Ok, first off that 43% stat is totally made up by me. However being a lover of technology and apparently having no self-discipline I have found myself spending entirely too much time on digg.com lately.
I decided to do something about it – I created a simple batch script that blocks access to the digg.com domain name, as well as a few other sites. I created a windows scheduled tasks to block/unblock the domains during the times that I want to get some work done. Of course I can always just unblock it. But, I’ve noticed that many times I just “wind up” there somehow out of unconcious habit. The goal of this script is to jog me out of this habit and get back to work.
You probably may ask why I would want to do such a thing? Who cares if you can surf on digg all day, why not? Well, when running your own company you have to get the work done on time and if you surf the web for 2 hours, then it just means you have to work that much longer before you’re done.
If you want to get really crazy, you can set up the block/unblock schedule to let you access the sites every other hour, or whatever schedule you want. I am chosing for now to block during my workday and then unblock in the evening. I’ll try that for a while, but I imagine I’ll probably add a “lunch break” in there for myself eventually!
I’ve attached the batch scripts mentioned here for your downloading pleasure. Please feel free to give it a try.
Oh, and get back to work!
Download Domain Blocker Batch Scripts…
mobajwa
September 28, 2006 at 3:57 pm
That batch script is exactly what I needed. Thanks
SoleAngelus
September 28, 2006 at 3:59 pm
Great idea, all i would suggest is that you some how make it so you cant unblock it untill the timer runs out, but then of course what if you desperatly need digg.com ?
TV Obsessed
September 28, 2006 at 4:03 pm
Nice script, I find myself procrastinating by surfing the net – it requires a bit of will power even with this type of script. I envy your ability to stay focused!
Doctor Touching
September 28, 2006 at 4:05 pm
THis is a very good idea, I’m going to be using this to help with my motivation. Thanks for the neat script!
CyberRowdy
September 28, 2006 at 4:06 pm
man….thats ingenius!
simpleprimate
September 28, 2006 at 4:07 pm
I will have to agree with 43%…Since all the digg links lead me on other excursions as well.
Tiago Serafim
September 28, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Really nice script… thank you!
Anil
September 28, 2006 at 4:17 pm
Excellent thought. I discovered digg some 2 months ago, and am finding myself spending more and more time on digg. I usually visit Digg every 2-3 hours, to see the updates. Now I call that addiction. One question though: Does your script work on mac/linux too?
Marc
September 28, 2006 at 4:29 pm
I understand all to well…
Brian
September 28, 2006 at 4:37 pm
Awesome. I had something like that in mind that but a lot more manual where I was renaming a block/unblocked hosts file. Made my life easier, and hopefully more productive. Thanks.
btx
September 28, 2006 at 4:40 pm
Even if that 43% was made up I would still bet its pretty close to reality. In fact.. i am at work right now making this post.. because I saw it on ..Digg… hmmm
Nick
September 28, 2006 at 4:48 pm
Hehe, that’s a funny script, but very helpfull for those who can’t hold themselves when they have work.
Anyway it is funny that an “anti-digg” program is on the front page of digg
//steven\ » Blog Archive » Work (paid) vs. Work (unpaid)
September 28, 2006 at 4:58 pm
[...] In case you didn’t read on the blog created by Mister Jangles, the figure 43% (as in that’s how much digg decreases productivity on the job) is made up. Mister Jangles’ post actually reveals that he feels he’s spending “entirely too much time” on digg as of late. [...]
admin
September 28, 2006 at 4:59 pm
Wow, 2 hours later and I just got hammered by digg front page! pair networks is the bomb – site is still running like a trooper!
@SoleAngelus – yes exactly the problem, what if I absolutely need to get to digg! At this point I have a feeling if there was no way to unblock it before 5pm, I might just run down to the Internet cafe or something. I need help!
Brook Harty
September 28, 2006 at 5:30 pm
Don’t forget to add it to “at” via command line (like cron)
at 08:00 /every:m,t,w,th,f c:\domain_blocker\block.bat
at 17:00 /every:m,t,w,th,f c:\domain_blocker\unblock.bat
arnott
September 28, 2006 at 6:46 pm
do we have a linux version of this script ?
Moe H
September 28, 2006 at 6:59 pm
Great idea. I’ve noticed that Firefox seems to cache DNS translations so even after running block.bat I can still see certain web pages. Any way to reset them in the browser as well?
C_c
September 28, 2006 at 7:01 pm
Thanks, it will help for my digg addiction too :~
Kris L
September 28, 2006 at 7:47 pm
one suggestion, in case someone has a customized hosts file already.
block.bat-
copy %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.bak
copy /a blockedhosts.bat+%systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
unblock.bat
copy %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.bak %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
Rodney
September 28, 2006 at 8:08 pm
I find digg saves me time by not surfing randomly, but nontheless this is a great idea in general to focus back on my work.
Oropher
September 29, 2006 at 12:08 am
I am totally addicted to Digg…
Jason
September 29, 2006 at 12:23 am
Hey Moe, I noticed the same thing. Firefox must be caching DNS. But, it seems to expire after about 10 minutes or so.
Jason
September 29, 2006 at 12:25 am
@arnott, you could write one easily for Linux. Linux uses a hosts file as well located at /etc/hosts – the batch scripts could be converted to a simple shell scripts (just change copy to cp and update the paths). then you would use cron to schedule it. The concept is exactly the same on both systems.
Game Producer
September 29, 2006 at 12:40 am
Hah, great post. Is there some sort of blocker batches to coffeine addicts as well?
Erik
October 3, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Here is mine. I already had a modified host file, so this works better for me. Also, this is just one batch file that does both the blocking and unblocking.
REM Remember to include the blockedhosts.txt
TITLE Bock and Unblock Hosts
IF EXIST %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.bak (
COPY %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.bak %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
DEL %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.bak
CLS
ECHO Hosts have been successfully returned to normal
PAUSE
EXIT
) ELSE (
COPY %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.bak
COPY %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts+%systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\blockedhosts.txt /A %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
CLS
ECHO Hosts have been successfully blocked
PAUSE
EXIT
)
The Mu Life » Social Bookmarking: Vote != Bookmark
November 13, 2006 at 10:37 am
[...] A lot of the people voting on stories (especially voting that continues on even though content on the other side of the link is unavailable) are doing so because they want to bookmark the link to either read it when they have time, or to read it when the website is not down because of a sudden surge of traffic. [...]
Jason
November 19, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Thanks Erik. More complete than mine – I like it!
Mu Life – you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but we do it on digg all the time anyway!