Archives for March 2024

Happy Tuesday & Happy National Girl Scout Day! Today honors the history and legacy of Girl Scouting in America each year. Also, girl scout cookies anyone?!

In This Issue: Soaking up the Daylight | LINIER Economy 2U Rack Shelf | Zone-based Firewalls Overview | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Soaking up the Daylight

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday!

Hope everyone survived the time change and is starting to get some energy back!

We ended up canceling our weekend trip to Columbus due to the weather looking so crummy, but decided to wake up early on Sunday to head north and do a little hiking! As if losing an hour of sleep wasn’t enough, I had to set a 5:30AM alarm! It was totally worth it though! We hiked Mount Yonah which is an iconic hike here in Georgia. It’s just over 4 miles total and gets pretty steep once you’re about halfway up the mountain so it’s definitely a workout! The views were absolutely stunning but it was incredibly cold and windy at the top! There was ice on the ground and I thought I was getting frostbite in my fingers by the time we headed back down! 😉

After that, we checked out a hike to Tabor Falls. It was a very bizarre experience as the hike started down a logging road with tons of logging debris. It dumps you out into a partially cut-down forest with no discernable trail so we were thankful to have downloaded the trail map prior to heading in so that we could find our way! The descent to the falls was steep and pretty sketchy but there were ropes to hold onto which was nice. The falls themselves were absolutely gorgeous and definitely made my personal “Top 10” list for waterfalls in GA! I was skeptical of how the hike was going to turn out as we hiked in, but it was totally worth it!

The longer days and the weather slowly getting warmer has me inspired to spend as much time outside as possible! What about you!?

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The LINIER Economy Rack Mount Shelves are a great way to store your non-rack mountable components. Our shelves are suitable for monitors, modems, DSL routers, backup units, and virtually anything you can think of.

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Learning Center Article – Zone-based Firewalls Overview

If you have any important information or tools attached to devices in your network, then you need good network security. An essential tool for security is the firewall. Of course, firewalls have seen a lot of development over the years, so if you want modern solutions, then you need to know about modern firewalls.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Kohl’s has reported it will add Babies R Us shops to approximately 200 of its stores across the country in the fall.
• The Food and Drug Administration approved Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy for use in slashing the risk of serious cardiovascular complications in people with obesity and heart disease.
• Airbnb is banning the use of all indoor security cameras in properties listed on its platform.
• Starbucks launched a new lineup of drinks focused on lavender. Have you tried them?! 

Happy Monday & Happy National Promposal Day! Today prompts the ultimate question each year, “Will you go to prom with me?” Do you have a promposal story? We’d love to hear about it!

In This Issue: Adjusting to the Time Change | Cisco 3750X Series 48 Port PoE+ Deployment Kit | ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) Explained | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Adjusting to the Time Change

Happy Monday!

If you’re like me, then today is going to be a tough one. Yes, I’m talking about the time change, when we start saving daylight, but what are we saving it from and how much daylight have we saved so far? Age-old questions I ask myself every year on this same day.

Though I do appreciate having more sunlight in the late afternoon, it’s just the adjustment period that I’ll never get used to. I’ve tried preparing in the past by waking up just a little earlier as the time change gets nearer, but it doesn’t seem to be very effective for me. I think going outside helps and spending some time walking around in the cool of the morning, but for now, I’ll probably down a couple of coffees throughout the day and trunch through the fog.

What do you all do to adjust? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I hope you have a great day and a great week!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Our Cisco switch bundles are designed with the end user in mind. From startups to large businesses, our deployment kits will suit the needs of your ever-growing and adapting business. Cisco 3750 X switches help maximize productivity by giving IT managers the tools needed to support enterprise applications and advanced traffic management.

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Learning Center Article – ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) Explained

You have two devices on the same network. You want to share packets directly from one to the other without involving the rest of the internet. How do you do this? There are a few ways, but one of the easiest is ARP.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Reddit aims to raise up to $748 million as part of its upcoming IPO.
• Krispy Kreme has announced that customers can get the new St. Patrick’s Day-themed doughnuts beginning March 11 and for a limited time at participating shops across the U.S.
• Ketchup maker Heinz has spent nine years, 185,000 product development hours, 45 iterations, and $1.2 million creating a new version of its plastic bottle cap that can be treated at recycling plants — and that new bottle is now available to customers. Read more here.
• Disney enthusiasts might soon have the chance to traverse the snowy expanse of Arendelle from “Frozen,” or wander through the animal-populated streets of “Zootopia” within Disney’s theme parks in California. Read more on the expansion here.

Happy Friday! We hope you’ve had a great week and have some exciting weekend plans ahead of you. Cheers to a great weekend!

In This Issue: Meet Heihei 🤪🐓 | DB9 Female to Female Null Modem Cable | Understanding Wavelengths | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Meet Heihei 🤪🐓

Happy Friday, folks! Someone recently described robot vacuums as marvelous servants doing trivial, dirty work for us! And the work can be messy, especially if you have indoor animals. But I’ll leave the dirty stories for another day. Today, let’s talk about robot vacuum names!

Do you have one, and did you get creative with the name? We recently upgraded our vacuum and decided on a new name, Heihei, after the not-so-bright rooster in Moana. Heihei was accident-prone and always kept Moana on her toes. Like Heihei, our vacuum repeatedly runs into the same objects, so the name stuck! 🤣

What’s the most creative name you’ve seen for a robot vacuum?

Have a great weekend!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

These fully molded D-Sub cables offer solid performance and combine a foil shield construction and PVC jacket for flexibility and reliability.

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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.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Eli Lilly said that the Food and Drug Administration has pushed back its approval decision deadline for the drugmaker’s experimental Alzheimer’s treatment. The agency plans to call a last-minute meeting of its outside advisors to further review the treatment’s safety and efficacy
• Space company Astra is planning to go private to avoid bankruptcy after dismal public run.
• Oura, which produces its eponymous smart ring that tracks wearer’s health, will start selling its products on Amazon.
• Salesforce announced new AI solutions for health-care workers that could help automate some of the manual administrative tasks that are driving physician burnout.

Happy Thursday & Happy National Cereal Day! Cereal has become America’s most popular breakfast food. Any guesses as to how many variations of cereals there are out there?

In This Issue: Lessons Learned: It’s fun learning new things | Kendall Howard 1U Tool-less 5 D-Ring Cable Manager | What Is DOM? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Lessons Learned: It’s fun learning new things

Happy Thursday and welcome to another episode of lessons learned. I am Craig and here are my ramblings for the day.

As a team that meets daily, we talk about all sorts of things; tasks of the day, areas where we are stuck, upcoming todos, wishlist items, personal life, and much more. Recently we were sharing how things have been so different since we rearranged the team and changed our processes for working together since late last year.

One of the things we were talking about was how fun it is to learn new things. Change can be hard, but when done with a purpose it can be quite fun to lock arms and “get ‘er done”.

When trying to break out of the ways of old and forge new paths to a brighter and better future there are always new things to learn, and sometimes learning, whether we like it or not, is difficult. In some cases REALLY difficult.

But you know, without the challenge of learning, and doing life together, it would all be so boring, wouldn’t it?

Lately, we have been working really hard to identify, define, measure, and track progress on each element of what makes our customer acquisition and growth engine tick. About the time we think we have it all figured out, we realize we are not there yet. We try new things based on what we believe we learned, and it doesn’t seem to work. Then things work that we didn’t expect to work. It can sometimes be so confusing and even frustrating. But, that is the path to learning.

And learning is fun. At least that’s what we tell ourselves lol.

Craig

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Kendall Howard’s 1U Tool-less 5 D-Ring Cable Manager makes it easy to manage cables in any type of network rack or enclosure. Get the convenience of a cable routing blank, a 5 D-ring minder, and a tool-less spacer blank all in one! This unique cable manager has snap-in clips that lock in place with any cage-nut-style rail. It can also be screwed in place for racks with tapped rails using the standard mounting holes.

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Learning Center Article – What Is Digital Optical Monitoring?

Fiber optic networks are powerful, reliable, and essential for many enterprise-level operations, but they are not easy to design, and they can prove challenging to maintain. It requires a lot of time and expertise, but both of those things cost money.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• FDA warns consumers to stop using six brands of ground cinnamon found to have high levels of lead. Read more here.
• United Airlines is planning to debut flights between Houston, Texas, and Medellin, Colombia, and from Newark, New Jersey, to Marrakesh, Morocco. The carrier is also adding more flights to Shanghai; Hong Kong; Seoul, South Korea; and Porto, Portugal.
• Meta’s hefty investment in artificial intelligence includes the development of an AI system designed to power Facebook’s entire video recommendation engine across all its platforms
• Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster drug Ozempic cut the risk of kidney disease progression and related health complications in diabetic patients, according to initial late-stage trial results. Read more here.

Happy Wednesday! Grab a glass of milk and your favorite Oreo cookie – it’s National Oreo Cookie day! What’s your favorite Oreo cookie flavor?

In This Issue: Growth & Development | Cisco Hard Drive | A Comprehensive Guide to Meraki Access Points | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Growth & Development

Good morning and Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a great week. It’s a pretty rainy day where I am today, but boy has the weather been absolutely perfect the past two days! I can not wait for the time change to be able to enjoy more daylight and time outside. I think this upcoming season is going to be so much fun taking our little one out for walks and soon to the park to enjoy all the things a baby can enjoy!

Speaking of all the things a baby enjoys – we are full into the life of trying new foods and eating all sorts of things. At this point, I’m confident he’s never going to stop eating haha. He’s a big fan of bananas and apple-flavored puffs.

I’ve said this so many times, but the rapid speed at which a baby grows and develops is NUTS! I guess I never really realized it until I had one of my own. I don’t want to miss a single second with him these days because of how fast he’s growing and all that he’s learning to do each day. I love watching him discover how to do something new and then do it over and over again. The confidence he is gaining is just incredible.

I pray that I can really continue to just hold onto these moments with him and never take them for granted. I’ve been told many times that I’ll miss them and I believe it!

Have a great week!

Ashley

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Product Spotlights & Updates

CablesAndkits.com is proud to offer the best of both worlds, Cisco, HP, and Dell hard drives. These hard drives are HP and Dell originals. The SAS hard drives operate in a state-of-the-art performance for hosting high transaction applications. The SAS hard drives are available in 2.5-inch small form factor (SFF) and come in a wide selection of storage capacities. Each hard drive is wiped of previous information and is fully tested.

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Learning Center Article – A Comprehensive Guide to Meraki Access Points

When it comes to Wi-Fi networks, you have a lot of options — almost too many. Figuring out what hardware is correct for each application can require full-time research.

Fortunately, there’s always an easier answer, and in the case of wireless access points (APs), Cisco has created the simplest solution: Meraki.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Target is launching a paid membership program, Target Circle 360. The program will include unlimited free same-day delivery for orders over $35 in as little as one hour with no delivery fees and two free-day shipping, along with other perks.
• Dexcom on Tuesday announced that its new over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor called Stelo has been cleared for use by the FDA
• Meta’s social media platforms Instagram, Facebook and Threads are back online after the platforms were down for many users. Service appeared to be restored around 12 p.m. ET.
• Delta Airlines just became the latest airline to raise its checked bag fee — this time by $5.

Happy Tuesday! We hope your week is off to a great start. Cheers to a good cup of coffee to pull you through the day!

In This Issue: Upcoming Outdoor Adventures | Aruba Compatible AC Power Cord | Mac Addresses vs IP Addresses | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Upcoming Outdoor Adventures

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone is having a great week so far! I can’t believe we have already made it to March!

I glanced over my calendar for the next couple months and realized that this is going to be quite a busy “season” for me with lots of travels and activities coming up! I’ll be out of town 5 out of the next 8 weekends, spending time in other areas of Georgia as well as the surrounding states of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee!

This weekend I’ll be spending some time in Columbus, GA which isn’t exactly known as a “destination” location, but after doing a bit of research it sounds like it has some interesting attractions there. We plan to check out the Chattahoochee River Walk and hope to even venture a bit further south to Providence Canyon State Park! The weather is looking iffy right now which may shake things up, but fingers crossed the forecast improves over the next few days and we get to enjoy some outdoor adventures!

Have you been to Columbus? If you have any recommendations to share, I’d love to hear them!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The North American Type A AC Power Cord is compatible with Aruba 2930M Series switches, as well as select 2530 and 2930F series switches. With a C15 connector on one end and a standard 5-15P plug on the other, this power cord ensures a reliable connection between your network equipment and power outlets.

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Learning Center Article – Mac Addresses vs IP Addresses

When you work with a network, there are a lot of addresses that pop up. The two you’ll see more than any other are IP addresses and MAC addresses. What do these things really mean?

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying three US astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut has blasted off from Florida bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew-8 mission will be in space for six months.
• SpaceX is keeping its rapid launch cadence going. The company launched yet another batch of 23 Starlink internet satellites at 6:56 p.m. ET (2356 GMT) on Monday (March 4) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Some eight minutes after liftoff, the flight’s booster returned to the planet, landing on SpaceX’s droneship dubbed “A Shortfall of Gravitas.” The ship was waiting offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled a new rule on Tuesday that it said would cap late fees that banks charge customers at $8 per incident.
• American Airlines ordered 260 new narrow-body jets, including dozens of Boeing’s long-delayed 737 Max 10.