I got some feedback on my writeup of troubles with communications between my server and the Apex and it got me thinking.  The short – I’m already using DynDNS.com to create a virtual domain name that points to my dynamic IP address – it uses an updater that runs on my computer to check and update the IP address as needed.  Could this service also take an incoming request over port 80, and redirect it to a different port, i.e. 3500, while also directing the request to my dynamic IP?  It turns out I can.
You create a free “Web Hop”, i.e. site1.dyndns.com, which in turn points to site2.dyndns.com:3500.  Then, you use site2.dyndns.com on a “Host” service to point to the dynamic IP.  Since the redirect tags on the port information, it’s carried through on the dynamic IP handling.  It works brilliantly in the browser.  I thought, after 2 months of being stumped, I had a solution.  Of course, my server still fails to grab the content properly from my Apex – I assume it realizes or gets hung up either on the port redirection, or it has to do with carrying the authentication credentials through the webhop and host settings at DynDNS.com.  Oh, and I found out it’s going to cost me $25, or $155 a month, to change my host so I can make a request over a port other than port 80.  Or I have to find a different hosting provider altogether.  This singular aspect of accessing the data on my Apex controller from a webserver is enough to drive me insane.
The other bit of news – we had 2 back-to-back power outages today.  The first one I wasn’t awake for…noticed the clocks blinking when I woke up.  The second one lasted just under 2 hours.  During that time, the MP10 on the battery backup performed admirably.  Chances are the tank would’ve been fine either way – it wasn’t a long time to be without power.  Still, as I watch the Lightning Maroon swim around this evening, I’m feeling like I’m getting my money’s worth.  First power outage we’ve had since we moved to Duluth almost 2 years ago.  Feeling pretty smart that I invested in the MP10w ES + Battery Backup!