I am thinking of something like a mobile charger that would plug in a regular 3-pin plug at one end and a computer at the other, and some software/sensor combo that would read the (DC) voltage at the computer end. If there is no voltage, there is no power in the mains and ergo - we are in the middle of a power outage, so take action. Know of something along these lines?
(idea is to detect power failures, while powered by a "dumb" UPS unit - one that cannot communicate with the a computer. Any other solutions/suggestions?).
Binand