Bad UPS

Nope, not the United Parcel Service. My Uninterruptible Power Supply, otherwise known as "a large frickin' battery," the Cyberpower 900AVR, has stopped working properly. I noticed that during our last power-out, it did not keep any that it was supposed to protect on. For the past two days, I've tested with various methods of trying to get the battery (or rather, batteries, since the 900AVR supposedly uses two batteries instead of one) to charge, to no avail.

The strange thing is that none of the indicator lights shows anything is amiss, making me wonder if the batteries are dead, or if somehow the circuitry has fried. For this reason, I am loath to purchase replacement batteries for this UPS model, because I simply don't know if that would fix the problem or not.

So I went online to try and find a suitable replacement UPS, and found some nice refurb ones for cheap at Tech for Less. Shortly after I placed my order, I received my second email from them (the first was an automated "order received" message), informing me that the item(s) I ordered were "International versions," which would not work in the U.S. due to different power regulations. They said that they have to hold off shipping the order until they can confirm with me that I know this fact--which I had missed when I placed my order. So I had to cancel my order, and they were very prompt in their correspondance with me. I will happily order from them in the future if they happen to carry something that I'd like to buy.

I ended up going to Fry's for a new UPS.

Updated

According to Wikipedia, the firmware udpates for the PSP works for all PSP systems... which makes sense when I thought about it, so I went ahead and downloaded the update from Japan, and ran it through.

Sure enough, the disclaimer talks about US laws and such, leaving very little doubt that it would work just fine with my system, without messing with the regional coding. The official list of updates is as follows:


PSP™ Update ver 2.00

The following updtes will be added:

• An Internet browser was added.
  
• Go To was added as a feature under [Video].
  (This applies to UMD™VIDEO.)
  
• A-B Repeat was added as a feature under [Video].
(This applies to UMD™VIDEO and video data saved on Memory Stick™.)

• 4:3 Screen Mode was added as a feature under [Video].
  
(This applies to video data saved on Memory Stick™.)

• AVC was added as a codec that can be played under [Video].
  (This applies to video data saved on Memory Stick™.)
  
• Support for Memory Stick PRO Duo™ was added to [Music].
  
• MP4 (AAC) and WAV (LPCM) were added as formats that can be played under [Music].
  (This applies to music data saved on Memory Stick™.)
  
• Image transfer was added as a feature under [Photo].
  
• TIFF, PNG, GIF and BMP were added as image formats that can be displayed under [Photo].
  
• Korean was added as an option to [System Language] under [Settings], [System Settings].
  
• [Character Set] was added to [System Settings] under [Settings].
  
• [Theme Settings] was added under [Settings].
  
• WPA-PSK (TKIP) was added as a security method under [Network Settings].
  
• Settings for Infrastructure Mode under [Network Settings] were revised to be easier to use.
  
• Input modes were added to the on-screen keyboard.

I was going to try and post to the blog using the PSP, but got an error message of "not enough memory," so I guess that's the end of that.

But other than that, it seems to work okay... so far.

No new firmware yet

At least, not in the US :(

Who knows, maybe they'll have it later in the day. Or maybe it'll be next week. Although as promised, the Japanese version of firmware 2.0 for the PSP is now available. Most PSP owners already know, since Sony's announcement last week, that they'd have the new version available in Japan on the 27th. One of the most major inclusion for this update is an official browser for the PSP, sans Macromedia Flash support, so users no longer need to go through the complicated hack to get to browse the net with Wipeout Pure on the PSP.

I wonder if updating an US PSP with Japanese firmware would cause any problems...

Bachelor's Spaghetti

Since our college days, we've been doing this, although now I've added a bit more herbs to the process, it remains essentially the same. One of these days I'll try to make my own sauce. Until then, I'll simply add a few fresh ingredients to an existing, bottled sauce.

Since I've been cooking with Barilla pasta for the longest time, it only made sense to use their sauce, as well. I chose their "mushroom and garlic" sauce this time.


I started off with sliced mushrooms and chopped onions.


Then, half a pound of ground beef, mixed with shredded oregano and basil, plus a little bit of white wine. I should add a bit of salt next time.


Sauté the onions, along with some minced garlic.


Add the mushrooms to the pan, then "sparingly" include some parsley.


Remove from pan, and sauté the ground beef.


Add to sauce.


Simmer with low heat, stirring occasionally while I start the water for the pasta...


As I said, Barilla spaghetti. I'll probably get some fettucini and Alfredo sauce next time.


Add Parmesan and serve.


I took the photos because of Club3G's oft-repeated "What's for dinner" photo threads, and figured I might as well do one, too.

Too many wires

Just 'cause I'm bored...

It's here! Bwahahahaha

My new monitor arrived today. Finally.

The packing box looks like it took some beating, but everything inside looks fine. I hooked it up to one of the computers here at work, and it looks great. Wide viewing angle, no dead pixels as far as I can tell (even tried filling the screen with all white, as well as all black, in Paint Shop Pro).

Can't wait to get home to connect it to my own computer to see what it looks like there.


Aside from my packing list, I noticed while unpacking the monitor from the box that on the bottom of the box, there was another packing order, with items completely unrelated to my order. It must have gotten loose from the original package and got stuck to mine.

Blame the traffic

No matter how early I leave for work in the morning, it seems I almost always arrive at approximately the same time. It pretty much makes the effort worthless. I might as well just stay in bed till later and arrive at the same time.

Why do they all happen at the same time?

So Peg sent me an evite to this concert by the California Philharmonic at the L.A. Arboretum for next Saturday (the 16th), and then Lucy sent me an email asking me if I'd be interested in going to this beach event organized by Young Generation Asian Professionals, which takes place on the same day.

I figured that since the beach thing is supposed to end at 4:00, while Peg's asking to meet at 5:30, I should be able to make both, provided I'm not too tired by that time, so I've tentatively agreed to go to both events.

Then Anne calls to invite me to her apartment-warming dinner, which she has planned also for next Saturday.


It's uncanny how none of us had plans with each other for weeks or months (depending on the individual), and then suddenly the next event all fall on the same day.

Hope it arrives in time

I can't wait for the monitor I ordered to arrive. Amazon's ETA was Monday, but the tracking from UPS hasn't been updated since it received the departure scan last Thursday. And now Amazon's earliest ETA is for this coming Thursday... -_-

But since they're shipping it from Tiger Direct, Amazon's website still has it listed as "not yet shipped," so I can only hope that their estimate is wrong, and that I'd receive it soon.

You and Me

What day is it?
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
I can't keep up
And I can't back down
I've been losing so much time

'Cause it's you and me
And all of the people
With nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me
And all of the people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you

All of the things
That I want to say
Just aren't coming out right
I'm tripping on words
You got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here

'Cause it's you and me
And all of the people
With nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me
And all of the people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you

Something about you now
I can't quite figure out
Everything she does is beautiful
Everything she does is right

'Cause it's you and me
And all of the people
With nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me
And all of the people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes

Off of you and me
And all of the people
With nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me
And all of the people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you

What day is it?
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive


-Lifehouse

New monitor

I'm finally taking the plunge (years after the technology curve) by getting myself a flat-panel, LCD monitor, and retiring my old 19" CRT monitor, the Samsung SyncMaster 955SL.

For years, I've held off on getting myself an LCD screen for two very basic reasons:

1. Lower screen resolution.
2. High price.
   

The impetus behind my decision? I've noticed my current monitor is starting to show signs of degradation. It's been gradually shifting its display colors between normal, to a hint of blue, and back again. I checked the cable, and it is very firmly attached.

This can only mean one thing: Sometime in the near foreseeable future, this monitor will go into a state of permanently displaying things in a tinted hue.

This is definitely not something I want to live through again.


So, after checking the current prices of LCD monitors, it seems they have finally come down to a range which I find acceptable, and while the resolution is still not as high as I can hope for (a max size of 1280x1024), it's a compromise I'm willing to live with. Afterall, it wasn't that long ago that I switched my screen resolution to 1600x1200.


The new screen I ordered is the AG Neovo F-419; as an 19" LCD, it means the viewable screen size should be significantly larger than what I currently have. It was the only 19" LCD in the ~$300 price range that has 170° viewing angle, and a high contrast ratio (700:1). So I figured since I have a $25 rebate from Amazon.com, I might as well use it towards this.

Anime Expo

The Anime Expo traditionally have been held on 4th of July weekend, and this year was no exception. As in recent years, it was held at the Anaheim Convention Center, with some videos, gaming, etc. in the adjacent Marriott Hotel.

I basically use this opportunity to find out about what anime series/movies have recently been licensed/released for the US, as I've been too busy to keep up with the newsgroups. But of course there are always plenty of anime fans who dress up as their favorite characters (known as cosplay), so I brought along my digital camera to snap pics of the more interesting ones.

I originally thought this girl might be dressed as Karin from DNA², but while the costume looks similar enough, and she has the right hair color, the bike she's on seems completely different, and there are some other details that are different, so considering the amount of effort she must have put in to get her bike to look like this, it seems unlikely that she'd miss these details. Now I'll just have to figure out what series she's actually from.


I just found out that this girl was dressed as Jo from the series Burst Angel. One of the best costumes I've seen this year.


And here are the rest... Some of them I recognize as from Cowboy Bebop, Naruto, Bleach, various Final Fantasy series, and Trigun.

Oh crap, no water!

I had briefly noticed a sign posted on the window of the laundry room about there not being water for a temporary amount of time, as I was leaving to go to Johnny's place, and didn't pay too much attention to it--I thought maybe it referred only to the laundry room.

When I got back, it was nearly midnight, and as I tried to wash my hands, I realized--no water! So I guess no shower for me tonight. I'll have to get up earlier tomorrow for one in the morning. In the meantime, I guess it's a good thing I kept a few extra gallons of water around.