Posted on 12/26/2010 11:20:52 AM PST by freespirited
In the time-honored tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous, I recently entrusted my fate to a higher power — specifically, to a new software program that shuts off my access to the Internet for a designated time.
I finally had to acknowledge that I was helpless in the face of my addiction, which has had me, especially in recent weeks, tapping my e-mail "refresh" button like a lab rat trying to get cocaine.
I know I'm not alone in my hardwired weakness for novelty. Yet while constantly seeking out new things was once a helpful instinct that alerted us to new foods, mates or danger, it's now a siren's call to being chronically overwhelmed. Even bestselling novelist Jonathan Franzen recently confessed to using superglue to block the Ethernet connection on his computer...
Today, I've got a virtual valet, courtesy of Fred Stutzman, who came up with the Internet-blocking program, called Freedom, as a graduate student, when he needed to finish his dissertation. For $10, you can tell it to shut off your portal to the outside world for up to eight hours...
Stutzman has since sold his program to more than 75,000 people, and gone on to design a new venture, called Anti-Social, which, for $15, shuts off your access to top time-wasting sites including Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendster, StumbleUpon and even EHarmony, DateHookup and OkCupid.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Too bad Ellison had a relapse resulting in our having to read this crap.
No need for software....The FCC will do that for us.
Or like a democ rat vying for attention.
Save your dough. In no time at all the government will shut it off for you.
Isn't that like having the bartender or local liquor store clerk tell you that you told him not to serve you after five drinks??????????????//
Katherine Ellison also has an ADHD child, and has written a book about her experiences as a mother. She first noticed she had a problem child when she realized she was screaming at him, at the top of her lungs, to shut up.
Anyone else see the beginnings of a pattern here?
Modern "Pet Rock."
P.T. Barnum was right.
Hmmm. I have an ADD child. I noticed he had problems when I couldn’t get him to stay focused.
Absolutely! I can stop Freeping any time I...I...Oooooh - is that a JohnHuang2 thread? Perhaps a Troll-B-Q? ClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClickClick...
lol! :)
Why does the phrase “get a life” come to mind???
The only way is to get into computer games, and bust your way through the additiction with endless hours of fun and exhaustion.
Just when I think I spend too much time online, something like this comes along and shows me what a real problem is like.
I don’t have a Facebook, or a Twitter account. Check email once a day at most. I’m here when I feel like sitting down in a room where a computer is already on.
Yet in principle I agree, the internet is addictive and has its drawbacks aside from that.
I have to wonder: Is there an online support group for Internet Addicts? :=)
I admit it: I am a political and technical geek and I’m hooked on the Internet and I spend waaaaay too much time pidling here and other places on the ‘net.
Fortunately, I don’t need any motivation to stay away from Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendster, Twitter, MySpace, StumbleUpon, EHarmony, DateHookup and OkCupid. I decided early on that these places, with the possible exception of EHarmony, are pretty evil.
I caught a brief snippet of Kim Komando’s program this weekend. She mentioned, according to a study, the largest demographic that is on the internet is women over 55!
I’ll quit when I need glasses.
I’m afraid to google that.
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