internet self-discipline

April 15, 2009 7:39 AM

Is there a way to ensure that firefox can only access specific sites for a specified period of time?

I need to use the internet for my research but I find it easy to get distracted. Usually when I work, I try to be somewhere that has no internet connection, but some of my work requires me to browse through papers and references online.

I looked at answers to previous questions, such as this and people suggested OpenDNS and LeechBlock. I'm more interested in specifying five sites that I can have access to for a fixed amount of time (and ideally in a password protected way) rather than a list of things I want to block. Perhaps this is possible in OpenDNS - from looking at their website I couldn't tell.

I'm using firefox on windows.Thanks.

posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Best answer: I'm not vouching for it, but "ProCon" seems germane based on my five seconds of Googling.
posted by rhizome at 7:50 AM on April 15, 2009

You can set up a "whitelist" for sites on most router administration pages, or you could install monitoring software like that used to regulate children's internet use.
posted by proj at 7:56 AM on April 15, 2009

Best answer: I looked at answers to previous questions [...] people suggested [...] LeechBlock. I'm more interested in specifying five sites that I can have access to [...] rather than a list of things I want to block.

Couldn't you use LeechBlock and use wildcards and exceptions to block everything except the few sites you want to allow?

That is, couldn't you set the block list to:
*
+*.allowed.com
+*.permitted.net

Thereby blocking everything except allowed.com and permitted.net?
posted by Mike1024 at 8:08 AM on April 15, 2009

This is going to be difficult because there is no good way to assess how long you've actually been on a particular site (although you could say x mins from the first time you visit), the more common way is to restrict access to a certain block of time.
posted by zeoslap at 8:26 AM on April 15, 2009

Everything Mike1024 said, plus:

This is going to be difficult because there is no good way to assess how long you've actually been on a particular site

If it's a certain amount of time per site, then you just put each site in a different set in Leechblock (with the same restrictions). If it's a certain amount of time total between the sites, then use one set.
posted by inigo2 at 9:09 AM on April 15, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks everyone - I've installed Leechblock and ProCon and am trying them out. Mike1024 and inigo2, the LeechBlock suggestions sound wise - I hadn't figured out how to use it before asking.

Typing a 64 character alpha-numeric code is a sufficient deterrent, and I'm happy to report, it is preventing idle surfing. Back to internet lockdown....
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 9:54 AM on April 15, 2009

This may be what you are looking for. It's a script called Invisibility Cloak that works with the Greasemonkey Firefox extension to block the sites you want during certain times of day. Bonus: It comes pre-configured to block Metafilter and Flickr. :)
posted by scottatdrake at 11:24 AM on April 15, 2009 [1 favorite]