Freedom

I’ve just downloaded a nifty bit of software.  If it’s good enough for Nora Ephron, then it’s good enough for me.  It’s called Freedom and it allows you to take a self-enforced break from the internet.  You simply enter the number of minutes you want to work, undistracted by the endless lure of cyberspace, then it locks you out until that amount of time has passed.

The deal is, you can’t just have the computer open and idling, you actually have to be working for your Freedom minutes to tick past.  So the minutes don't tick by unless you're writing. Pretty neat, huh?

So, while I’m talking about things that are neat, there is a similar program called Anti-Social, which still allows you to access the internet except for social networking sites.  Oh how I want this.  BUT it’s only available for Macs at this stage.  I emailed the software developer who, being a real, live person, took the time to email me back! (Thanks, Fred.  Most appreciated).  Sadly, it’s a much more complex process for Windows than for Macs, so it will be a while coming.  If ever.

Sigh.  First and only time in my life I’ve wished for a Mac.  In the meantime I’m going cold turkey on the internet – well as much as I can – until the new semester starts and then I’ll be back online thrashing the WWW in a big way. 



Apple keyboard by Håkan Dahlström @ flickr