Archives for July 2023

Happy Thursday! We hope you are having a wonderful week. Have you been enjoying any exciting summer vacations this summer? We’d love to hear about them!

In This Issue: Game Night Recommendations | Cisco 3850 Series PoE+ 48 Port Switch | Why You Should Upgrade to Wi-Fi 6 Access Points | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Game Night Reccomendations

Happy Thursday, everyone!

I hope you’re all doing well. I wanted to share with you the amazing game night party we had last weekend to celebrate my fiancé’s birthday. We made sure to include all the party essentials: people, games, and, of course, cake! The theme of the party was game night, and we had a fantastic selection of games for everyone to enjoy.

We had a mix of classic games like Uno and some newer additions like flip-cup tic-tac-toe. It was incredible to see people of all ages coming together, interacting, and having a blast with the games. Laughter filled the room as we competed, strategized, and cheered each other on. Witnessing the bonding and camaraderie among everyone was truly heartwarming.

One tradition we have at our events is the kids putting on a performance for us. It’s different from when I was growing up, as they now have TikTok trends and social media to inspire them.

Nevertheless, it’s equally impressive to see how they coordinate their performances and showcase their talents. It’s a special moment that brings joy to everyone present.

Finally, we gathered around to sing happy birthday to my fiancé and indulged in some delicious cake. The night was so enjoyable that we lost track of time; before we knew it, it was already 3 am! We reluctantly announced that it was time for the rest of the crowd to head home and began cleaning up for the night. It was clear that everyone had a wonderful time, and we’re already looking forward to hosting another game night party in the future.

Now, I’d love to hear about your experiences with game nights. Have you ever hosted one? What were some of the games you played?

Joi

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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 up to 9 members and come equipped with Cisco’s popular StackPower technology.

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Learning Center Article – Why You Should Upgrade to Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

If you have a wireless network, you need access points that enable users to connect. For a long time, WiFi 5 was the industry standard that governed how wireless networks functioned, but today, WiFi 6 is here and available. Upgrading your network to WiFi 6 offers some major benefits, and it could change how your entire operation functions.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• An expanding, intensifying heat wave prompted the National Weather Service to issue heat alerts for more than 112 million people on Thursday morning. The heat will topple longstanding records, especially in the Southwest, and the duration of this event will continue well into next week increasing public health dangers. This heat wave is already notable for its scope, intensity, and endurance.
• Fanatics will launch Fanatics Events, a business that will look to recreate the Comic-Con experience for sports collectibles.
• The new venture aims to start holding events next year.
• Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and owner of Twitter, on Wednesday announced the debut of a new AI company, xAI, with the goal to “understand the true nature of the universe.”
• Google said their chatbot, Bard, now includes 40 languages and will include audio responses. The improvements come as Google tries to stay ahead of rapidly improving competition from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Anthropic.

Happy Thursday! We hope you are having a wonderful week. Have you been enjoying any exciting summer vacations this summer? We’d love to hear about them!

In This Issue: Game Night Recommendations | Cisco 3850 Series PoE+ 48 Port Switch | Why You Should Upgrade to Wi-Fi 6 Access Points | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Game Night Reccomendations

Happy Thursday, everyone!

I hope you’re all doing well. I wanted to share with you the amazing game night party we had last weekend to celebrate my fiancé’s birthday. We made sure to include all the party essentials: people, games, and, of course, cake! The theme of the party was game night, and we had a fantastic selection of games for everyone to enjoy.

We had a mix of classic games like Uno and some newer additions like flip-cup tic-tac-toe. It was incredible to see people of all ages coming together, interacting, and having a blast with the games. Laughter filled the room as we competed, strategized, and cheered each other on. Witnessing the bonding and camaraderie among everyone was truly heartwarming.

One tradition we have at our events is the kids putting on a performance for us. It’s different from when I was growing up, as they now have TikTok trends and social media to inspire them.

Nevertheless, it’s equally impressive to see how they coordinate their performances and showcase their talents. It’s a special moment that brings joy to everyone present.

Finally, we gathered around to sing happy birthday to my fiancé and indulged in some delicious cake. The night was so enjoyable that we lost track of time; before we knew it, it was already 3 am! We reluctantly announced that it was time for the rest of the crowd to head home and began cleaning up for the night. It was clear that everyone had a wonderful time, and we’re already looking forward to hosting another game night party in the future.

Now, I’d love to hear about your experiences with game nights. Have you ever hosted one? What were some of the games you played?

Joi

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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 up to 9 members and come equipped with Cisco’s popular StackPower technology.

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Learning Center Article – Why You Should Upgrade to Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

If you have a wireless network, you need access points that enable users to connect. For a long time, WiFi 5 was the industry standard that governed how wireless networks functioned, but today, WiFi 6 is here and available. Upgrading your network to WiFi 6 offers some major benefits, and it could change how your entire operation functions.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• An expanding, intensifying heat wave prompted the National Weather Service to issue heat alerts for more than 112 million people on Thursday morning. The heat will topple longstanding records, especially in the Southwest, and the duration of this event will continue well into next week increasing public health dangers. This heat wave is already notable for its scope, intensity, and endurance.
• Fanatics will launch Fanatics Events, a business that will look to recreate the Comic-Con experience for sports collectibles.
• The new venture aims to start holding events next year.
• Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and owner of Twitter, on Wednesday announced the debut of a new AI company, xAI, with the goal to “understand the true nature of the universe.”
• Google said their chatbot, Bard, now includes 40 languages and will include audio responses. The improvements come as Google tries to stay ahead of rapidly improving competition from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Anthropic.

Happy Wednesday! As we approach the middle of the week, we hope that you’ve been able to conquer your to-do list. Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week ahead as we look forward to the weekend!

In This Issue: Baby Introductions 🐶 | Cisco 8800/8900/9900 IP Phone Power Supply | Exploring Cisco IP Phone Series: Unveiling from 7900 to 7800 and 8800 | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Baby Introductions 🐶

Happy Wednesday!

I hope you are having a great week! This week has been a quick one for me so far, so I’m hoping it keeps up the pace. I don’t have any big upcoming weekend plans, but my husband and I have just been checking off little tasks that we’ve set to accomplish before we welcome our little guy into the world.

Something we’ve been working on lately is how to adjust our dogs to our new little one. We have two dogs, Remi & Bella. Remi is a Yorkie and Bella is a Golden Retriever/Doberman mix (but she looks like a spitting image of a black lab). Remi is a mama’s boy. He is attached at the hip to me, so I’ve been worried that he might struggle when the baby comes and requires a little bit more of my attention than normal to start. Bella is a big girl but loves her dad so I’m not as worried about her being jealous or sad but more worried about her energy and nosiness.

Do you have any tips and tricks to helping pups adjust to a new little one in the house? I welcome all of your tips and personal experiences!

I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!

Ashley

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Product Spotlights & Updates

You can’t go wrong with compatible Cisco power supplies from CablesAndKits. Our Cisco IP Phone External Power Supply is the perfect replacement for Cisco CP-88XX, CP-89XX, and CP-99XX Series IP Phones. This external power supply will ensure your connection never fails when you need it most. All your purchases with us come individually bagged and labeled so you can easily store and retrieve your stock.

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Learning Center Article – Exploring Cisco IP Phone Series: Unveiling from 7900 to 7800 and 8800

When it comes to office and interpersonal communications, phones are still essential. If your office has (or needs) phone lines, then you need quality phones to handle the calls.

Cisco makes a wide variety of phones serving a ton of different functions. In terms of IP phones (that can support VoIP calling), there are three different series that stand out: 7900, 7800, and 8800. Each series has a different set of pros, cons, and specializations. When you see the clear differences between each series, you can better determine which might be right for you.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Chipotle has developed a robot that can cut, core and peel avocados used in its guacamole as the restaurant industry faces a sustained labor shortage. Today, it takes roughly 50 minutes to make a batch of Chipotle’s guacamole. But the Autocado unveiled Wednesday could cut the prep time in half.
• Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin suffered a rocket engine explosion while testing its BE-4 rocket engine last month. During a firing on June 30 at Blue Origin’s facility in West Texas, a BE-4 engine detonated about 10 seconds into the test.
• A new blood test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can predict imminent preeclampsia, helping pregnant women who are at risk of this severe and sometimes deadly form of high blood pressure.
• Consumer prices rose at the slowest pace since March 2021 as inflation showed further signs of cooling in June. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.2% over last month and 3% over the prior year in June, a slight acceleration from May’s 0.1% month-over-month increase but a slowdown compared to the month’s 4% annual gain.

Happy Tuesday! Have you herd? Things go udderly awry in the middle of July each year on Cow Appreciation Day. People dress like bovines for free food. It’s a moo-ving experience to witness designed to save the lives of cows everywhere for just one day. How? By eating chicken instead!

In This Issue: Prime Day Deals | Cisco Catalyst 9105AX Indoor Access Point | Cisco Catalyst Upgrade Path: 3750G to 3750X to 3850 to 9300 | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Prime Day Deals

Good Morning and Happy Tuesday! Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that today is the first day of the Amazon Prime Day sales and, I don’t know about you, but the whole thing seems so overwhelming to me! There are just so many products involved! Over the past week or so, many of the “influencers” that I follow on social media started talking about how Prime Day was coming soon to build some excitement, and that has only ramped up every day as we got closer to it.

I follow a DIY influencer who even did a 20-minute “live” video last night talking about the ins and outs of Prime Day. She said to think of it as Amazon’s version of “Black Friday” and said not to go into it without a plan. She said you should know the items you’re wanting to snag by priority and go for those first thing. She recommended hitting the “Buy Now” button rather than the “Add to Cart” button for anything you really want because shipping is free so it’s not a big deal to place lots of orders, and if you add to cart then the item could sell out while you’re shopping. I thought that was an interesting tip! She also mentioned that the best sale prices are the early sales and prices won’t go down, but might go up as inventory sells out.

Personally, I don’t think I’ll really be participating in Prime Day mainly because there’s nothing I’m just dying to have right now. What about you? Will you be snagging any deals in the next few days!?

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

It’s time to say goodbye to sluggish internet speeds, unreliable connections, and never-ending buffering. Between increasing bandwidth requirements from cloud-based apps and streaming, an ever-growing number of connected devices, and the need for seamless connectivity, the demands put on wireless networks have never been greater! The Cisco C9105-AXI-B is an indoor Wi-Fi 6 access point that can help you revolutionize your wireless network with lightning-fast wireless connections, reliable coverage, and enhanced security features.

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Learning Center Article – Cisco Catalyst Upgrade Path: 3750G to 3750X to 3850 to 9300

Enterprise networking comes with plenty of challenges. It’s always nice when tools and resources can make things easier.

One great resource is a developed upgrade path. While a certain switch might work in the beginning, a growing business will need better equipment at some point. For enterprise work, you might begin with the Cisco Catalyst 3750G series. It offers affordable performance and is a great tool for many small and medium businesses.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Prime energy drink has unhealthy amounts of caffeine for kids and teens. Schumer, D-N.Y., asked the FDA to investigate the marketing tactics for the drink as well as its high caffeine content. Prime says its energy drink is not made for consumers younger than 18.
• User traffic on Twitter has slowed since the launch of Meta’s text-based platform Threads, which has already surpassed 100 million sign-ups since its debut last week.
• Foxconn has pulled out of a $19.5 billion joint venture in India that would have produced semiconductor and display components.
• Charter Communications said Monday it is changing up its cable TV offering and will allow customers to opt into a cheaper, sports-lite tier without regional sports networks.

Happy Monday & Happy National Kitten Day! Today we celebrate all of the purrfect qualities they have and bring to our lives. 🐱

In This Issue: Count It All Joy | MPO Essentials Fiber Cable | Is preowned network equipment right for my network? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Count It All Joy

Happy Monday,

This past week, I’ve encountered a series of unfortunate events: our refrigerator died, our air conditioning unit decided to go out the day before the 4th of July, and our transmission in our minivan decided to have issues this same week. On Saturday my brother-in-law invited us to a Gwinnett Stripers game (our local minor league baseball team), and everything was great, but the game got rained out. It’s starting to sound like an old country song! I felt like Charlie Brown for most of the week… Good Grief!

But you know what, even though the week seemed like a disaster, I still feel pretty thankful for everything in general. It’s times like these that sort of make you appreciate what you have and is a great contrast to the good times. The good news is that we got a new fridge, the AC repaired, and have scheduled a repair for our van… and we’ll catch another game another day (maybe when it’s not so blazingly hot). So, all is not lost, I think it’s easy to sink into despair when these things happen but reflecting a little bit and zooming out and looking at things from another point of view, helps me at least see how all relative these little annoyances are.

I’m reminded of a passage in the Bible – James 1:2-4 (ESV) where it says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” I’ll be reflecting on that passage this week. I hope you appreciate your day and have a great week!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Our MPO Essentials line of fiber cables features high-quality, precision-built connectors that ensure secure connections for stable transmission with minimal optical loss. This female-to-female cable features 12 strands of laser-optimized cable that allows you to increase your network bandwidth drastically. Additionally, this cable is made with a durable, Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) jacket.

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Learning Center Article – Is preowned network equipment right for my network?

Every business needs a powerful, reliable network. Unfortunately, building and maintaining it can be expensive. If you take the time to search for ways to save money on your network, one thing you’ll find is the mention of preowned and refurbished hardware. They often save some money, but are they really worth it? You might be comfortable buying a preowned vehicle, but networking equipment is another beast altogether.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Bed Bath & Beyond canceled an auction for Buy Buy Baby, but the chain could still end up being saved. Buyers had backed out of the auction because the chain’s value had deteriorated, but there are still parties interested in its assets. Dream on Me Industries, a former supplier to Buy Buy Baby, has agreed to purchase the chain’s intellectual property for $15.5 million if no better bids arise.
• Medicare is now covering Leqembi, the only Alzheimer’s treatment on the market that slowed cognitive decline in early stages of the disease in a clinical trial. Although Medicare will pick up a majority of the bill, patients could still pay more than $5,000 in out-of-pocket costs.
• Meta’s new Twitter competitor Threads has exploded in growth in its first full day since its public debut Wednesday night, fueled by Instagram’s already massive userbase. The text-based social media product already has 70 million sign-ups.
• President Biden, who will attend a NATO summit in Europe this week, said it was “premature” to allow Ukraine to join the alliance as the war with Russia continues.

Happy Friday! What was supposed to feel like a shorter week has felt like a longer week than normal, but we’ve arrived at the weekend. Wishing you a safe and cool (this heat has been wild!) weekend ahead!

In This Issue: We want to hear from you! (CK Swag!) | Cisco ASA5506 Power Supply | PVC vs LSZH vs OFNP vs OFNR Cable Jackets | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – We want to hear from you! (CK Swag)

Good morning CK Family! We hope you had a great week and had a safe and fun 4th. 🎆

If you’ve been around for a little while, you’ve likely received one of our swag packs in your order with some goodies included. We’ve included pens, shirts, insulated tumblers, sticky notes, stress balls, charging cables, and much more. What’s been your favorite? Or even your least favorite?

When you get free swag items, what do you like to get? We’re always looking to provide you with things you’ll enjoy and actually use. We’d love to hear from you! Send us a reply back and let us know what you like – mugs, notepads, lanyards? We’re all ears!

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Product Spotlights & Updates

We get it… external power supplies can sometimes go missing during migrations or moves. Power supplies are often overlooked and forgotten. If you need a spare power supply for your ASA5506-X firewall, this 100% compatible power supply will fit the bill. This Cisco-compatible ASA5506-X power supply is completely compatible with the ASA5506-X firewalls including the ASA5506-K9. Tested and built to Cisco’s exact specifications, this power supply is nearly identical to the original at a fraction of the cost.

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Learning Center Article – PVC vs LSZH vs OFNP vs OFNR Cable Jackets

When comparing fiber optics cables, there are a lot of different components and considerations. One important component is the outer jacket of the cable. Outer jackets can be made from a number of materials, and generally speaking, the jacket materials can work with any fiber cable type. That means that choosing the right cable jacket is often independent of choosing the fiber setup.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• The FDA has approved Eisai and Biogen’s Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi. Medicare announced it will broadly cover Leqembi for patients enrolled in the program for older Americans.
• Volkswagen will begin testing self-driving electric vehicles in Austin, Texas, later this month.
• The Biden administration has decided to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine and is expected to announce that the Pentagon will send thousands as part of a new military aid package worth up to $800 million for the war effort against Russia.
• Legacy automakers continue to promise big increases in production and sales of electric vehicles, but their efforts so far have done little to change the highly watched market. Hyundai Motor, including Kia, overtook GM in U.S. sales of EVs but remains a far second compared with industry leader Tesla.