Today’s Topics: Star Wars? | New Product Line Announcement – Yealink | Shoe Covers Available | Understanding Wavelengths | News to Start Your Day
It’s Monday again…already…
January 11th is National Clean Off Your Desk Day…time to clean up all the mess that is on your home office desk that used to be on your office desk.
I’ve recently heard lots of hype about The Mandalorian on Disney+. Have you seen it? Love it or hate it? I haven’t watched it myself as I am not a huge sci-fi fan. (Don’t hate me.)
Craig has always been a fan of science fiction. Star Trek is one of his favorites, and he even made me watch all of Star Trek: The Next Generation many years ago. (It wasn’t awful.) Until recently neither one of us had seen any of the Star Wars movies. He really wants to watch the new Mandalorian series, but he felt like he needed an education first. His all-in solution: he and two friends are watching ALL the Star Wars movies together in his still-in-progress home theater room.
Watching all the Star Wars movies is quite a commitment. So far they’ve watched (in this order) Rogue One, Episode IV, Episode V, Episode VI, and Episodes I, II, III. (They usually watch 2-3 at a time). In a few weeks they’ll pick back up with VII, VIII, IX, then The Mandalorian series. The friends have seen most or all of the movies before, but they’re loving the theater setup and watching them in order binge(ish) style.
Are you a Star Wars fan? What do you think of their chosen order to watch?
Christin
CK Insider Info | Announcements | Updates:
- Introducing Yealink Phones! Check out the Product Update below!
- Don’t forget Fiber cabling prices have dropped by 20%!
- Don’t forget about our PPE Coupon for 20% OFF your order of $250 or more of PPE products. coupon code: BEPREPARED
Product Spotlights & Updates:
Product Spotlights & Updates:
Well, I told you we’d be bringing you some new products this year so figured it’s time to deliver! I want to introduce you to Yealink Phones! These are a brand new line of VoIP phones that we think you are going to love! We currently have a wide variety of desk phones, conference phones, and phone accessories!
Yealink specializes in video conferencing, voice communications and collaboration solutions with best-in-class quality, innovative technology, and a user-friendly experience! These phones have a sleek, elegant design and include some of the best VoIP features you can find! These phones are user friendly, easy to deploy, and simple to manage!
To learn more, check out our learning center article: Introducing Yealink Phones!
Are you in need of shoe covers? Well, you’re in luck! We’ve got them AND they are on sale! We are running a special right now on Shoe Covers! Our shoe covers are Blue Polypropylene and are Non-Skid and are Anti-Static! They are perfect for any job and they are priced right!! We have them in Packs of 10 or Boxes of 300! These have been a hot seller so grab them now! In stock and ready to ship!
Understanding Wavelengths – CK Learning Center
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. In that endeavor, we can tackle a brief tutorial on wavelengths and how they impact fiber optic designs.
What Is Wavelength?
The second word in “fiber optics” already tells us plenty about the nature of this technology. It deals with light — more specifically electromagnetic radiation — as the signaling medium. Wavelength is very simply a measure of the space between two photons in a solid beam of light. Conversely, we have frequency which measures the time between two signals. The two terms are opposite sides of the same coin. If you have a shorter wavelength, it takes less time between signals and a higher frequency.
With this in mind, the wavelength (or frequency) of any light source tells us the physical limitation of how we can use that light in signal processing. We can never send signals that are faster than the frequency of the beam, and we cannot use equipment that is smaller than the wavelength. This is a rough summary, but it paints a good enough picture.
Aside from the basics, the wavelength also tells us how light will interact with other objects. When it comes to designing fiber optics, those interactions are the most important pieces of information hiding within a wavelength.
Absorption
When fiber optics are engineered and tested, there are two issues that can impact their effectiveness. Absorption is one of them. Materials have a natural ability to absorb electromagnetic radiation. For any given substance, only radiation of certain wavelengths can actually interact and be absorbed. When we deal with fiber optic cables, the largest source of absorption actually comes from microscopic water droplets. That drives manufacturers to avoid wavelengths where that absorption is at its worst.
Scattering
Like absorption, scattering happens at different wavelengths for any given material. Also like absorption, the culprits of scattering within a fiber optic cable are small and easy to overlook. Particles of dust and even the air itself can cause scattering problems, so again, the design is to use wavelengths where these problems are smallest.
The term for signal loss related to absorption and scattering is attenuation. Engineers try to make attenuation numbers as small as possible, and when you account for both absorption and scattering at the same time, you find that very specific frequencies work best. The most common wavelengths in use today are 850, 1300, 1310 and 1500 nanometers. You’ll notice large gaps between each of those numbers. Those just happen to be the magic wavelengths where the attenuation values hit minima.
This is only the beginning. We can find that different types of fiber optic signals can further impact which wavelength is best for a function. Multimode and singlemode fiber, for instance, have different naturally-occurring sources of interference. That’s why they tend to operate with noticeably separate wavelength ranges.
Putting it all together, it isn’t necessary to optimize wavelengths when you choose fiber optic systems. That’s baked into the design. Instead, it helps to understand why wavelength is an important identifier and how emerging, more advanced systems might play with wavelength in order to improve the technology.
Today’s News to Start Your Day:
- As of this morning, there are 23,916,623 active cases worldwide, 64,917,691 have recovered and there have been 1,944,865 deaths. In the US, there are 9,050,569 active cases, 13,483,490 have recovered and there have been 383,275 deaths.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday night that one of the motivating factors for some in the new effort to impeach President Trump and remove him from office is to eliminate any chance he has of being elected again. Pelosi responded that the prospect of Trump running for president again is one of the motivations “that people have for advocating for impeachment.” She said that she prefers using the 25th Amendment “because it gets rid of him.”
- Trump was banned from Twitter in the wake of Wednesday’s U.S. Capitol protests. He has also been blocked from posting on Facebook and Instagram — at least until his term ends.
- Bitcoin and other digital coins tanked on Monday wiping off some $170 billion from the entire cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, fell over 11% from a day earlier to $35,828.06, at around 12:15 p.m. Singapore time. The sell-off in cryptocurrencies comes after a huge rally and perhaps signals some profit-taking from investors.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats to move forward with impeachment if President Donald Trump does not resign following the pro-Trump takeover of the Capitol this week. Three Democrats plan to introduce at least one article of impeachment on Monday. Democrats are calling on Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to remove the president, but say they will take action if the executive branch does not.
- Making coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for international travel amounts to “discrimination” and should be scrapped by airlines and policymakers, the head of the World Travel and Tourism Council said Monday. Council Chief Executive Gloria Guevara spoke at a virtual summit organized by Reuters, where she said: “We should never require the vaccination to get a job or to travel. “If you require the vaccination before travel, that takes us to discrimination,” she said, Reuters reported.