Academic Tech Tips

If you constantly find yourself checking your email, updating your Facebook, reading blogs, shopping online or watching YouTube videos (when you are trying to get important work done) there is hope yet!  With Freedom, a  program available for Mac and PC users, you can set parameters to disable your internet access from 60 seconds up to eight hours.  You can circumvent the time limit you specify by rebooting; though if you have to go through the trouble of rebooting, the idea is that you would wait until your Freedom minutes are up and not cheat.  Freedom software is available for purchase for $10 with a 90 day money-back guarantee.

If you do think that your internet habits could use a little policing but maybe not by completely removing internet access, you might want to check out a free browser plug-in from Firefox called LeechBlock.   With LeechBlock you can choose specific Web sites to block and set times to make the sites unavailable.   Since it might be too difficult for some to part with all digital distractions initially, LeechBlock might be a good entry point into the world of productivity software.

If you frequently clutter your Windows desktop with unused applications, then you might want to give Dusty a try. Dusty, a free application for Windows, simulates “dust” to cover items that you are not using on your desktop and taskbar.   The longer you are working in an application you will notice that unused elements on your display become more hidden.  A neat feature is that if you collapse a window, you can see an imprint, just like a when you pick up a book that has been sitting on a dusty table.  Even if you don’t find Dusty to be useful at all, it’s very easy to use and fun to try out. There is a limitation though, it was designed to work with Windows XP and 2000; it does not work properly with Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Download

What is Dusty

How to use