Dave Engebretson, technical writer for SDM for over a decade, is a well-known trainer and certification proctor in IP networking, copper and fiber optic technologies and techniques.

Things have changed for everyone since March when the pandemic caused many closures in businesses, government offices, schools, churches and other public locations. As my primary business is providing hands-on training classes in fiber optics and IP networking, COVID-19 has caused my 2020 schedule to be wiped clean.

The last two months have been interesting, to say the least. What’s the report from the Universal Headquarters of Slayton Solutions at the bunker in Bucktown Chicago? Well, the reality of the COVID-19 attack has changed a whole lot of things for us, and created some interesting opportunities to do things differently.

Hopefully, by the time this column is published, we will be over the hump of the COVID-19 outbreak. But while I hope for the best, I strongly suspect that viral infection fears may change the game for many industries, as small and large public meetings (such as my ADI Expo presentations and training classes) may be curtailed or delayed.

In the continuing chronicle of assisting my 92-year old mother and smoothing out her stay-in-place lifestyle, I try to visit her at least once every 10 days or so.

It’s an obvious fact that almost all modern communications and connectivity use the internet and Wi-Fi devices. Whether it’s a streaming media stick in the back of your video monitor or a wireless IP camera, just about everything has some wireless connection to the internet.

Getting older has many interesting facets as your body changes. In my case, I inherited finger arthritis from my father and my guitar playing, never that good to begin with, has greatly deteriorated.

Growing older certainly has its advantages — I am but four months from Medicare and can’t wait to dramatically reduce my healthcare insurance costs. But there are other things that make life more complicated as I get older. 

The explosive growth in the installation of IP-enabled devices for both residential and commercial customers continues with no end in sight. From smart thermostats to “connected” exercise bikes, just about everything in a home or business is getting hooked up for monitoring and control