[liberationtech] Internet blocking tools

[Sabiha Ahmad]

Dear Alex and all,

That makes sense your point about dysfunctionality from whitelisting. I've
stuck with Greg's blacklisting method and it's working great so far. Now I
just need to put my phone in airplane mode and I'm good to go! I consider
myself a pretty typical tech user until I realize the pains I have to go
through to step away from these spaces. It's definitely humbling. Anyway
thanks everyone for the excellent advice, wishing you all a wonderful week!

Cheers,

Sabiha


On Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 6:32 AM Alex Comninos <alex.comninos at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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> 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
>>
>> 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>
>> 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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