So, I’m into day 11 of this month but my hosting bandwidth (which was only recently doubled) is now at 75% used. What’s going on?

Thankfully, Memset provide cPanel and a host of data analysis tools. As you can see from this graph it’s rocketed since mid-October.

I’d love to say it’s because visitors have gone up as much, but that’s not the case. Looking at the biggest bandwidth hogging files, it’s exactly as normal – in fact nothing in particular is causing it.

What did happen mid-October though is that I started looking and changing the site’s caching. I’d been using PHP Speedy with all options switched on (except for GZIP, which I had in my .htaccess file along with a few other tweaks) but was finding that was breaking Debug Bar and jQuery Lightbox For Native Galleries. You can exclude certain scripts from PHP Speedy but that didn’t seem to fix the problem.

I therefore decided to try an alternative method. After some testing I settled on WP Super Cache (to cache the pages – this improved speed but not bandwidth as the same size results are delivered) and WP Minify (this combines and minifies the scripts – something that PHP Speedy did, but I could get WP Minify to work with the aforementioned Debug Bar and Lightbox scripts). I also retained my .htaccess changes.

And that’s how it’s been since. The site’s very quick BUT it looks like the size of the pages being delivered are horrendous.

The cause? Right now, I have no idea and I’m still tinkering – expect to see some site problems over the next few days as I try and resolve it.

What I’ve immediately done is switch off WP Minify and put PHP Speedy back on. Oddly, it’s working with GZIP switched on – if the .htaccess changes are working, this shouldn’t work. I therefore need to check my .htaccess further. Maybe the changes made to this file by WP Super Cache have affected it.

Certainly something has to be done with some urgency and if I have to I’ll abort all changes and had back to PHP Speedy solely (and break those other scripts). My hunch – GZIP isn’t working. Testing tools indicate otherwise.

I’ll update this post, as it may be of use to other developers. And, of course, if you have any ideas please comment and let me know your thoughts.

Update, 16th November.

Sorted. Although online testing tools reported that GZIP was working, it wasn’t. Activating that has put my bandwidth back to normal…

Through some further testing I’ve settled on using WP Minify rather than PHP Speedy. I’m also using WP Super Cache but note that this doesn’t affect bandwidth, only speed.

Image courtesy of Joshua Davis

When it comes to computer passwords there are 3 things I’d always recommend…

1. Give each site, or piece of software, a different password – never re-use!
2. Make your passwords complex
3. Never record them in a spreadsheet!

Basically, when I sign up to a site I find out how long and complex they’ll allow a password to be and create it to that limit! Up to 16 characters line with both upper and lower case and numbers accepted? Find, then it’s 16 characters of mixed case and numbers. The bigger and more complex the harder to crack.

Many people use browser based solutions such as LastPass. Apart from the fact that these are restricted to your browser you are also leaving all your passwords with a single company in “the cloud”. A single security flaw and you could loose them all. Look at Sony’s issues this year as a perfect example!

My solution is secure and isn’t tied to a browser. It’s downside is that it’s tied to only computers that I use (which many may also see as an upside!).

I use the excellent open source KeyPass software. However, I use the portable version installed in my Dropbox folder, with an encrypted and secured password file saved also in Dropbox.

The result of this is that wherever I have Dropbox on a PC I can access KeyPass and the resulting file. There’s even a version of the software for Android and I download the latest version of the password file using the Dropbox Android App to access it.

Dropbox, by itself, is not secure. However by encrypting and securing the password file saved onto it even if someone gets hold of it they can’t access the passwords within it. As a result all my bank and other financial passwords, amongst many others, are long, complex and hard to crack – I can afford to make them impossible to remember because I don’t need to. And, although KeyPass won’t fill browser fields in automatically, it will generate highly secure passwords for you.

Do you have an alternative, secure recommendation? Add a comment and let me know!

Exclusive to Tesco in the UK, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox have released today the first LEGO themed Star Wars animation, named The Padawan Menace. IF you’ve ever played aLEGO Star Wars video game before, you’ll know from the cut-scenes that these are aimed at younger viewers and are steeped in more humour than normal. This adventure is no different.

It costs £5 for the DVD and £8 for the Blu-Ray – the latter comes with an exclusive “Young Han” Lego figure. There’s also a few extras to make up for the fact that the main feature is just 21 minutes long.

None-the-less, on Blu-Ray it’s the full 1080 resolution and looks brilliant – the LEGO brick animation is very well done. Sounds and music from the original movies are also used to good effect. It has a U (Universal) certificate.

I was not expecting a great deal for something cheap that’s aimed at younger kids but thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here’s the “official” description and a trailer video…

A routine Jedi Academy field trip is turned into a rip-roaring comic adventure in LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace. Tour guide Master Yoda leads a group of rambunctious Jedi Younglings through Senate chambers when he senses a disturbance in the Force. Summoned to help save the Republic, he discovers that one of the Younglings, Ian, has secretly boarded his ship…and young Ian has a taste for adventure! Meanwhile, C-3PO and R2-D2 are put in charge of the boisterous group and find themselves in over their heads. As the evil Sith prepare to wreak havoc, it’s up to Yoda and the Droids to ensure that their young charges aren’t torn to bricks!

Summary of LEGO Star Wars : The Padawan Menace

It only has a short feature but it looks and sounds gorgeous. The story is fun and there’s an entertaining cameo too. Star Wars fans and kids will really enjoy it. Maybe a filler for Christmas?

Reviewed by David Artiss on 7th November 2011.