[liberationtech] Internet blocking tools

[Alex Comninos]

Dear Sabiha and Hi All

Greg’s suggestion re: hosts.txt is the way to go for blacklisting

I am sure there is a way to whitelist websites. 

However modern websites are built very often with cloud infrastructure and thus feed in tons of content/code from Amazon, Google, Microsoft Cloud as well as other cloud services. 

Whitelisting just one domain will most likely result in dysfunctional websites. 

I do miss the simplicity of the internet before cloud infrastructure. 

All the best with your attempts. 

I have tried whitelisting/blacklisting many times. The point of failure for me is my self control (I must stop myself from just unblocking when I wish to visit the website. 

Best of luck,
Alex

> On 21 Jan 2020, at 01:50, Sabiha Ahmad <sabiha.ahmad.23 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hah Greg I'm definitely a sister, but fair guess! 
> 
> Thanks everyone who made recommendations. I've gone ahead w/ the route suggested by Greg (albeit for PC), but my cursory research has led me to believe that there's no free service for easily "whitelisting" websites. If I understand correctly, whitelisting will block all websites other than those few I select to allow? As opposed to "blacklisting" which entails a longer process of having to individually list all the websites I want to block out?
> 
> So far I've only found easy blacklisting methods--including yours Greg. I wish there were a way for a basic unsophisticated internet user like myself to easily whitelist. I think it'd be an effective way of drastically "quieting down" and simplifying my internet use. If anyone knows of any such service please let me know.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Sabiha
> 
> On Mon, Jan 20, 2020, 12:48 PM Greg <greg at kinostudios.com <mailto:greg at kinostudios.com>> wrote:
> I’m gonna help you out brother (or sister, can’t tell what gender your name is).
> 
> If you’re on a mac or linux, whip out that terminal and type:
> 
> $ sudo nano /etc/hosts
> 
> Then add an entry like:
> 
> 	127.0.0.1   twitter.com <http://twitter.com/>
> 
> Save the file, and bam, twitter is blocked in all browsers.
> 
> Cheers!
> Greg
> 
>> On Jan 20, 2020, at 10:28 AM, Sabiha Ahmad <sabiha.ahmad.23 at gmail.com <mailto:sabiha.ahmad.23 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello,
>> 
>> Forgive me for not posing a high-stakes query typical of this excellent thread, but I was wondering if you fine folks had any recommendations for free and comprehensive internet blocking tools for Firefox, Chrome, and Microsoft Edge. I'm trying to study for the bar exam and only need access to two or three websites most days. Embarrassingly incapable of avoiding the internet rabbit holes on my own. Would appreciate any advice.
>> 
>> Thank you and happy MLK day,
>> 
>> Sabiha
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