Symbian Themes Bandwidth Limit

[jw]

Hi guys,

Symbian Themes has been forced offline. Within 10 days, the site has used almost 1.1 TB of traffic (yes, terabytes - that's 1086 gigabytes!).

Now, I do not believe that the site is so popular that it's being used so much (when compared to normal stats, the previous highest bandwidth for a month was in August - 700 GB). Therefore, I think that someone is deliberately hammering the site.

So, the site's offline - not my fault, but the bandwidth limit has been reached; I cannot do anything about it.

Iteration 2 is being delayed because of this, as I cannot upload content, set up beta accounts, test stuff, etc.

Therefore, the only solution, I feel, is to take Iteration 1 offline ASAP. Yes, this will mean that the site will not be available for a few weeks, but at least it'll ensure no more bandwidth is used!

When Iteration 2 will launch, I think I'll have to include the dreaded "passcode to download" function, where you must enter a text or numeric string displayed on a graphic, before you're allowed to download the file. I know it'll be a pain, but it will stop these automated downloads (hell, some cheeky people are setting their systems to auto-download themes and sell them on CDs in online auctions!!) and hopefully save my bandwidth.

I will not tolerate people hammering the site.

Just letting you all know.

Cheers.

[elton]

Thanks mate,

Another reason would also be the fact that some of the themes are uploaded more than once,with different names etc.
I know one of the main advantages of symbian themes at the start was the instant upload/download facility but i feel this is being abused with the constant bombardment of any old theme,however another way would require more site owner input,which i guess is too time consuming.

[jw]

Yeah. That's true.

You'll find Iteration 2 will also have controls so that the simple themes of "paste a jpeg and call it a theme" won't be accepted, therefore raising the overall quality of the themes.

[Sandinista]

Originally Posted by jw

Yeah. That's true.

You'll find Iteration 2 will also have controls so that the simple themes of "paste a jpeg and call it a theme" won't be accepted, therefore raising the overall quality of the themes.

That's good news, jw.
Will it only apply to new themes, or will it also be able to purge the chaff that's already there?

[elton]

Originally Posted by Sandinista

That's good news, jw.
Will it only apply to new themes, or will it also be able to purge the chaff that's already there?

Lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

[jw]

All already uploaded themes will be checked too

Uploaded themes will not be instantly displayed either. Instead, they will be queued on the server, then periodically my PC will auto-download and verify them (ensuring they pass certain checks that I will decide) and then accept/reject them as necessary.

[elton]

Originally Posted by jw

Yeah. That's true.

You'll find Iteration 2 will also have controls so that the simple themes of "paste a jpeg and call it a theme" won't be accepted, therefore raising the overall quality of the themes.

Really,thats great news

I guess i can stay faithful Lol.

[Rafe]

Just to let people know I've temporarily allocated more bandwith to Symbian Themes so it should be available again.

I'll be working with J2K on a more permanent solution.