CablesAndKits Blog

Happy Friday! We hope you have a wonderful long weekend and that you take some time to remember those who have fought and died for the great United States. We are very thankful for their sacrifice!

In This Issue: Memorial Day Weekend | Cisco 1000BASE-SX SFP Module | VLAN Trunking Explained | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Friday! I’m sure I’m not the only one looking forward to a long weekend. I’m excited to spend time with friends and family around the pool and grill some meat (maybe multiple types of meat, haha). As we can enjoy this long weekend, I encourage us not to forget why we’re celebrating this week. I’m thankful to those we honor on this Memorial Day weekend!

I think back to a story in the book of Joshua. After the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, God instructed them to set up a memorial using 12 stones declaring the mighty works of God. Memorials are a powerful reminder of where we came from for future generations!

What is a way that you remember a milestone in your life?

Have a great weekend!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Hot swappable, the GLC-SX-MM is an SFP transceiver module that provides gigabit uplink capabilities for a variety of Cisco switches, routers, and firewalls. Our inventory of refurbished Cisco original products only includes modules that have been cleaned, checked, and verified to be working correctly – and every refurbished product is covered by our lifetime warranty and 30-day satisfaction guarantee, so you can have confidence in your purchase.

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Learning Center Article – VLAN Trunking Explained

As you get deeper into networking, you’ll want to find ways to boost network metrics without spending a ton of money. Fortunately, there are a lot of techniques that can boost security and performance that don’t require you to replace or add hardware.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• The value war is on. Burger King is coming out with its own $5 meal deal, and will launch the offering ahead of McDonald’s.
• The U.S. Department of Justice is suing to break up Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, over alleged antitrust violations.
• Everyone’s favorite budget snack cake, Little Debbie, has found its niche in switching up its popular treats just a little bit by changing their shape or adding different colored frostings to make them holiday-themed. That said, Little Debbie is turning some of its classic offerings red, white, and blue—perfect for Memorial Day, Fourth of July, or any time during the season.
• Chick-fil-A is bringing back its summer signature peach milkshake for a limited time. The hand-spun peach milkshake is part of Chick-fil-A’s summer menu. The peach milkshake is available from June 10 until August 24, 2024.

Happy Thursday & Happy Lucky Penny Day! Do you pick up pennies when they are heads-up for good luck?🍀

In This Issue: We Need Your Thoughts! | LINIER Economy 2U Vented Rack Shelf | Bits and Bytes | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – We Need Your Thoughts!

Happy Thursday! We hope you’re having a great week. The CK Daily has involved into something we love and cherish. It came from a time of need and to this day has grown into a little community – and we’re so grateful for it!

We need your feedback! Do you read the CK Daily every morning? Is it part of your daily routine or do you find yourself reading it occasionally…or never (but we probably won’t be hearing from you if that’s the case). Do you have a favorite section of the CK Daily or a section you could live without?

If we changed things from a daily email to a weekly email, what would you want to see/know if that weekly email? What if it was a monthly email? Or what if we didn’t send it at all? Would you miss it? What would you miss? Tell us all the things!

We hope you have a great rest of your week!

The CK Team

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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. This 2U vented shelf is a light-duty component shelf with a back flange to ensure your components will not slide off.

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Learning Center Article – Bits and Bytes

In a world of computers, everything is digital, and when you get down to it, that means everything is expressed in 1s and 0s.

In order for computers to keep track of all of the 1s and 0s, they group and organize information. They do this for calculating things on a computer, storing pictures on a flash drive, and even liking posts on social media. As for that grouping, it involves bits and bytes, so let’s take a minute to learn all about these important units.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Target’s weak quarterly results show the fierce battle between retailers trying to outmatch each other on low prices. The big-box retailer announced this week that it’s cutting prices on thousands of items. Aldi and Walmart have also stepped up efforts to attract a bargain-hunting shopper.
• Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT will carry two first-round College Football Playoff games this year and next year and two first-round games plus two quarterfinals games starting in 2026. Warner Bros. Discovery will also add the games to its Max sports tier.
• E.l.f. Beauty posted its first $1 billion fiscal year, growing sales by 77%.
• Nvidia reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that beat expectations for sales and earnings, and the stock rose in extended trading over the $1,000 per-share threshold.

Happy Wednesday & Happy National Solitaire Day! Did you know that Solitaire has been around for more than 200 years?! Any fans??

In This Issue: Note to Self 📝 | Audio Aux Cable | How to use DAC Cables | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Note to Self 📝

Happy Wednesday! Hope you’re having a great week!

Summer season is in the air! While I don’t have any kiddos in school, I am surrounded by many people who do. Also, my mom is a teacher, so I can feel the excitement all around. Summer vacations are on the horizon for many – I hope you have some exciting plans!

Summer memories looking back are often sweet ones for me. We did go on vacations each summer, which I’m grateful for but honestly, there are so many other things I remember aside from those vacations. We lived on land growing up and had family that also lived on the land with us at different times. The summer always brought the joy of starting a big garden with our grandparents, pool days in the backyard with our family, campfires where we made s’mores and just hung out around the fire, more time to write letters to my great-grandma, time with my siblings outside of school, and just so much more. I could go on and on!

This year, summer is shaping up to look a little different. Loved ones are moving, we’re going on an early vacation, lots of anticipated plans/activities, preparing for our little one to turn one, travel to see some friends, and the list goes on. As we go into this season, my goal is to find ways to slow down and do some of the things that I know I loved so much growing up about the anticipation of summer.

If you read anything from this, I hope it’s this: Take some time to slow down and soak in what’s around you. For some, the summer is an exciting one where things slow down and provide a break or a breath of fresh air. For some, not so much. And I’m feeling like I’m on the not so much side this year. So my note to self is: Take it easy! Slow down and enjoy the little moments.

What’s your note to self going into the summer season? What memories do you have of summer that you miss or try to do each year?

Hope you have a great week! If we can be praying for you as we head into this new season, please let us know.

Ashley

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Make stereo/speaker connections with this 3.5mm male to male audio cable. 28 AWG Commonly used for audio connections on mobile devices, tablets, computers, lap tops & MP3 players.

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Learning Center Article – How to use DAC Cables

Fiber optic networking runs the world, but designing and maintaining a network is not a simple task. You’ll have to compare a lot of different equipment choices, and considering the power and equipment demands, it can be easy to go over your budget.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Google said it will soon bring sponsored search results to its new “AI Overview” product. The company also said it will give advertisers more AI tools to create visual images.
• French car giant Peugeot is partnering with Vay, a German mobility startup, to integrate so-called “teledriving” tech — an alternative to autonomous cars — into its vehicles.
• Nestle plans to launch a frozen-food brand Vital Pursuit aimed at consumers who are taking Ozempic and Wegovy.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau declared on Wednesday that customers of the burgeoning buy now, pay later industry must abide by the same federal protections as users of credit cards.

Happy Tuesday! We hope your week is off to a great start. Here’s to marking things off the to-do list. ✅

In This Issue: Cleaning out the Garage | Cable Raceway | Benefits of AOC HDMI Cables | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Cleaning out the Garage

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! This is the last week of school for so many and it’s definitely starting to feel like summer is really here! I love this time of year when things just feel a little more laid back, there’s more opportunities to be outside, and lots of weekend cookouts!

I spent this past weekend mostly at home taking care of things around the house. One thing that has been on my “to-do” list for a while was to clean out the garage. My brother moved in a year and a half ago which meant filling much of the garage with his things. I don’t think many of those things were very intentionally placed when he moved in and, as such, stuff has been shifted and moved around in the time in between. It had pretty much gotten to the point where I could barely fit my car in the garage and then had to do some ninja moves to navigate around all the stuff getting from the car to the house!

It was time to take charge of the situation so I spent many hours out there cleaning, rearranging, and throwing stuff away! I couldn’t believe how much straight up junk was sitting around collecting dust! Embarrassing!

There’s still a lot left to do as I didn’t even begin to tackle the section with the lawn equipment, but it’s already feeling so much better! What projects do you have sitting on your “to do” list?!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Cable raceways are used to route, conceal, and protect cables. They are surface-mounted systems that usually run along the perimeter of walls in homes or offices, however, they can also be mounted on any other flat surface! These raceways can also be used to hide and organize exposed cables to free up the area around you for a cleaner look.

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Learning Center Article – Benefits of AOC HDMI Cables

You see all kinds of different technologies used for the widest ranges of communication. Among all of that, the primary way to send audio and video signals is via HDMI.

It’s a standard that took over the world more than a decade ago, and it still reigns supreme.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Microsoft will bring out new Surface PCs that adhere to its Copilot+ standard for running artificial intelligence models.
• After months and months of anticipation, Disney World’s all-new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will officially open to the public on June 28. As Disney prepares to open the new ride, they’ve offered fans the occasional glimpse at what we can expect from the new addition. According to the scent-sational update, parkgoers will get whiffs of beignets as they wait in line for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. The deep-fried pastry, which is a staple in New Orleans, is heavily featured in The Princess and the Frog.
• Chinese e-commerce marketplaces JD.com and Alibaba’s Tmall have been selling select iPhone models at discounts as high as 20% since promotions for 618 festival started on Monday. Apple’s 256-gigabyte iPhone 15 Pro Max was being sold for 7,949 yuan (US$1,120), down from the original 9,999 yuan.
• Department stores have struggled to attract younger customers and have been hurt by a pullback in discretionary spending. Attracting younger customers has become more urgent since the retailers have “lost so much ground already.”

Happy Monday & Happy National Streaming Day! Today recognizes the advancing and growing technology that makes our mobile lives run more smoothly. What’s your favorite platform to stream on?

In This Issue: Queue Music Schools Out for Summer 🎵 | Meraki Access Point | Industrial Switches vs Commercial Switches | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Queue Music School’s Out for Summer 🎵

Happy Monday!

It’s the last week of school for my daughter and she’s super excited for summer. We spent most of the weekend tidying up and getting things ready for an upcoming trip that we have planned, More on that in a future CK Daily. We are all definitely looking forward to a much-needed break from our busy schedule. It’s great to take time off and sort of have a reset.

Usually, when I get back from a vacation, I’m a bit tired, but at the same time, I’m ready to begin again and feel refreshed.

Hope you have a great day and a wonderful week!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Meraki MR42 is a four-radio, cloud-managed 3×3 MU-MIMO 802.11ac Wave 2 access point. The MR42 provides a maximum 1.9 Gbps frame rate with concurrent 802.11ac Wave 2 and 802.11n 3×3:3 MIMO radios. A dedicated third radio provides real-time WIDS/WIPS with automated RF optimization. In addition, an integrated fourth radio delivers Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) scanning and Beaconing functionality.

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Learning Center Article – ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol)

When you network devices together, they need ways to communicate, and that communication is managed through the application of protocols.

There are plenty of protocols in the world, the most common including TCP and UDP, but those alone can’t cover every basis. It’s important to understand all of the essential protocols, and one that is easily overlooked is ICMP.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Frontier Airlines will stop charging to change or cancel a flight, with the fee currently around $99 within a week of departure
• Microsoft’s Build developer conference starts on Tuesday in Seattle. The company is expected to announce how Windows will enable the AI PC.
• A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog.
• McDonald’s is releasing a new McFlurry said to be inspired by — and celebrating — grandmas. On Thursday, McDonald’s announced its new “Grandma McFlurry,” to be available for a limited time starting May 21. Any guesses?!

Happy Friday & Happy NASCAR Day! Any NASCAR fans out there?!

In This Issue: Summer Travel Plans Anyone? | AC Power Cord | Industrial Switches vs Commercial Switches | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Summer Travel Plans Anyone?

Happy Friday, folks!

There is a saying that days go by slowly, and years go by fast. I realize how true that is at specific points of the year, such as the end of a school year.

Our oldest teenager is finishing 10th grade, and the other is finishing 7th grade. This week and next are full of finals and other end-of-school-year festivities. It’s exciting to see another school year close, which means summer is just around the corner!

What’s odd this year is we have yet to make any family summer plans. We’ve thought about a bunch of ideas for a family trip, but we are still looking for something. Do you have family plans to travel this summer? Send some ideas my way!

Have a great weekend!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Power cords are an essential component of our modern electrical infrastructure, playing a crucial role in connecting electrical appliances and devices to a power source. The AC Power Cord is a vital component in the field of electrical connectivity and is known for its versatility and reliability. Its design features a C20 plug on one end and a C19 receptacle on the other, which are commonly found in data centers, server rooms, and various industrial settings.

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Learning Center Article – Industrial Switches vs Commercial Switches

Switches are essential pieces of equipment for networking. Whether you are talking about a home network, central systems for internet service providers, or anything in between, switches usually show up.

In most cases, switches are used to connect core devices in a network while end users might not connect directly through a switch.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• The NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Turner Sports have been in business together for nearly four decades. The relationship is now in jeopardy, as Comcast’s NBCUniversal is attempting to steal away its package of games with a $2.5 billion per-year offer.
• Forget the drive-thru. Walmart wants diners to find a value meal in its grocery aisles. As fast food gets pricier, the nation’s largest grocer sees a sales opportunity. Read more here.
• The Food and Drug Administration has approved Amgen’s treatment for patients with the most deadly form of lung cancer.
• Xpeng AeroHT, an affiliate of Xpeng, will aim to deliver its flying car to customers in 2026.