Archives for November 2023

Happy Friday! We hope you have a wonderful weekend full of family, friends, and good football! The countdown to Thanksgiving is on. What are you thankful for this season?

In This Issue: How can you make an impact in your community? | Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Rack Mount Kit | What Are Distribution Layer Switches? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – How can you make an impact in your community?

Happy Friday, folks! In 2021, we were introduced to a local non-profit called Path United. They work with community leaders, churches, and local schools to transform mobile home communities by showing children God’s love while building positive relationships and empowering them socially and emotionally.

A few team members from CablesAndKits attended an event last night to support Path United. It was an incredible event, and we met several amazing people working with them each day. They have a heart to serve and are a joy to be around!

As you approach the end of the year, I encourage you to use your talents or life experiences to impact your community.

Have a great weekend, and a Happy Thanksgiving next week!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Rack Mount Kit, C3850-RACK-KIT, is a professional-grade accessory meticulously designed to seamlessly integrate Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series switches into standard 19-inch racks. It offers a secure and efficient solution, optimizing space utilization and enhancing network infrastructure.

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Learning Center Article – What Are Distribution Layer Switches?

If networking was always easy, there wouldn’t be an entire profession dedicated to it. As such, when your networking goals and demands scale high enough, you’re going to run into challenges with design and picking the right equipment. Fortunately, other people have already thought about these problems, and you can learn a lot from industry standards.

In particular, Cisco has a networking layout philosophy that informs switch design. It’s called the three-layer architecture, and utilizing these layers can help all aspects of your network.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• YouTube is launching a tool that will allow users to create AI-generated music using the voices of popular music artists. Nine artists have lent their voices to the software, including John Legend, Demi Lovato, T-Pain, and Sia, among others.
• Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is expected to haul between $42 million and $55 million during its opening weekend.
• Microsoft will issue a Windows 10 update that contains Copilot, which can answer questions in natural-sounding text.
• Singapore will be piloting the live issuance and use of wholesale central bank digital currencies next year.

Happy Thursday! The weekend is calling our name. Wishing you a great end to the week. If we can be praying for you in any way, please let us know!

In This Issue: Do you send Christmas Cards? | 9U Swing-Out Wall Mount Cabinet | All About Ethernet Jacket Ratings | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Do you send Christmas Cards?

Happy Thursday to everyone. I hope your week has been great so far – we are almost there!

Today, I received our family photos that we take at the beach each year in my inbox. I like to use these to send out Christmas cards from our family each year, and it doesn’t hurt that the backdrop is the Gulf of Mexico; in my opinion some of the most beautiful beaches in the Southeast! It is wildly insane to see how fast my kids are growing up each year that we have these done. I love going through the photos and picking out a favorite to add to a Christmas card through a service I use called Shutterfly. I also love to use their website to purchase photo gifts for family members for the Holidays. They are always a hit! Do you send Christmas cards out?

Speaking of… I have been really excited to start putting Christmas decorations up around the house; but between soccer, being sick and generally just being busy I haven’t had the time or energy. YET! We have our first weekend of soccer off in what feels like forever, so I’m hoping to get a lot done this weekend.

Have a great day!

Mandy

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Installation and management of cables is a huge task for technicians managing the networking equipment in an environment where connected wires are just very common. An organized cabling not only looks neat and tidy but is also critical in ensuring the smooth operations of the network. This is where 3131-3-001-09 LINIER Swing-Out Wall Mount Cabinet comes to the rescue.

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Learning Center Article – All About Ethernet Jacket Ratings

When you’re planning a network, you usually think about the equipment you need and how you can connect it. That’s already plenty to consider, but it turns out that your responsibilities run deeper than that. You also have to think about safety.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Google Maps is rolling out some new features and giving advice on when to travel to make holiday travel easier. The new features all roll out in the next few weeks. For folks traveling on Thanksgiving,
• Google Maps advises you to travel before noon or after 4 p.m.
  The Federal Aviation Administration has cleared Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch the second spaceflight attempt of its towering Starship rocket.
• Lower turkey costs will bring down the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
• Cruise, General Motors’ embattled driverless car unit, said Tuesday it will pause all public road operations — both supervised and manual — in an expansion of last month’s pause of driverless operations.

Happy Wednesday! We’re halfway through the week and the countdown to the weekend is on. Cheers to accomplishing the rest of your to-do list and a great rest of the week! ✅

In This Issue: Free Shipping over $39! | Surge Protector Power Strip | DTE vs DCE | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Free Shipping Over $39!

Happy Wednesday, CK Family! I hope everyone is having a great week.

Over the past several weeks several of us on the CK team have been meeting daily to collaborate on what we can do on our side to make your life easier when working with us at CablesAndKits. We’ve reviewed the various processes we have in place, taken a closer look at our website, and so much more. If you visit our site frequently, you’ve like seen some pretty big changes take place (goodbye graph paper on the sides of the site!!). We’re still working on ways to improve your overall experience and if you have suggestions, we love to hear them.

One thing we did recently adjust, that I think is important to share, is that we now offer FREE shipping on all orders over $39! We still have our flat-rate shipping option available, but we thought we’d sweeten things up with a better shipping option for you all.

We look forward to sharing all of the fun things we’re working on behind the scenes throughout the next few weeks so that you can take advantage of them. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Ashley

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Protecting your electronics from power surges is a crucial step to keep them alive and functioning for years to come. Power strips are not only a way to keep them safe, they are a convenient way to add additional outlets where plugs are at a premium. This six-outlet, surge-protected power strip is perfect for both guarding electronic surges by adding additional NEMA 5-15R outlets near home entertainment systems or behind the family computer.

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Learning Center Article – DTE vs DCE

In the world of networking, there are a lot of ways to connect devices, and even with newer equipment, old formats and techniques still come into play. It’s easy to think that things like fiber optics and Ethernet are on the new end of things — and the latest versions of each are certainly new. But, older forms of communication are still a big part of modern networking.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• YouTube will begin to require creators to label AI-generated content on its platform in the coming months, and the platform will tell users when they’re watching content created using artificial intelligence
• An Arizona woman who shared her Thanksgiving table seven years ago with a stranger she accidentally texted will be opening up her home again this year to two new strangers. Read more here.
• After getting its start in Seattle and testing its business model in France and Florida, a space travel venture called Orbite is ready to start signing up customers for private-sector astronaut training programs.
• It’s been a couple of years since Amazon first showed off Astro, its Alexa-equipped home robot with an extendable camera. Now the company is announcing Astro for Business which will let small and medium-size businesses use Astro as a security guard.

Happy Tuesday, friends! It’s not just any Tuesday – it’s National Pickle Day! Embrace the tangy goodness, savor the crunchy delight, and pickle your way to a fantastic day!

In This Issue: Paint, Laughter, and Fellowship | CAT8 Shielded Ethernet Patch Cable | What Is a Network Fabric? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Paint, Laughter, and Fellowship

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! Hope you’re having a great week so far!

Last night I attended our monthly women’s night at church which is always a great time, but it’s particularly fun in November because we turn it into dinner and a paint party. There’s a local lady who leads painting classes and brings all the items necessary and walks us through turning the blank canvas into a Christmas-themed painting.

Last year we painted snowmen which turned out really cute. This year we painted a snow-covered lantern with a wreath on it which was definitely a bit more of a challenge, but everyone’s turned out great and we had lots of laughs throughout the process! It was a great and much-needed night of fellowship!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Our S/FTP Booted Category 8 (Cat8) Ethernet Patch Cables are the newest addition to the network cabling family and have hit the ground running! With the ability for 40gb and 2GHz bandwidth transmission over 20 meters, these network data cables are a Data Center Manager’s dream to handle the speeds that their network and users need. These patch cables are backward compatible with both Cat6 and Cat5e, and all previous categories.

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Learning Center Article – What Is a Network Fabric?

Modern networking is complicated. It’s challenging enough that you have Wi-Fi routers that can handle multiple hundreds of devices, the Internet of Things putting even more devices into a group, and the sheer magnitude of data centers and high-speed networking.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Amazon is cutting more than 180 jobs in its Amazon Games division, shutting down parts of the business that focus on streaming and supporting third-party games. The company will close its
• Game Growth and Crown Channel initiatives as part of the restructuring.
  “The Marvels” generated an estimated $47 million domestically over its debut weekend, the lowest in franchise history.
• NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes has admitted to wearing the same pair of red underwear on game days across his whole professional football career. Read more here.
• The consumer price index, which measures a broad basket of commonly used goods and services, was flat in October from the previous month but increased 3.2% from a year ago.

Happy Monday & Happy World Kindness Day! It’s the perfect day to spread kindness like an infectious cold. Let your compassion shine brightly today! ❤️

In This Issue: Gratitude is in the Air | Cisco 1000BASE-T SFP Module | Alternatives to Rack Mount Kits | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Gratitude is in the Air

Happy Monday!

As Chris mentioned Friday, we had our CK Thanksgiving gathering, and it was fantastic. One of our software developer friends decided to raise turkeys this year and we had the opportunity to enjoy a deep-fried one and it was delicious! In fact, all the food (as we had a potluck alongside the turkey and ham) was amazing!

I’m definitely feeling and thinking about gratitude as we get closer to Thanksgiving. Sometimes it’s really easy to forget to be thankful for even the little things in life. Thanksgiving is a great reminder to us all to be more appreciative and kinder. Even kinder to yourself. I get bogged down a lot with watching the news and the sensationalism and the overall negative outlook on things, wars, economic downturns, and tragedies, and those things definitely weigh me down, but having gratitude balances out the negative. It may not seem like it’ll make much impact, but for me, it’s a great reminder of positive things and helps me keep a positive mental attitude. Speaking of which, I’m truly thankful for you reading this post and thankful for being able to write for you every week.

I hope you have a great day and a fantastic week.

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Cisco GLC-T transceiver module is a 1000BASE-T SFP for Copper Networks. It is designed for Gigabit Ethernet connectivity over Category 5e (Cat5e) unshielded twisted pair copper cabling up to 100m link length via an RJ-45 connector. The transceiver supports full-duplex Gigabit Ethernet over data link. It allows to leverage existing cabling infrastructure and avoids the cost and disruption of installing new fiber optic cables.

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Learning Center Article – Alternatives to Rack Mount Kits

In server settings, it’s common to use standardized racks to hold and house all of the equipment. These racks are made strong and stable. They allow you to stack all of your devices in ways that support the task and configuration at hand, and they provide safe conditions that also help you manage heat and airflow.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Airlines have a record 260 million seats to fill this quarter. They’re offering more fare sales for off-peak travel to do it. JetBlue, Spirit, and Frontier all say average fares are dropping.
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk is going to be the subject of a movie based on the biography by Walter Isaacson. “Requiem for a Dream” auteur Darren Aronofsky is slated to direct it. Actors have scored numerous Oscar nominations and wins for their work on Aronofsky movies.
• Aether Biomedical’s bionic hand, called the Zeus, can lift up to 77 pounds and switch between 12 different customizable grip patterns. Aether announced it closed a $5.8 million funding round led by J2 Ventures and Story Ventures. The company is also working to get its devices to people who have been injured because of the war in Ukraine.
• Nvidia unveiled the H200, a graphics processing unit designed for training and deploying the kinds of artificial intelligence models powering the generative AI boom.

Happy Friday & Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps! Thank you to all who serve. We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

In This Issue: Fellowship & a Time of Thanksgiving | Yealink T5 Series Prime Business Phone | Cisco Catalyst Upgrade Path: 2960G to 2960S to 2960-X to 9200 or 9200L | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Fellowship & a Time of Thanksgiving

Happy Friday, folks! It’s hard to believe another week has passed. In case you’re not aware, there are only 52 days left in 2023! This means that we’re really close to Thanksgiving!

Today at CablesAndKits, we’re having our Thanksgiving gathering. We all work remotely daily, so it’s an exciting time to get together in person and share a meal. I know there will be lots of great food, and lots of fun times together!

I want to end this post with a note of thanksgiving. I get the opportunity to work with some incredible people each day at CablesAndKits. Each team member here has the heart of a servant. They love to serve each other and serve you, our customers. It really is a lot of fun to be on this team!

Have a great weekend! And Go Dawgs (for those college football fans out there)!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Equipped with an adjustable and flexible 7-inch multi-point touch screen for much more comfortable viewing according to the needs, this Yealink SIP-T57W is perfect for all busy business professionals. The Yealink SIP-T57W boasts built-in Bluetooth 4.2 and built-in dual-band 2.4G/5G Wi-Fi, the SIP-T57W IP Phone ensures you keep up with the modern wireless technology. Its built-in USB 2.0 port allows for USB recording or a direct wired/wireless USB headset or up to three Yealink EXP50 expansion modules connection.

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Learning Center Article – Cisco Catalyst Upgrade Path: 2960G to 2960S to 2960-X to 9200 or 9200L

Ethernet is still one of the most utilized and reliable forms of digital communication in the world. Virtually every network has at least some Ethernet these days, and because of that, it’s important to know what kinds of things can inhibit Ethernet communication.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• The IRS has released higher federal tax brackets for 2024 to adjust for inflation. The standard deduction is increasing to $29,200 for married couples filing together and $14,600 for single taxpayers.
• Humane, founded by former Apple designers Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, announced its first product on Thursday in a video. The AI Pin costs $699 and attaches to the user’s lapel, and it requires an additional $24-per-month data subscription to T-Mobile.
• The National Women’s Soccer League announced Thursday a new four-year contract beginning in 2024 with CBS, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps Sports.
• Meta debuted a feature that lets users connect their Facebook and Instagram accounts to Amazon so they can more easily buy goods promoted on their feeds.