internet stuff

October 28, 2007 4:51 AM

Is there a way I can block a particular site in my browser such that I cannot visit it for a certain amount of time (e.g. three weeks). Also, is there a way I can block the port that connects to aim so I can suspend that service for a certain amount of time? I am using a Mac and the Firefox web browser.

Let me know if you have questions.

posted by jne1813 to computers & internet (6 comments total)

You can try Parental Control or Monitoring software. Using it, you can manually specify specific sites you want to block.

Your Internet service provider might offer some free software (in Canada Bell Sympatico does), or you can try this link to get a list of free software (from the Dowload.com Web site).
posted by bitteroldman at 5:55 AM on October 28, 2007

Find out where the Hosts file is located on a Mac (a quick googling suggests that it's /private/etc/hosts for 10.2 and later) and you can blacklist the web site there.

e.g. if you add the following line to your hosts file, then you won't be able to reach the web site example.com

127.0.0.1 example.com

This means that the computer will not try to do a DNS lookup for example.com and will instead always just (try to) go to the IP address 127.0.0.1. This is a special IP address that will loop back to your own machine so, assuming you don't host a web site on your machine, this will fail (and if you do host a web site on your machine, example.com is now pointing at that web site)

As for the three weeks part, I'll bet you can rig the scripting and scheduling features on the Mac to remove this line in three weeks but I can't tell you how.
posted by winston at 6:11 AM on October 28, 2007

Sign up for OpenDNS and replace your current DNS settings. Instructions are included on the site. Use the web-based control panel to block individual websites. Do the same thing for login.oscar.aol.com and you'll successfully block AIM, as well.
posted by odinsdream at 6:30 AM on October 28, 2007

may this greasemonkey script is what you're looking for ?
posted by Baud at 7:06 AM on October 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Leechblock!

If you're on Tiger, Mac Minder will block programs for you. If you're on Leopard, use the parental controls.
posted by streetdreams at 11:53 AM on October 28, 2007

Leopard

It has service level and web specific blocking features, that you can enable / disable on a schedule.

It is also a really good operating system.
posted by mrzarquon at 10:46 PM on October 28, 2007