Bye-bye, web.

December 2, 2008 8:19 PM

How do I cripple web access on my MacBook Pro?

I'm running Mac OS X Leopard on an early 2006 MacBook Pro. Here's what I need to do to my computer:

1) Disable access to the web in such a way that it would take more than three hours to reverse whatever I did to my computer, if it is reversible at all.

2) All other internet functions remain operable, especially email.

I'm up for anything at this point. I compulsively check too many websites too often— I have no trouble doing this a little on Fridays, but the rest of the week it should seriously be off-limits. I can look up and suddenly an hour has gone by.

Any solution, including one involving soldering, would be good. I just can't seem to keep my hands off the damn thing. So, how do I accomplish this? Is it even possible?

(I need to use an admin account for day-to-day stuff, so giving me a non-admin account and setting parental controls on it would really put a damper on my lifestyle.)

posted by Electrius to Computers & Internet (14 answers total)

Delete all the browsers?
posted by milarepa at 8:37 PM on December 2, 2008

Response by poster: By the way, this will only be used as a last resort. I'm trying some other things first, like removing Safari from the dock and possibly messing up its permissions using chmod.
posted by Electrius at 8:43 PM on December 2, 2008

Best answer: You can't really. You could install a new harddrive and reinstall the entire OS in under 3 hours. There aren't any hardware solutions either since the hardware sees a packet as a packet and can't tell email traffic from youtube.
posted by chairface at 8:57 PM on December 2, 2008

Leechblock plugin for Firefox. Depending on whether the simple reminder of "Oh right, I shouldn't be doing this right now" is enough, you could delete your other browsers. (Generally, being redirected to my school's Blackboard site is enough to get me back on track, even though I could just open up Safari and use that if I wanted to -- I just need the immediate impulse control, and then my conscience kicks in. Usually.)
posted by pluckemin at 9:05 PM on December 2, 2008

Since you're talking about chmod ... why not change the owner of your web browser(s) to a new account, make them 700, and email yourself the random passphrase for that account in 3 hours (using cron, ical alerts or one of the services on the internet that will do this for you)?

Although, with an admin account there is always temptation. If you don't trust yourself to resist that temptation, encrypt the executables of your web browsers and email yourself the key in 3 hours (or use a weak encryption scheme and brute force the key :D). Or use FileVault and move them into another user's home directory.

It's always possible to obtain a web browser (rather easily, actually) using command line utilities. I'm pointing this out because you could get yourself out of trouble if for whatever reason your tinkering renders your browser unusable, and also because, if you know how to do this, you might want to disable terminal.app too ;)
posted by mebibyte at 9:37 PM on December 2, 2008

Best answer: Speaking from personal experience, if a reminder won't cut it, nothing else will. Just because you can't get to the web doesn't mean you won't waste that time on something else - say, like "fixing" your computer for 3 hours. This is really a symptom of a bigger behavior problem: lack of discipline, overblown procrastination, whatever you want to call it. You have it, I have it, half the people on MeFi have it, and no wimpy plugin or unguessable password will stop us. I've tried it. Rather than spending time on a software solution, spend time on a personal behavior solution. Maybe you could use a program that tracks time spent on websites, and actually review it every day. Admitting the problem is the first step, right? Now go change it.
posted by niles at 9:45 PM on December 2, 2008 [3 favorites]

Slife maybe?
posted by jeffburdges at 9:53 PM on December 2, 2008

Seconding niles that there is not a technological solution to this problem.

I also feel your pain.
posted by rokusan at 10:10 PM on December 2, 2008

Leechblock has a nice feature where you can force it to generate a very long random password that you have to retype in order to access the options where you can disable it. If you make the password long enough it will take you several minutes to get it right. During those several minutes you can contemplate how weak you are. But even so, once you get in to the options you are going to disable the password, and eventually you'll be disabling LeechBlock only for your lunch breaks, and then only on Friday afternoons, and then eventually it's all gone. Been there :(
posted by PercussivePaul at 10:27 PM on December 2, 2008

Freedom puts a higher-than-average barrier in your way - it disables all web access for a time you specify (this includes email, so may not be for you). The only way around it is a restart.

But yeah, you are seeking a technical solution for a behavioural problem (one which I share, and it could have been me writing this question a year back). It took me fucking up something severely at work to change my behaviour, and I'm still not quite there. In the short term, Freedom might help as a stopgap.

Also, what makes you think you won't waste time on email to your mates once AskMe is beyond your (easy) reach?
posted by Happy Dave at 4:17 AM on December 3, 2008

Response by poster: Well, I found that chmoding Safari out of reach gave me enough time to resist the compulsion. Just though I'd share that one, but if it gets worse I will use the other solutions. Thanks one and all.
posted by Electrius at 6:30 AM on December 3, 2008

How about setting up a new user account, and then setting the Parental Controls on that account so that you have no access to the web browsers?
posted by ShawnString at 8:23 AM on December 3, 2008

Move Safari and other browsers into a memory stick. Then you can figure difficult enough place to keep the stick. (Gym locker, neighbor or a friend, parents' house, workplace, distant corner in garage...)
posted by Free word order! at 10:16 AM on December 3, 2008

No matter what you do, it can be undone or circumvented in less than an hour, often in minutes.
posted by Brian Puccio at 11:54 PM on December 5, 2008