The internet brings freedom to people with disabilities in various ways, but sometimes we all need freedom from the Internet. For those who have trouble with concentration, attention, or staying on task, being able to easily disable networking for amounts of time can be a great idea. This could also be useful for educators to make sure students are doing their class work instead of playing online!
Freedom is an application that disables wireless and ethernet networking on an Apple computer for up to three hours at a time. Freedom will free you from the distractions of the internet, allowing you time to code, write, or create. At the end of your selected offline period, Freedom re-enables your network, restoring everything as normal.
Freedom enforces freedom; a reboot is the only circumvention of the Freedom time limit you specify. The hassle of rebooting means you’re less likely to cheat, and you’ll be more productive.
You could do the same job by simply unplugging the modem but this is easier which makes it more likely to be used, especially by those with mobility problems. It also has the great advantage of not messing up myyour flatmate’s internet connection!
- Ricky Buchanan
(Via Mac Tips And Tricks.)
Lon Thornburg May 13, 2008 at 4:14 pm
So that’s why we haven’t heard from you in awhile!
) Just joking.
I like the idea of getting students offline long enough to get some homework that doesn’t involve “research” done.
Thanks, Ricky
Lon
Ricky Buchanan May 13, 2008 at 7:04 pm
@Lon: Ohh, what a cool idea! Next time I have to be away I can claim to be testing the upgrades…
Actually, I’ve been quite sick but don’t tell on me OK?
- Ricky
cathal August 14, 2009 at 11:33 am
hi – little problem with Freedom, is that other programs tend to crash while it’s running. any ideas why that might be? drop me a line if you get to respond to this (I’ll never find this website again!)
Ricky Buchanan August 26, 2009 at 10:48 pm
@Cathal: I’ve never had any problems with it, that certainly shouldn’t be a side effect. Make sure you’re using the current version of the program, and also use “Disk Utility” to Repair the Permissions on your hard drive just in case something’s gone awry.