CyberPower BRG1000AVRLCD UPS

A recent power outage that resulted in my server staying up for only about a minute made it apparent that it was time to replace my 5 year old CyberPower CP1000AVRLCD UPS in the computer closet. I’ve been very happy with that model so I chose just to go with its updated sibling, the CyberPower BRG1000AVRLCD.

The BGR1000AVRLCD is a 1000VA/600W uninteruptible power supply with, 10 outlets (5 battery/5 surge). It has one more surge outlet than the CP1000AVRLCD and as a result is slightly taller, but has a nicer, clearer, black and white LCD status screen. Like the older version, the outlet spacing doesn’t allow for power bricks, so you’ll need to invest in some short extension cables. The outlets are nicely shaded/color-coded to make it easier to figure out which side is battery-powered. My favorite feature by far is the mute option, which lets you turn off all beeps and alerts.

I also picked up two smaller CyberPower CP350SLG UPSes. These are 350VA/255W units with 6 outlets (3 battery/3 surge). While I wouldn’t really recommend these for a desktop PC setup, they work great for keeping my TiVos and tuning adapters running during power outages and flickers. Like the BGR1000AVRLCD, you can toggle all the beeps and alerts on and off by pressing the power button twice quickly, which is a nice feature. I do have one have one minor problem with the CPS350SLG: a slight hum that is very noticeable in a quiet room (like a bedroom).

 

Two Weeks in NYC

I just got home from a two-week business trip to New York City.

I was here last October for a software systems upgrade but this time I was assisting with moving the office (corporate headquarters) from Park Avenue to 1 Rockefeller Center. This ended up being 15 straight days in the office, averaging 13 hours a day, as we set up the new office (the first week) and then handled all the support issues (the second week). I was supposed to come home the Friday before Memorial Day weekend but ended up staying through Monday to finish everything up.

It was a grueling trip, but did have some highlights: I watched part of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers in “Rangertown” in Bryant Park down the block from my hotel (the Lightning won 6-5 in overtime) and since my trip was extended I got to go to Game 5 at Madison Square Garden where the Lightning won 2-0.

 

From Vegas to Vivid Vervet

It’s late April which means time for another Ubuntu upgrade … 15.04, Vivid Vervet.

I downloaded the new release via “do-release-upgrade -d” last Friday, which took about 2 hours. Since I was leaving for Las Vegas the next morning, I didn’t want to reboot the server and run into problems before being out of town for four days, so I left it and then finished the upgrade tonight.

For the most part, everything worked, as expected after the reboot (and re-applying some customizations to affected configuration files). The biggest hiccup was due to the switch from upstart to systemd for the init system. Some of my services (AirVideo HD, Calibre, Pulseway, and UniFi) hadn’t started automatically (and wouldn’t start through systemd). I had to do some Google searching and put together .service files and clean up old init.d scripts but eventually got it all working. Also, my Plex Media Server package was completely removed during the upgrade for some reason so I had to re-install that (luckily all the database stuff was still present so I didn’t have to rebuild my library).

WIJFR: American Gods

Shadow is a man with a past. But now he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with his wife and stay out of trouble. Until he learns that she’s been killed in a terrible accident. Flying home for the funeral, as a violent storm rocks the plane, a strange man in the seat next to him introduces himself. The man calls himself Mr. Wednesday, and he knows more about Shadow than is possible. He warns Shadow that a far bigger storm is coming. And from that moment on, nothing will ever be the same…

I just finished “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman, a story about Shadow, an ex-con recently released from prison and a brewing battle between the “old gods” that came to America with immigrants (like Odin, Loki, or other mythology we’re familiar with) and the new “gods of credit card and freeway, of Internet and telephone, of radio and hospital and television, gods of plastic and of beeper and of neon.”

It’s also a road trip novel, with all sorts of Americana in it, like The House on the Rock and Ruby Falls. I love road trips and quirky roadside attractions so I really enjoyed those parts of the book. We’ll be going on a west coast road trip this summer, so keep an eye out for those posts! 😉  America … “They said it was a good place for men, but a bad place for gods.”

 

Note: this will be last my last regular WIJFR post. I just don’t always have the time or the inclination to write up and review every book after I finish it. This started out as a way to just keep track of what books I’ve read and when, but now (7 years and 84 posts later!) I use GoodReads so duplicating that effort here seems like a waste. If I do have something to say about a book in the future, though, and feel inspired to do so, I’m sure I’ll write something up.