Archives for October 2023

Happy Thursday & Happy National Gumbo Day! This heavily seasoned, stew-like dish is the perfect thing to fill us up on chilly fall days. Do you have a gumbo recipe that you love? We’d love for you to share it!

In This Issue: October Vibes 🍂 | Catalyst 9200 4 x 10GE Network Module | T568a vs T568b Termination | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – October Vibes 🍂

Good Morning and Happy Thursday,

It amazes me every year how quickly the weather cools down. This week has been filled with gloomy overcasts and rainy days. I am not complaining though. The weather has really put me in an October mood. I have changed a few things around the house, changed the wallpaper on my phone, and even brought out some hoodies that I have missed dearly. It’s the perfect weather to cuddle up with a blanket and read a book.

Working from home in gloomy weather can be wonderfully peaceful. Though I spend 8 hours at my desk, I still enjoy the calm and quiet that expands the house. At the end of last week, I turned off the A/C and opened up the windows to enjoy the tranquil breeze. It makes everything seem so still, that is until my cat decides to get the zoomies and runs all through the house.

Anyway, I am enjoying the fall vibes. I hope you all are too.

Happy Thursday!

Joi

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The C9200-NM-4X network expansion module is an optional modular uplink that is compatible with Cisco Catalyst 9200 series switches. This plug-in module features four 10G SFP+ uplinks. As with all products from CablesAndKits, this module comes with a Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty.

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Learning Center Article – T568a vs T568b Termination

Ethernet is still the backbone of modern networking. It shows up all the time, and there’s a good chance that you regularly work with Ethernet devices.

Considering that, it’s important to know a little bit about Ethernet and how it works, and one important topic covers the little connectors that actually allow you to plug in an Ethernet cable.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Uber Eats announced its multistore ordering feature. Customers can choose up to two stores in the same order, without paying an extra delivery fee.
• In a recent survey conducted, it reported that teenagers in the United States watch more video content on YouTube than on Netflix.
• Prices at both Disney World and Disneyland are jumping, effective immediately. Parking prices at both theme parks are also increasing.
• Chipotle is planning to raise menu prices soon. They have paused price hikes for more than a year after three rounds of raising menu prices.

Happy Wednesday! We’re halfway through the week. We hope you’ve been able to accomplish quite a bit so far this week and are well on your way to a fully checked-off to-do list. Cheers to a great rest of the week ahead!

In This Issue: A Lot Going on at the Moment | Cisco 6500 8-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module | Li-Fi: The Next Generation of Wireless Technology | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – A Lot Going on at the Moment

Good morning, CK Family!

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. I’ll be honest, I’ve been sitting here thinking about what to write about for quite some time. There are days where these blurbs come easy and there are some where it feels impossible to think of something to share. But, to be honest – I chuckled at myself for what I’ll write about today and it’s only because I was shocked that I’ve held out this long. Maybe it’s because I didn’t want to have any Bad Blood with anyone!

You may have heard of the term “Swiftie”. I’m not sure I’d consider myself an over-the-top “Swiftie” but I think I know enough and keep up with enough, and also spend enough money on things to consider myself a pretty big fan of all things Taylor Swift. She’s been all the rage lately, especially within the NFL but I won’t dive into that.

In April, the day before my baby shower, I attended the Eras tour in Atlanta with two of my best friends, and when I tell you…the concert was incredible! Even if you aren’t a Taylor Swift fan, it’s quite the show and very entertaining. I loved every second of singing as loud as I could with everyone there and thinking back to when I was younger singing some of her classic songs. It was such a sweet time. Since then, I’ve been so invested in the “What’s next?” She keeps us on our toes! Dropping hints, asking us to solve puzzles, and so much more to welcome the next best things she’s going to release or share. It keeps me on my toes!

As someone who works in marketing, I will stand by a statement I made a while ago now and that is that Taylor Swift is one of the best marketers of all time. She knows what her customers want, how to keep them engaged, how to interact with them, and much more. She’s killing the game and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

Anywho, this Friday is another exciting day in the “Swiftie” world because Taylor is releasing her Eras Tour film! I Should Have Said No to going but truthfully, I can’t wait to be there and relive the experience but this time with my mom, both of my aunts, and my cousin! I know it’s going to be Enchanted. We’re going to be living for the hope of it all and dancing in our best dress! Can’t wait to recap that with you all next week, and then, I promise, I’ll lay off the “Swiftie” news for a while so I don’t damage my Reputation with you all.

Grateful for you all and hope you have a safe and sound rest of the week!

Long Live,

Ashley

ps: I hope you enjoyed my song references throughout!

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Maximize your bandwidth capacities with the Cisco 6500 8-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module, WS-X6708-10G-3C. For environments that require significant bandwidth use, this module is designed to extend networking capabilities for up to eight devices. With 10 Gbps per port, you can scale confidently up to 80 Gbps, giving you the bandwidth you need to handle your business.

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Learning Center Article – Li-Fi: The Next Generation of Wireless Technology

A new wireless networking technology is here and it is grabbing the attention of engineers and network specialists alike.

This new technology is called Li-Fi, and while the concept has been around for a while, the IEEE recently standardized Li-Fi with the new 802.11bb designation. A revolution of wireless technology is upon us.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• The Supreme Court declined to hear arguments in a case challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s authority to reject approvals of flavored electronic cigarettes.
• A new feature in the Klarna app will let users point their phone at an item of clothing or electronics gadget and find results for similar products. The tool is trained on data from PriceRunner, a price comparison service Klarna acquired for close to $1 billion.
• If your FaceTime call goes unanswered, you can now record a video message. To leave a video message, you and your recipient must update to iOS 17.
• Four months after the submersible Titan imploded during a deep-sea mission toward the wreck of the Titanic, the Coast Guard has recovered the remaining debris, including presumed human remains. Read more here.

Happy Tuesday! It’s National Walk to a Park Day and with the cooler weather making its appearance, it’s the perfect day to head to your local park and take a walk!

In This Issue: Hilton Head Foodie Finds & a Prayer for Peace | Cisco 3850 1100WAC Power Supply | What Is Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Hilton Head Foodie Finds & a Prayer for Peace

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday!

I’m writing today with a heavy heart and I’m sure many of you are feeling the same way. I want to take a moment to echo Cris’ sentiments and request for prayer from yesterday’s CK Daily. It’s heartbreaking to watch the violence, death, and destruction happening overseas. Praying for a quick, peaceful resolution.

On a much happier note, I’m writing this CK Daily from one of my all-time favorite places- Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. We’re spending the week here for a little much-needed family vacation and I’m hoping it will be a great time!

I’m sitting here with my nephew and we’re talking about all our favorite restaurants on the island. We figured we’d share the list in case any of you have plans to visit HHI and are looking for good food!

These places are all family-friendly and have big menus (including kids ’ menus and gluten-free options)!

• Crazy Crab – The seafood here is incredible and the hushpuppies are delicious! There are 2 locations, both equally delicious. No visit to HHI is complete without a trip to the Crazy Crab!
• Skull Creek Boathouse – The place to go for the best fried shrimp, shrimp n’ grits, and lots of great specialty dishes! As an added bonus, this place boasts one of HHI’s best waterfront views of Skull Creek!
• Fiesta Fresh – This one is a bit of a hole-in-the-wall, but we all know those are the best places! This is the place to go for fresh, fast Mexican food! The staff here is super friendly and accommodating!
• Low Country Backyard – This one is my personal favorite! My nephew loves the burgers, and I am a huge fan of the “Backyard BBQ’d Chicken Sandwich”. It includes bacon and pimento cheese and is always cooked to perfection!
• Bullies BBQ – Another hole-in-the-wall known for delicious pulled pork and unique sauces. They have been known to sell out though, so make sure to go early!
• Java Burrito – Similar to Chipotle, this casual Mexican restaurant has a burrito bar with the freshest locally sourced ingredients! They also have a coffee bar which seems like a bit of a strange combo, but they make it work!

If you’re a HHI regular and have other restaurants that you think we should add to the list, please reply and let us know! Hope everyone has a great week!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The PWR-C1-1100WAC is a power supply unit (PSU) manufactured by Cisco Systems designed to be used with Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Switches, providing reliable and efficient power for network devices. This power supply has a maximum power range of 1100 W and supports AC input voltage range of 100-240V and frequency auto-ranging from 50-60 Hz.

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Learning Center Article – What is Cisco ISE?

One of the most important aspects of network security is access policy. This is how you control who can access your network and how. You can allow devices, block devices, and limit access as you see fit — assuming you have a competent system that allows you to control access policy.

Cisco, being the networking giant that it is, has an interesting solution for this issue. Cisco ISE (identity services engine) is a technology that consolidates access policy across a network.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• A Minnesota horticulture teacher set a world record in California for the heaviest pumpkin after growing a giant jack-o’-lantern gourd weighing 2,749 pounds.
• The Powerball has risen to $1.7 billion as no one has won the jackpot since July.
• The Writers Guild of America has officially ratified its new three-year contract with Hollywood studios.
• Ticket prices for cruises are surging as operators say they’re meeting higher demand for post-pandemic vacations. Cruise operators such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean said they’re considering raising prices even more to close the gap between the price of cruise vacations and land-based vacation alternatives.

Happy Monday! We hope you had a wonderful weekend and were able to find some time to relax and spend time with family & friends. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

In This Issue: Celebrating Birthdays and a Prayer Request | Cisco 6500 8-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module | Top 5 Causes of Fiber Optic Failure | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Celebrating Birthdays and a Prayer Request

Happy Monday,

What a crazy weekend! We celebrated my wife’s birthday and went to a bunch of kid’s birthday parties this weekend. We had a great low-key birthday party on Friday with homemade pizza and board games, while the rest of the weekend was filled with parks and bounce houses. While it was a great and busy weekend, it was soured by the attack on Israel.

The media is calling it Israel’s 9/11 and it’s not hard to believe. Innocent Israelis and Palestinians are both suffering, and violence is escalating. If you have a moment today, please take some time to pray for a peaceful end to the conflict and for healing and hope.

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Maximize your bandwidth capacities with the Cisco 6500 8-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module, WS-X6708-10G-3C. For environments that require significant bandwidth use, this module is designed to extend networking capabilities for up to eight devices. With 10 Gbps per port, you can scale confidently up to 80 Gbps, giving you the bandwidth you need to handle your business. This module can be used for traffic aggregation, points of presence (POPs), WAN edge, MAN connections, and more.

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Learning Center Article – Top 5 Causes of Fiber Optic Failure

Fiber optic networks are the best in the business — when they work.

When they don’t work, they are expensive sources of frustration.

As always, the best defense is a good offense, and you can prevent the most common sources of fiber optic failure when you simply know what they are and what causes them. So, here’s a short list of the top five causes of fiber optic failure to get you going.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes Monday, as it continued its retaliatory response to a surprise offensive by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that began Saturday morning.
• Google Cloud announced new artificial intelligence-powered search capabilities that will help clinicians quickly access information from different data sources.
• Amazon’s first pair of prototypes for its Project Kuiper satellite internet system launched on Friday.
• UAW members are getting ready to vote on a labor agreement with Volvo Group-owned Mack Trucks.

Happy Friday & Happy National Coaches Day! In our lives, we’ve likely all had someone in our lives who’s coached us and has inspired us to work harder and do our best. Who was that person for you?

In This Issue: How do you shop online? | Cisco 7942G Two-line Unified IP Phone | Amps, Watts, and Volts Calculation | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – How do you shop online?

Happy Friday, folks!

We were having a discussion yesterday about our shopping patterns. The key topic was whether you use the site search on a website or browse through their categories.

I find this topic fascinating. In this digital age, I always start my shopping by using the search bar on a site. I’ll use Amazon as an example. I never browse categories on Amazon. As I wrote this, I browsed the categories on Amazon’s site and found their category experience overwhelming!

How do you shop online? Do you use site search or browse through the categories?

Have a great weekend!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Cisco Unified IP Phone 7942G is designed to grow with your organization and enhancements to your system capabilities. The dynamic feature set allows the phone to keep pace with your requirements through regular software updates. No hands-on moves and changes are required with the phone-you can simply pick up the phone and move to a new location anywhere on your network.

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Learning Center Article – Amps, Watts, and Volts Calculation

When you’re dealing with electrical equipment, you always see ratings about things like watts, amps, and volts. You know that these have to do with the current, but what exactly do they mean, and how do you calculate the right amount of each one?

Fortunately, it doesn’t require an advanced degree in math or physics. We can go through all three concepts, show you how to work with them, and why they even matter in the first place.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• The National Basketball Association’s upcoming decision on which companies will acquire the TV and streaming rights for its live games could transform the entire media industry. Based on preliminary discussions between media executives and league officials, Comcast’s NBCUniversal, Google’s YouTube TV, Amazon, Apple and even Netflix may challenge or join the incumbents as rights holders.
• Streaming platforms are chasing live sports rights to grow their audiences. Increasingly, those audiences are watching in Spanish. Media companies like TelevisaUnivision, Canela Media, NBCUniversal’s Telemundo and Peacock, Disney’s ESPN+ and Amazon’s Prime Video are all bulking up on Spanish-language sports content.
• Hyundai and Kia announced that they will adopt Tesla’s electric vehicle charging system in the U.S.. The switch is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024.
• AMC reported that global advance ticket sales have surpassed $100 million for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour film. The film is set to hit theaters next week on Oct. 13.

Happy Thursday! The countdown to the weekend is on. What are your upcoming weekend plans?

In This Issue: Football Saturdays 🏈 | CAB-AC AC Power Cord | What is a DRAC? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Football Saturdays 🏈

Good Morning and Happy Thursday,

This weekend, I’ll be basking in the delightful weather as I sit outdoors on Saturday morning to watch a football game. My fiancé happens to be the coach of a middle school team, and I always relish the opportunity to support these young athletes. They never fail to bring joy with their performances on the field. Just last week, the team had a break for fall vacation, which left me with an uneventful Saturday morning, missing their exciting games.

So, this week holds great anticipation as I look forward to witnessing them in action once again. What I love most about watching these games are those moments when they make incredible plays, followed by their exciting celebrations. And, of course, there’s the enthusiastic parents in the stands who shower the little athletes with confetti, shouts, and cheers. It creates such a vibrant and lively atmosphere, and I absolutely love being a part of it every Saturday.

Joi

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Elevate Your Power Experience with the AC Power Cord! Discover the convenience of the 5-15P plug, a standard NEMA configuration commonly found on power strips, surge protectors, and more. With a robust 18 AWG wire thickness, this cord efficiently handles high current loads while minimizing energy loss.

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Learning Center Article – What is a DRAC?

Servers can change the game for businesses of all sizes. They allow you to consolidate resources, increase your overall IT power, and implement a wide range of tools that aren’t available otherwise.

While it’s great to have these, servers come with some baggage too. They have to be managed, and not all server management is the same.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Disney’s ESPN inked a multi-year deal with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s startup TGL golf league. TGL, which will operate in partnership with the PGA Tour, will kick off on Jan. 9, and feature 18 PGA
• Tour players split into six teams.
  Popeyes is now the No.2 chicken chain in the U.S over KFC. Both Popeyes and KFC have lost market share to Chick-fil-A over the past year.
• LG Energy Solution will supply Toyota with EV batteries for cars that will be assembled in the U.S.
• Amazon is discontinuing its live audio service, called Amp, the company confirmed. Amp launched last March at a time when there was still buzz around the Clubhouse audio app.