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I want to stop being able to access the internet during my working day. Is there any tool that I can use to disable internet connectivity for a specified period of time? I'm using Ubuntu 10.04

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5 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

You can disable your network interfaces

typing "ifconfig" at the command line will print all of your network interfaces.

you can bring down an interface like this

sudo ifconfig eth0 down

where eth0 is the network interface you are disconnecting, such as your wireless or wired Ethernet.

when you are ready to use it again just bring it back up.

sudo ifconfig eth0 up

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Thanks Chandler - what I am trying to do is prevent myself from surfing the web, is there a way to set a time parameter when I do this? – williamR Jul 27 '10 at 16:15
You could put those two commands in roots crontab at specific times. So lines like "0 8 * * * ifconfig eth0 down" "0 17 * * * ifconfig eth0 up" will turn off the interface at 8am and turn it on at 5pm. You can also specify certain days of the week. See man -s 5 crontab – KeithB Jul 27 '10 at 18:06
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up vote 0 down vote

Is this computer a home computer or your work computer? Also is there any other users on the network with you?

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It's a personal computer and I have administrator access to it. – williamR Jul 27 '10 at 15:05
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Well you can use OpenDNS as your DNS provider and have it set to disable internet access on your network for a set period of time (and free). But if you dont mind running a command each time to take it down/bring it back up, do what Chandler suggested. I know I would be tempted to just bring it back up though. – Brandon Jul 27 '10 at 15:45
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up vote 0 down vote

I use LeechBlock for Firefox at work. Block your biggest time wasters and you'll soon get back to work.

You can still access the rest of the web to do work-related searches (say), so you don't look like a complete nutter to your colleagues if they are at your screen.

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up vote 0 down vote

Self Control (Download Link)

From OMG!Ubuntu!

Self Control allows you to ‘block access to incoming and/or outgoing mail servers and websites’ for a specified amount of time.

Self Control Screenshot

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up vote -1 down vote

I just unplug the network cable when i'm not using the internet. This won't work for wireless connections, but i would reccommend using it if you have a wired connection (probably in addition to software disable).

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