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Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot

neilchen.co

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Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot

#11

Post by neilv »

At top of my uBlock Origin "My Filters" tab, I have a list of the Web sites like the following, which I comment (by prefixing each line with `!`) and un-comment, as needed.

    ||reddit.com^$important
    ||ycombinator.com^$important
This is sufficient to defeat whatever muscle-memory you have to visit the site.

If your addiction/habit is stronger, you might need to invest that $8.

Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot

#12

Post by prideout »

montroser wrote: post #9
bertwagner wrote: post #2

I've never thought of using a smart plug button as a switch to run a script - pretty neat idea I might use for some other projects. I hope you have more luck than me with sticking with the switch instead of just editing /etc/hosts.

I rigged up one of these so my wife could go push the button and her phone would play an alarm sound so she could find it when it goes missing. Was a good hack for a bit, but then the children figured out they could actually use the same button to _find their mom_, since the she was usually colocated with the phone!

Did you need to write an app for the phone?

Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot

#13

Post by quitit »

AstroBen wrote: post #8

my problem with things like this is that it's trivially easy to just.. stop the script. What's the point when it adds so little friction?

The reason why social media and similar websites now have infinite scroll is because the next page button provided you with a circuit breaker to stop and reconsider if you actually wanted to continue or if you were just mindlessly scrolling.

So if you have a genuine intention not to use certain websites at particular times (e.g. work time), then having any kind of forced interruption can be useful for changing that behaviour.

If you're looking to create genuine change, then making those websites load slowly is even more effective than going cold turkey (because it minimises the dopamingeric effects.)

Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot

#15

Post by AstroBen »

quitit wrote: post #13
AstroBen wrote: post #8

my problem with things like this is that it's trivially easy to just.. stop the script. What's the point when it adds so little friction?

The reason why social media and similar websites now have infinite scroll is because the next page button provided you with a circuit breaker to stop and reconsider if you actually wanted to continue or if you were just mindlessly scrolling. So if you have a genuine intention not to use certain websites at particular times (e.g. work time), then having any kind of forced interruption can be useful for changing that b…

Having tried that many times, it just doesn't work for me

Maybe others have better luck

Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot

#16

Post by amiga-workbench »

AstroBen wrote: post #8

my problem with things like this is that it's trivially easy to just.. stop the script. What's the point when it adds so little friction?

If you're getting to the point where you have to open a terminal, elevate to root and edit your hosts file, that's beyond a bored impulse. You know exactly what you're doing and you can stop yourself. That tiny bit of friction is enough to defeat the ingrained impulses and make you think.

Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot

#18

Post by Jackim »

Theodores wrote: post #14

How does this work? Silly question, but I don't get it. Do you have to get something onto the smart outlet? ELIF!!!

The script on the computer checks to see if the smart plug is on or off. Depending on the state, the script blocks or unblocks the websites. The smart plug is just acting as a button that is connected to your WiFi.

Re: Using an $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot

#19

Post by lcuff »

AstroBen wrote: post #8

my problem with things like this is that it's trivially easy to just.. stop the script. What's the point when it adds so little friction?

For some "a little friction" is enough. For others, not. I keep less-healthy food treats in a cupboard in my garage, because the friction of walking out to get them is enough to reduce my usage to an acceptable level. Even less healthy treats I don't buy, because the friction of going to the grocery store to get them when I'm craving them is enough.

It's an interesting exercise to think about how this could be engineered to increase the friction.

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