are having a wonderful week. If we can be praying for you this week, please let us know!

In This Issue: A Busy Season of Travel | Surge Protector Power Strip | Advantages of Cloud Networking | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – A Busy Season of Travel

Good morning CK Family!

I hope everyone is having a great week. This week I’m spending time in Denver for the first time! I have to say, I flew in expecting big mountains and lots of greenery and it’s quite the opposite of that. It’s very beautiful seeing the mountains and such with snow caps on top of them.

I’m here until Friday, so any recommendations you have – I’ll take them!

On Friday, I’m heading to a wedding in Milwaukee, also for the first time, and then will head back home. It’s been a busy season of travel, so I’m excited for things to start to slow down.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Ashley

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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. Made of white material to fit in with any color scheme, this power strip is new and features a lifetime warranty.

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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:

• Ford will lower the pricing of the Mach-E by a range of $1,000 to $4,000. The cuts will make the starting price of the vehicle be between $42,995 and $59,995. The cuts are the latest price adjustments in the EV market following Tesla changing prices on its vehicles several times this year
• Johnson & Johnson’s consumer health business Kenvue is expected to go public this week in the largest U.S. IPO in more than a year. 
• Darden Restaurants is buying the parent company of Ruth’s Chris Steak House for $715 million. 
• Destined for Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, the Europa Clipper spacecraft – the largest NASA has ever flown on an interplanetary mission – is being readied to launch in October 2024. Between now and then, thousands of hours of work will go into assembling and testing the spacecraft to ensure it’s hardy enough to survive a six-year 1.6-billion-mile (2.6 billion kilometer) journey and sophisticated enough to perform a detailed science investigation of this mysterious moon. 

Happy Tuesday & Happy National Teacher Appreciation Day! We’ve all had some incredible teachers in our lives, be sure to take some time today to thank them for all that they invested in you!

In This Issue: Adjusting our Mindset | Keystone Wall Plate | Why would you use shielded Ethernet Cables? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Adjusting our Mindset

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone is off to a great start this week!

In recent years I’ve noticed that I’m far more likely to put on a podcast to listen to than music when in the car. Not sure if that’s just because I’m getting older or because they just don’t make the quality of music that they used to! Either way, I’m always looking for new and interesting things to listen to. I stumbled across a mindset podcast recently and listened to an episode that was talking about how to become more disciplined. They made the point that every action we take is a vote for the type of person we want to become. Many of us have big goals and it’s easy to put all our focus directly on them, when in reality if we put a bit more focus on the smaller things we might get further ahead faster. It’s the small, daily habits that shape us into being the type of person that can achieve the big goals!

He used the example of making your bed every morning and said that doing so is a good way to “finish the act of sleeping” or that rinsing your dishes and putting them in the dishwasher is a way of “finishing the act of eating”. He encouraged listeners to be more aware of the things they are doing and do them with intentionality, making sure to finish them before moving on to the next thing. The more we become people who finish the small things, the more likely we are to finish the big things we’re trying to do.

I thought it was an interesting way of looking at things and have already found it helpful in my day-to-day life! What are some ways you build discipline into your life?

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Keystone plates offer maximum versatility because you can add, reduce or simply change the connections needed on the plate. They offer the best way to install a variety of today’s wiring and cabling. This is the perfect solution for terminating your in-wall wiring.

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Learning Center Article – Why would you use shielded Ethernet Cables?

Currently, the use of high bandwidth applications has been on the rise, and network systems have started venturing into factory environments which have called for the use of shielded cables. In this new installation sector, the cable is used in areas with high electromagnetic interference (EMI). Even with improved ability to reject noise and handle gigabit Ethernet, these cables will not function properly in areas where there is high EMI if not properly shielded. A shielded cable will help in these high EMI installations ensuring safe and efficient data transfer.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Did you watch the Met Gala? Check out all the looks here. 
• Chegg shares tumbled after the online education company said ChatGPT is hurting growth. 
• Safari is Apple’s web browser that comes pre-installed on every Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Even so, it lost the second place to Microsoft Edge in the ranking of the world’s most popular web browsers last year. But new data shows that Apple’s web browser has again overtaken Edge and is back in second place in the ranking of the world’s most-used desktop web browsers. 
• The Google Pixel 7a is confirmed to launch at Google I/O 2023 on May 10th. 

Happy Monday & Happy May Day! Today is a traditional celebration of flowers and spring. We hope you have a great week!

In This Issue: Park Time & Family Cookouts | Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series | Polarity for MPO Cables | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Park Time & Family Cookouts

Happy Monday!

We had a pretty chill weekend and enjoyed some time outdoors. I think we’ve hit peak Spring weather in Georgia where the mosquitos are still dormant and the temperatures are hovering around the high 60s… usually this only last maybe what seems like a week haha, so it’s best to take advantage! After some house cleaning, we took our two daughters to a local park that had a small pond where they spotted dragonflies, turtles, tadpoles, and these small black-tailed fish swimming around. They enjoy looking for critters and throwing rocks in the pond. There’s also a small playground where they burned off some excess energy.

Later on, we went to my parent’s house for a cookout, enjoyed some delicious ribs, and got to catch up. Overall, it was a very simple, yet relaxing weekend. My daughter has 24 more days of school and she’s certainly counting them down! I’m looking forward to the summer as well as we have a nice trip planned that I’ll tell you all about soon! I hope you have a great week and a happy May 1st!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Cisco 2960-X series is another generation to the already popular 2960 series that will enable the typical small to medium business to function at an enterprise level without the enterprise budget. The 2960-X series switches offer a fixed configuration of Ethernet switches that are not only Gigabit, but also stackable. The 2960-X was specifically designed for easy deployment and operational efficiency. These switches are also energy cautious and have a large range of IOS software features.

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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:

• United Airlines’ plan to retrofit dozens of its older narrow-body planes is running behind schedule. The upgrades include seat-back screens, Bluetooth capabilities and other amenities. Supply chain strains have pushed back the timeline.  
• Attorneys general from 23 states, Washington D.C., and two U.S. territories have called on Medicare to cover Alzheimer’s treatments without restrictions. 
• Elon Musk expects SpaceX to spend about $2 billion on its Starship rocket development this year, as the company pushes to build on its first launch earlier this month. 
• Olipop is on track to sell more than $200 million of its prebiotic soda this year. Olipop’s rise coincides with declining soda consumption in the U.S. and rising interest in “gut health.”United Airlines’ plan to retrofit dozens of its older narrow-body planes is running behind schedule. The upgrades include seat-back screens, Bluetooth capabilities and other amenities. Supply chain strains have pushed back the timeline.