TidBITS#498/20-Sep-99 ===================== Looking for a cheap way to prevent crashes, increase productivity, and extend the lifespan of your Mac? Adam examines the many advantages of using an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to protect your expensive equipment. Also this week, we announce our voluntary contribution program; look at updates to Web Confidential, Keep It Up, and MacHeadlines; re-welcome the EvangeList; and note the announcement of Handspring's Visor, a new Palm-based handheld device. Topics: MailBITS/20-Sep-99 You Can Help Support TidBITS Don't Interrupt! A UPS Saves the Day Copyright 1999 TidBITS Electronic Publishing. All rights reserved. Information: Comments: --------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by: * READERS LIKE YOU! You can help support TidBITS via our voluntary <- NEW! contribution program. Our thanks this week to Andrew Laurence, Joseph Dougherty, and Prospect Hill Publishing Services. ----> * APS Technologies -- 800/443-4199 -- -- How do you back up your APS hard disks? Try APS tape, removable, magneto-optical, and CD-R drives! * WinStar Northwest Nexus. Visit us at . Internet business solutions throughout the Pacific Northwest. * Small Dog Electronics -- UMAX Astra 610s 300 dpi Scanner with <---- NEW! Photodeluxe: $49! UMAX Astra 1220U USB for Mac/Windows: $119! Power Mac G3 Blue/350 64/6 GB/DVD refurbished with 1 year of AppleCare: $1,578! -- 802/496-7171 * AMAZE YOURSELF AT OUTPOST.COM! Click here to buy an amazing iMac <- NEW! at an amazing price. For a limited time, get a matching USB scanner and You Don't Know Jack 3-pack FREE! Check us out at Outpost.com! * OPTIMIZE YOUR COMPUTER SKILLS with MacAcademy's Quick Start <------ NEW! CD-ROM Software Training!! Many Titles available for purchase. Sample our products and download our catalog at: or call 800/527-1914 * Buy a Farallon HUB or SWITCH and get FREE SurfDoubler <------------ NEW! (US$54 value) - INTERNET sharing software that allows two computers to connect using only one Internet connection! * New ~~FREE~~ MacHeadlines Lite - Scrolling News, Sports, and <----- NEW! information Ticker. Click to launch the full story! World news, headlines, sports, and more! Get it now absolutely FREE at ! * THE INTERNET'S DISCOUNT MAC SUPERSTORE! -----> 999mac.com <-------- NEW! New titles this week: Kids Typing, Jump Start, Grossology and more educational titles. All just $9.99! Special this week: Buy 2 Get 1 Free! --------------------------------------------------------------- MailBITS/20-Sep-99 ------------------ **EvangeList Returns** -- The folks at SemperMac, a Web-based Macintosh magazine and portal site, have resurrected Guy Kawasaki's popular EvangeList, which had been discontinued in April of 1999. The EvangeList, a mouse-thumping list if ever there was one, was known for its good-news stories about the Mac, requests for help in arguing for the Mac, Macintosh-oriented job postings, and (most controversially) its calls to "educate" misinformed mainstream press journalists who had written incorrect information about Apple or the Mac. Although Guy is no longer involved with EvangeList, concentrating his efforts instead on garage.com, he gave the SemperMac folks permission to use the EvangeList name. If you were subscribed to the original EvangeList, you'll have to resubscribe on the new EvangeList pages. [ACE] **Visor Offers Shades of Palm Handhelds** -- Handspring, Inc. last week announced Visor, a handheld organizer based on the Palm operating system that promises to run faster, store more information, and be more expandable than current Palm devices. Visor also comes with Macintosh software and a USB-based docking cradle; Palm Computing's current offerings require the purchase of a cable adapter for Mac serial or USB connections and a separate purchase (or free download) of the Mac Palm Desktop software. (See "Palm Desktop Marks Return of a Familiar Organizer" in TidBITS-469_.) When it ships in October, Visor will be available in three configurations ranging from $150 to $250 and will offer between 2 MB and 8 MB of RAM. Visor Deluxe models will be available in five colors, including, of course, several translucent options. The Visor is based on the Palm OS, which means it is software-compatible with existing Palm applications, but it also features updated Date Book (actually a licensed, modified version of Pimlico Software's excellent DateBk3) and Calculator applications, plus a new World Clock utility. The Visor's biggest departure from the Palm Computing line of organizers is Springboard, a slot on the back of the unit that accepts expansion modules for add-ons such as extra memory, a modem, backup data storage, software applications, and future possibilities like cellular phone modules or MP3 music players. [JLC] **Web Confidential 1.3 Adds Keychain Support** -- Alco Blom has quietly released Web Confidential 1.3, the latest version of his $20 shareware utility for securely storing passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive data (see "Web Confidential: Securing Information of All Sorts" in TidBITS-441_). Web Confidential 1.3 adds support for the Keychain in the forthcoming Mac OS 9 and features an encryption algorithm that's even stronger than that in previous versions. Also new is balloon help in the Preferences window, support for iCab, and a Revert Card command. Version 1.3 is a free upgrade for registered users and is a 643K download. [ACE] **MacHeadlines 1.8 Splits into Pro and Lite** -- Trexar Technologies has split MacHeadlines, its customizable scrolling ticker of Web site headlines (see "Trexar Releases MacHeadlines 1.7" in TidBITS-493_), into two versions. MacHeadlines Pro 1.8 costs $20 shareware, improves the look of the floating ticker window, and enhances handling of numerous stock symbols. MacHeadlines Lite 1.8 is free and lacks only MacHeadlines Pro's site configuration and ticker appearance capabilities. Both programs are 430K downloads. [ACE] **Keep It Up 2.3 Improves Restarts** -- Karl Pottie has released Keep It Up 2.3, a free update to his useful server-monitoring and remote management utility (see "Keep It Up 2.0.1 Adds Remote Management" in TidBITS-451_). New in Keep It Up 2.3 is a significantly improved method for restarting the Mac that offers "Clean Restart" and "Forced Restart" options. Keep It Up 2.3 is also compatible with the forthcoming Mac OS 9 and now stores its log file in the Preferences folder for compatibility with Mac OS 9's multiple user capabilities. Keep It Up remains $22 shareware and is a 286K download. [ACE] You Can Help Support TidBITS ---------------------------- by Adam C. Engst Back in July of 1992, well before the rise of the Web, we instituted our corporate sponsorship program, explicitly patterning it after the policies of PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service. Since then, much of the rest of the Internet has taken advertising to heart, and it's not uncommon to see Web pages with ten or more ad banners flashing away. Now, as we close in on our 500th consecutive issue, we're taking the next step in the PBS model and making it possible for individuals and small organizations to support TidBITS financially as well. I've long said that the only time I'd want to require a subscription fee for TidBITS was if we had a viable micropayment system. Otherwise we've always wanted TidBITS to be free, not so we could attract and sell more eyeballs, but because TidBITS hails from a time when information about the Macintosh and the Internet was hard to find. Much of the information existed only in commercial publications, and we felt it was important that there also be a free source of quality news, reviews, and analysis. I can see some of those eyeballs rolling even now, as you think back to the last PBS pledge drive, with earnest announcers breathlessly telling you of the importance of your support while you were dying to find out who Hercule Poirot would finger for murder in the episode of Mystery you were watching. Rest assured we have no intention of interrupting your regularly scheduled reading with requests to contribute. We aren't even using the common shareware approach where you _should_ pay for a program if you use it - TidBITS is free and will remain free, and you should feel absolutely no guilt if you don't wish to contribute. If you like, think of this as a voluntary subscription program. Much of the credit for this voluntary subscription program goes to the members of TidBITS Talk, whose recommendations, encouragement, and enthusiasm convinced me to set up the necessary infrastructure to accept contributions. A number of people explicitly said they wanted to contribute money to TidBITS, and when I expressed my uncertainty about what worthwhile additional services we could provide to contributors, they gently told me that I just didn't get it: they wanted to support TidBITS for what it had done for them over the years and continues to do every week, not because they wanted anything more. I may be dense on occasion, but I can take a hint. So I spent some time working with Kagi to make it possible for anyone who wishes to express their appreciation for TidBITS to contribute toward keeping TidBITS alive and healthy. Everything is working now, and I'd encourage you to visit the TidBITS Contributors page to see the results of these efforts. **Design Details** -- We've put a good bit of thought into how we designed this contribution program, and several outside folks provided valuable perspective. Some of the more interesting aspects include the following. * We've intentionally left contribution amounts open-ended. You can contribute as much or as little as you wish, and all contributions are greatly appreciated. We have set some suggested contribution amounts because our testers indicated that, without suggestions, they felt confused about appropriate amounts. Right now, those amounts are $10 for students, $20 for individuals, and $100 for groups (such as small companies that distribute TidBITS internally or user groups that regularly reprint articles from TidBITS). If you've just sold your Internet startup for a few hundred million, you can feel free to add a few extra zeroes. * To contribute via the Web, you must use a credit card. Kagi has both SSL (Secure Sockets Layer - a way of encrypting the transmission of sensitive data from your Web browser to the remote Web server) and non-SSL versions of the contribution form, in case your browser doesn't support SSL security. If you're uncomfortable using a credit card over the Internet, or if you wish to contribute via cash, check, money order, or as though you had received an invoice, you should instead use the Kagi Register application we've customized for TidBITS contributions. Using it, you can generate a piece of paper to mail or fax to Kagi with your payment. If you need a Windows version of the Register application, send me email. Visit the TidBITS Contributors page for links to the online contribution form and the Register application. * When you contribute, you can tell us whether you would like us to list your name and a link to a Web page of your choice on the TidBITS Contributors page. You're welcome to remain anonymous, of course, but we wanted to provide a visible, and perhaps useful, show of our appreciation. We'll update the list of contributors as new contributions come through. * We've made "TidBITS Contributor" and "I Support TidBITS" badges for contributors. Feel free to copy one from our badges page and display it on your Web page with a link to the TidBITS Contributors page. * Finally, when you're filling out the contribution form, you can choose to receive an annual renewal reminder via email. Several people asked to be reminded to contribute regularly, and we certainly don't want to make that difficult. If you have any questions or comments about contributing to TidBITS, direct them to TidBITS Talk, where many of these issues have been discussed. **Our Thanks to You** -- I'm fascinated to see how this contribution program works out. But whether it brings in enough for us to buy some more RAM for the Web server or to start shopping for an island is essentially immaterial. Whatever the results, we're already grateful to all of you just for reading and for offering support with words of encouragement. This contribution program merely enables TidBITS readers to express support in a concrete fashion, which in turn helps us keep producing TidBITS in the manner (and at the level) you've come to expect. Don't Interrupt! A UPS Saves the Day ------------------------------------ by Adam C. Engst We've all ponied up hundreds of dollars for utility programs that promise to twiddle the bits on our hard disks or prevent crashes or make us more productive. What would you say if I told you there is a product you can buy for between $100 and $300 that is guaranteed to increase your productivity, prevent crashes and hard disk corruption, and extend the life of your Macintosh and peripherals? Then what would you say if I told you that this product is compatible with every Macintosh and every version of the Mac OS, not to mention any PCs you might happen to have around? Such a product exists, and although it's not sexy, it will do all the things promised above. I'm talking about an uninterruptible power supply, better known as a UPS (not the folks with the trademark brown trucks). A UPS increases your productivity by enabling you to work safely on those blustery days when the power flickers at every gust of wind. There have been days when I wouldn't have dared to turn on expensive computer equipment without a UPS. The hours gained during those days add up fast when you're calculating productivity increases, especially when stormy days occur near deadlines. In terms of preventing crashes and hard disk corruption, anything that eliminates large sags or surges beyond the tolerances of your computer's power supply (not to mention total power failures) can keep your computer running smoothly. I bought our first UPS back in 1992 after losing my main 105 MB hard disk to a power flutter caused by a drunk driver hitting an electric pole. Luckily, I had decent backups, but I still had to replace the hard disk. Sags and surges that don't exceed power supply tolerances also take a toll on the computer's components. We talk a lot about continuing to use old Macs; one reason they're still running is that we protect them with a UPS. **What Goes UPS...** The theory behind a UPS is simple: plug your computer and peripherals into a large battery and then plug that battery into the wall. As long as the power from the wall is present, the battery does nothing. But as soon as the wall power disappears, whether for a fraction of a second or 10 minutes, the battery starts providing your equipment with clean power. You may be thinking, "Ah, my PowerBook has a battery, so it already has a mini-UPS in it." Yes and no. Any laptop with a battery will work fine when the power goes out, but PowerBooks have no circuitry to filter dirty power or protect from sags or surges. We recently moved Tonya's Power Mac 7600 and its UPS to another part of the house, leaving the PowerBook Duo 230 without a UPS. Now, whenever the power flickers badly, the Duo freezes, even though it continues to run fine if you just unplug it from the wall. Older PowerBooks may work better in similar situations - according to a repair technician at Westwind Computing, the PowerBook 100-series machines ran entirely from battery power and trickle-charged the battery when plugged in. Newer PowerBooks, though, run from wall power when plugged in, switching to battery power only when you unplug them. Another advantage of a PowerBook is that a surge is more likely to damage the AC adapter before hurting the PowerBook itself. The technology inside a UPS is quite sophisticated. A UPS must be able to switch from wall power to battery power quickly - between two and eight milliseconds - so the computer doesn't notice the changeover. (High-end UPS models run from battery all the time, eliminating even this changeover time.) Almost every UPS builds in surge suppression and line noise filters to ensure that the power reaching your equipment is clean. Some UPS models also have options for protecting your modem and motherboard from lightning strikes that hit local telephone lines. Such telephone line protection reportedly does work for ISDN and DSL connections, but not all UPS models support two-line (four-wire) telephone cables. **UPS and Downs** -- We tend not to think much about electric power except when it stops working, but it is more variable than most people realize. You can categorize different types of power issues in at least five ways. * Noise: Electrical power ideally takes the form of a smooth sine wave, but noise, either electromagnetic interference or radio frequency interference, introduces random fluctuations into that smooth sine wave. Many things can cause electrical noise, including lightning in the area, fluorescent lights, or other devices on the same circuit. The effect of noise on computers is difficult to predict since noise itself is so random, but rest assured that if anything happens, it won't be good. * Sags: A sag is a short-term drop in voltage levels from the 120 volts or 230 volts that your equipment is accustomed to receiving. American Power Conversion (APC), one of the main UPS vendors, quotes a Bell Labs study as saying that voltage sags account for 87 percent of power disturbances. Sags are most often caused by an electrical device like a motor or compressor starting up (which is why a refrigerator turning on can cause lights to dim momentarily). Most electrical devices can work within a range of voltages, but if a sag causes the voltage level to drop below that range, the device may turn off, slow down, or in the case of a computer, crash. And if that crash happens while data is being written, hard disk corruption can result. Frequent sags can reduce the lifespan of electrical equipment. * Surges: A surge is a short term increase in voltage, lasting at least 1/120th of a second. Surges can occur when electrical devices that take a lot of power are switched off or even when the power company switches between power sources on the grid. As with sags, computer and peripheral power supplies can absorb up to a certain voltage level, but if a surge goes beyond that, it can cause significant damage to equipment and to data. Even if the power supply hardware manages to absorb a smaller surge, hitting it with repeated surges can reduce its lifespan. * Spikes: A spike is a massive surge. Spikes are almost entirely the result of lightning strikes, although they can also occur when the power comes back on after a power outage. Needless to say, anything that's plugged in when a spike occurs can be damaged. In one situation a few years ago where the power went out and came back on after storm-felled tree limbs hit the electric lines, we lost a modem, a PowerSwitch LT (see "PowerSwitch LT: Controlling Power Via LocalTalk" in TidBITS-225_) that turned the printer on automatically when we printed, a bread maker, and more. * Blackouts: Everyone has experienced a power failure: suddenly all the lights go out and everything goes quiet, except for the screams of irritation from computer users who just lost all their unsaved work. If you're using a UPS, you instead hear the UPS beeping to warn you that it's running on battery power and has a limited amount of time left. You know better than to shut your Mac off without shutting down: the same sort of data loss and disk corruption that can happen if you pull the plug from the wall is what results from a blackout if you don't use a UPS. **Pick-UPS Sticks** -- Choosing the right UPS model for your needs can be tricky. The hardest part is determining the electrical load your computer system will place on the UPS when the power fails. There are two methods you can use to determine load. The easy way is to use something like the APC UPS Selector, which recommends UPS models based on the equipment you have. Alternatively, look on the back or bottom of each of your devices for power draw ratings in either amps or watts. If power draw is listed in amps, multiply it by your line voltage (120 volts for North America, 230 volts for Europe, etc.) to find the volt-amp (VA) load. If the power draw is instead listed in watts, multiply by 1.4 to find volt-amps. The problem with this manual calculation is that manufacturers tend to be conservative and publish the maximum power draw possible, which would in turn cause you to buy a larger UPS than necessary. If you're considering buying powerful UPS models to run multiple computers, note that it can be more cost effective to buy several lower-rated UPS models and attach fewer devices to each UPS. If nothing else, every UPS has a limited number of power outlets, and the AC adapters used by some peripherals tend to block multiple outlets. You can buy an inexpensive power strip to add more outlets, but the UPS manufacturers don't recommend plugging a surge suppressor into a UPS. It is acceptable to plug a UPS into a surge suppressor if you have extremely dirty power and wish to filter some of the worst surges and spikes before letting them through to your more-expensive UPS. Some UPS models also provide one or more outlets that have surge protection, but aren't backed by the battery. That's so you can attach equipment like a laser printer to a UPS, something that's otherwise prohibited. A laser printer in use draws enough power to overload the UPS just when you need it the most. Plus, laser printers can cause power fluctuations, so you don't want them on the same side of the surge suppression as the rest of your equipment. UPS batteries last about five years, after which they must be replaced. Battery replacement should be relatively easy in modern UPS models, but it may be difficult or impossible in older models, as was the case with my first UPS, which is now just a heavy power strip. Many of the sites I researched recently when buying batteries for my cell phone and camcorder also sell UPS batteries (see "Finding the Power Online: Buying Batteries" in TidBITS-494_). Finally, you might wonder what happens when the power fails when you're not around to turn off your equipment. As soon as the UPS can no longer provide the necessary power to your equipment, it shuts off, and you lose all unsaved work. That's not good, but at least the UPS continues to filter power and won't turn on again until it can provide sufficient power. Modern Macs won't turn on automatically after a power failure unless you set them to do so with the Energy Saver control panel's Server Settings preferences. In some older Macs, use the Auto Power On/Off control panel instead, and in some still older soft-power Macs, you could lock the power button on by pushing in and turning it with a screwdriver. There is software that notices power has failed and gracefully shuts the Mac down. APC includes free PowerChute software that can shut down a single Mac. Best Power's NetWatch Basic software costs $99, and Powerware has LanSafe III, which is free with several UPS models and can gracefully shut down a Mac, monitor voltage, and send notification of problems via email. There may be other packages, but most power monitoring software has been developed for Windows and Unix, with Macintosh versions being uncommon. However, Tripp Lite has just announced Macintosh software that promises to allow users to view operating conditions, load, capacity, and other UPS information within a graphical interface. Macintosh users will also reportedly be able to set a shutdown delay to work through short power failures, perform a test of the UPS, reboot the UPS, and toggle outlets from the Mac. The software is free with all of Tripp Lite's UPS models. Future enhancements for the software include native USB support (they currently convert from serial to USB) and network management so you can manage multiple UPS devices on your network. Finally, there's the question of which brand of UPS to buy. APC seems to be the most popular manufacturer, to judge from anecdotal evidence, with Tripp Lite also being well-known. Other UPS brands I've seen include Best Power and Powerware (formerly known as Exide), and Yahoo lists even more. Prices are generally comparable across brands, with most smaller UPS models between $100 and $300. When you're ordering a UPS, keep in mind that they're heavy, so shipping costs can add up fast. I realize this is a great deal of information to internalize, so here's a quick summary of the questions to ask while researching: * Is the UPS powerful enough to run your equipment? * Do you need phone line protection as well? * Do you need outlets that have only surge protection? * Can you easily replace the batteries? * Does the UPS include software, is it useful, and does it cost extra? * Do you have a preference among UPS manufacturers? **Setting It UPS** -- When you receive your UPS, it's a good idea to plug it in and let it charge before attaching your equipment (my APC Back-UPS 600 recommended a 6 hour charge). Even though the UPS may ship fully charged from the factory, there's no telling how long it has sat in a warehouse. If you want, you can use the power switch on the UPS to turn your entire system on and off; the surge suppression capabilities of the UPS are active even if the switch is off. If you don't need to use your computer during violent localized thunderstorms or times when you know the power will fluctuate, it never hurts to unplug the UPS - and thus all of your equipment - from the wall. We also do that when we travel for extended periods, since you never know what might happen while you're away. All of the UPS manufacturers insure your equipment against power- related damage, but who needs the hassle of replacing an entire system and restoring files from backup? My UPS beeps to indicate a power problem about once every two weeks. Sometimes I see the lights dim briefly at the same time; other times the UPS's warning is the only indication that something has happened. Once every few months, we lose power entirely, at which point I save open documents and shut off my power-hungry monitors. If the power doesn't return after a few minutes, I perform a blind shutdown by pressing the Power key and then Return. In times like those, I remember just why it is that I've made sure that every desktop Mac we own has a UPS. Keep the power flowing - use a UPS. [I'd like to thank Marc Sarrel for starting the discussion on TidBITS Talk that finally prompted me to write about this important topic and for contributing the results of his research.] $$ Non-profit, non-commercial publications may reprint articles if full credit is given. Others please contact us. We don't guarantee accuracy of articles. Caveat lector. Publication, product, and company names may be registered trademarks of their companies. This file is formatted as setext. For more information send email to . A file will be returned shortly. For information: how to subscribe, where to find back issues, and more, email . TidBITS ISSN 1090-7017. 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