So, i hate my ISP. I use Virgin Media’s ADSL service and it is just terrible. It’s slow, unreliable and recently they capped me. And when they cap, man do they cap! I am curently down to crawling speeds and even though i have implemented the excellent feature in the new verison of WordPress which utilises Google Gears and automatically keeps this website cached on my computer for faster use, it still took ages to even get to the post screen. Rediculous.
So, i thought that i best keep an eye on my internet usage, however finding a utility that helps me do just that, for a Mac, is not an easy task. I did however find a faily decent one though, called Surplus Meter. To install it, download the package from their website, drag the application to your Applications folder and open it. You then set-up the few options that they need to keep an accurate reading based on your personal usage requirements/allowances and let it do the work. You can then quit the application and it will continue to run in the background as a service and even launches as a startup program when you next restart your computer (shoudl you want to, go to System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items to remove it). When you want to check your usage, simply open the program located in your Applications folder again and it will give you accurate readings.
There you have it. I’m sure there are more programs like this, but once again, unless you’re a Windows user, they’re not always easy to find.