Internet Usage Made Easy
26
March
I think all the other little bees are dead. In all actuality, I know they’re alive because I see most of them on a daily basis. Guess that leaves me to hold down the fort and try to punch out a post in a quasi-regular fashion.
I get my ADSL2 through iPrimus and my two main options for a download limit are either 6GB or 21GB. $10 difference in plans but I see no need for a 21GB limit that I have no hope of reaching. If I can’t use it all, I don’t feel like I’m getting value for money.
I got an email from iPrimus today, stating I was nearing my download limit. Actually, I wasn’t but that’s a completely different issue. I’ve thought about using a webclipping from Safari to turn my usage page into a widget, and have also considered using something like Fluid but both these options, whilst quite elegant in what they do, serve me no purpose when my information is behind a secure login. Enter Lemonjar.
This Melbourne-based tech company have put together several widgets for some of the major broadband suppliers in Australia. Sadly, they don’t have one for iPrimus and I don’t feel inclined to ask… yet. These widgets are donationware so if you can find a use for them, they make your life easier or they bring your cat back from the dead, strongly consider making a donation. Independent developers are the reason my Mac experience (20 years and counting) continues to rock.
1. Jimmy "slack-ass" James | March 26th, 2008 at 20:28
Poor little Oz.
Nobody playing mate?
I’m blaming the tyranny of distance for my lack of Beezhouse activity, but given that the internet has even reached Canberra, it’s only an excuse.
Have you used the Firefox plugin for usage monitoring?
http://netusage.iau5.com/
I use it and it works nicely with TPG and a stack of others.
2. The DayDreamer | June 23rd, 2008 at 12:30
While adding a widget sounds nice, how ’bout upgrading to a plan and/or provider where you don’t need to worry that every KB downloaded will put you over your limit… now that’s internet usage made easy!
3. Oz | June 23rd, 2008 at 19:25
@Jimmy - I have tried the extension for Firefox but iPrimus is not supported.
@DayDreamer - it’s always nice to know just how much of you’re limit you’re using but my concern was more of single-click convenience. There are plenty of people out there on outrageous Telstra plans who could benefit from something like this. Sometimes, people have no choice but to make a deal with the devil.
4. The DayDreamer | June 23rd, 2008 at 22:55
Moving to a Mac meant that I didn’t need to deal with the devil anymore, be it based it Sydney or Redmond….
5. Oz | June 24th, 2008 at 22:01
But you already made a deal with the devil in Sydney, and apparently (according to secret communique) she’s supposed to be blogging for us…