Today’s Topics: “So do washing machines” | Today’s Christmas Deal | Hand Sanitizers | 5G & Business | News to Start Your Day
Happy Wednesday!
December 16th is Pythagorean Theorem Day and Chocolate Covered Anything Day…The sum of the squares of the first two digits equals the square of the last digit. You can eat something covered in chocolate while you figure that out.
Yesterday I was reminded of a scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Do you remember when Clark was ready to show off his hard work on all the lights? He gathers the family outside, makes a big announcement about dedicating the display, asks for a drumroll, plugs in the lights and … nothing. His mother-in-law makes a comment about the work being a “silly waste of resources” and his daughter sticks up for him by reminding her grandmother how hard he has worked. His father-in-law, obviously unimpressed, pipes up with, “so do washing machines!”
We have worked really hard this year at CablesAndKits. In addition to keeping up with our technology business, we sourced and added PPE products within a matter of weeks. We worked diligently to keep up with demand, expanded that product line quickly and sold in ways we had never sold before. Not knowing what the future held, we kept our operations team lean even with the increased demand, and they really stepped up to the plate. Our product, sales and other supporting teams learned to work remotely in new ways. We tried many new marketing efforts and later onboarded a whole marketing team. And there’s so much more that happened behind the scenes.
I know our hard work is in good company, because I’ve heard similar stories from many of you. Everything felt volatile when COVID hit and work was something we could DO to move forward. And now that we’re here at the end of the year, we are actively evaluating what we’ve accomplished and seeking to make the work we do in 2021 even better.
How can we work better than a washing machine? We do not want to keep ourselves busy knocking items off of a never ending to-do list: laundry – check, grocery shopping – check, clean bathroom – check. We want our efforts to create value. Our formula for creating value is to provide you with products that you need, on time and with an exceptional shopping experience. We love that we can have a relationship with you through things like this email and hope to positively impact the lives of those we are able to connect with.
I hope you’ll take some time to do some self-evaluation this year, and if you haven’t done it already, you must watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It is a classic!
Christin
Product Spotlights & Updates from Rebecca:
Deal 7 of our “12 Deals of Christmas” is here and we think you’ll like it!
This deal is not for a single product, but we are running specials on ALL of our Hand Sanitizer Dispensers! And did we mention that these specials are HUGE? Up to 46% OFF! We have all kinds of dispensers to fit your needs, whether you are looking for something small to use at home or in your office such as a Desktop Dispenser, or whether you are looking for something to install in your church, gym, or business such as Wall Mount Dispensers or Floor Stand Dispensers.
Keep those hands clean!
Since we’re running an awesome sale on Dispensers, I figured it would be a good time to remind you that we still have Hand Sanitizer available! We have a 1 Gallon bottle of sanitizer that is perfect for filling up dispensers! If something a little smaller and more portable is your speed, we have you covered there too! Check out our 3.38 oz Bottles and our 8 oz Bottles!
What does 5G mean for business networks?
There is a lot of technology generating excitement for more applications than we could hope to name. One central theme to virtually all of that technology is an increased demand on data and the need for higher bandwidth for connectivity. More devices than ever are actively communicating, and they are placing massive burdens on existing infrastructure. Copper networks and 4G wireless have a shelf life. Within the next couple of years, they will no longer be able to service standard demands — much less cutting-edge applications. Ultimately, we all need a network that is built for the new age of connectivity. That network will run on 5G.
What Is A 5G Network?
The name itself refers to fifth generation mobile wireless networking. In effect, it is an overall upgrade to every aspect of performance in mobile networks. It’s designed for faster data rates, more connectivity and traffic, lower power demands and lower deployment costs. It’s still largely in a developmental phase. Components of 5G networking are ready to go to market, but large scale networks are still primarily in testing phases. Because of that, raw data on 5G performance is a mix of practical and theoretical.
5G aims to achieve data rates up to 20 Gbps. Early iterations might be slower, but 5G is intended to provide Gigabit or faster wireless connections. It can also operate with a theoretical 1ms latency. In order to achieve these impressive numbers, it will largely be built on optical transceivers and a solid fiber backbone.
How Is it Different From 4G?
Aside from the raw performance improvements, 5G is embracing a fundamentally different design philosophy. 4G and its predecessors are designed around massive towers. Any individual tower is intended to handle many thousands of users and transmit across kilometers of air. 5G is completely abandoning this approach.
The primary design of the new networks incorporates far more network nodes. By attaching optical transceivers to fiber networks, 5G wireless can create coverage that serves far fewer users per node. Ultimately, this decentralizes the 5G hardware. The smaller, faster devices can be mounted with greater freedom than traditional cellular towers, and the result is a more robust, scalable network.
You can loosely compare this design to other modern, decentralized concepts. IoT and blockchain both try to connect as many different users as freely as possible, and 5G is being engineered to support those demands.
The Bottom Line on 5G
When it comes to business infrastructure, there are key takeaways from this 5G overview. First, 5G is an inevitable necessity. Traffic demands are only growing, and 4G is already up against a wall. Any applications that have to cover more area than is economical with Wi-Fi need to already consider moving towards 5G.
Another huge takeaway is 5G’s reliance on fiber infrastructure. This isn’t entirely new; 90 percent of internet data is carried on fiber optic lines already. The difference is that 5G aims to reduce the distance between cellular relays and the fiber backbone. For your infrastructure, that means that a fiber network is key to any system that spans more than 500m in a single direction.
Read the rest of this article in the CK Learning Center – HERE.
Today’s News to Start Your Day:
- As of this morning, there are 20,349,572 active cases worldwide, with 1,645,150 deaths. In the US, there are 6,822,643 active cases, with 311,111 deaths.
- The FDA has authorized the first rapid coronavirus test that can be taken at home without a prescription and yields immediate results. Another rapid home-test kit was approved last month, but it required a prescription from a doctor
- Residents of the Philippines are now required to wear a face shield in addition to a mask when outside their homes.
- A major snowstorm is developing and could be the most severe to hit the New York City-area in years. In fact, a blast of winter weather is expected up and down the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions Wednesday and Thursday. The Weather Channel reports that parts of western Maryland to southern New England could see over a foot of snow with high winds. Some areas could see a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain.
- Facebook is lifting its temporary post-election ban on political ads on Wednesday in the state of Georgia only. Georgia is holding a runoff election on Jan. 5 that will decide which party controls the Senate. The company had put a temporary pause on electoral, political and social issue ads in the U.S. to try to prevent confusion or abuse on its platform.
- Amazon is encouraging front-line workers in California to get tested weekly for the coronavirus, in response to emergency workplace regulations enacted by the state earlier this month. The company already provides testing at warehouses in several states, but it has been slower to provide onsite testing for Whole Foods employees.
- Lawmakers are racing to nail down a Covid relief bill after months of negotiating, as a Friday deadline to fund the government approaches and key aid measures are set to expire. Leaders from each side of the aisle met Tuesday afternoon and appeared to make progress. A final deal could include extended unemployment benefits, temporary student loan relief, a continued eviction moratorium and additional funding for small businesses. It’s unclear whether a bill would send a second round of checks to Americans, but any combination of those efforts would help millions of people during a period of historic unemployment