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'Freedom' Web-Blocker Takes You Off the Grid -- for the Evening, Anyway

by Evan Shamoon on October 27, 2009 at 07:35 AM


In an attempt to regain her personal freedom, New York Times writer Peggy Orenstein attempted the unthinkable: going offline. But it took more than removing herself from the Internet. It took removing the Internet from her. Temporarily, at least.

In her research, Orenstein stumbled upon an application called Freedom, which blocks the user's access to the Internet for up to eight hours at a stretch. The only way to get back online is rebooting your computer, which Orenstein considers enough of a "cumbersome" and "humiliating" hassle to deter users from getting back online.

The program came from the mind of Fred Stutzman, a graduate student in Information and Library Science. Some time ago, Stutzman lost his ability to effectively write (something he'd been able to consistently do by going to a certain cafe) when said cafe decided to offer Wi-Fi. Now, Stutzman's (Mac-only) program is downloaded more than 4,000 times a month, and he's still a regular user, himself.

"We're moving toward this era where we'll never be able to escape from the cloud," Stutzman says. "I realized the only way to fight back was at an individual, personal level." [From: New York Times]

Tags: freedom, offline, offthegrid, top

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