[HN Gopher] Using Home Assistant, adguard home and an $8 smart o...
___________________________________________________________________
Using Home Assistant, adguard home and an $8 smart outlet to avoid
brain rot
Author : remuskaos
Score : 350 points
Date : 2025-06-22 20:26 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.romanklasen.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.romanklasen.com)
| remuskaos wrote:
| Neil Chen just posted this genius idea to disable internet
| filters for social media addicts:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44346450
|
| I've used his idea and make a home assistant automation that
| temporarily disables adguard home to do the same thing.
| NWChen wrote:
| Amazing work & thanks for the shoutout Roman!
| FrankPetrilli wrote:
| Seeing this, I had the initial idea of using AdGuard logs to
| trigger a power-down of your device if you try and visit brainrot
| content. I think I like it that way more.
| stavros wrote:
| Why is this using a plug rather than a Zigbee button? I don't
| understand the plug bit.
| rcarmo wrote:
| The plug has a button, and thus sends out an event when it is
| manually turned on.
| stavros wrote:
| Yes, but so does a button, no?
| taude wrote:
| I think this button is powered by the outlet.
| ryukoposting wrote:
| Zigbee buttons can last for years on a single coin cell.
|
| I think the smart plug may add a layer of inconvenience,
| since you have to lean down to the outlet to press it.
| The inconvenience is a feature in this case, though.
| nomel wrote:
| It's literally a button, with some extra stuff attached to
| it. The only requirement for a button is that if it's
| accessible to the person trying to press it (no pictures
| posted of that, feel free to assume). But, there's
| intentional _inaccessibility_ built into this project, so
| that may be an intentional _goal_.
|
| Thats's the great part about home assistant
| though...anything that can change states, with
| intent/meaning, is waiting to be tied to an automation.
| florbo wrote:
| I'm guessing they already had the plug (I myself have a
| small stockpile of extra Z-wave/wifi/Zigbee devices for
| when I inevitably need/want to hook something up), so there
| wasn't a need to buy something else.
| 0x457 wrote:
| OP had a socket with a button and decided to use it as a
| button. Yes button works, but you don't have it, like OP,
| then socket like that will do. As a bonus, you can put a
| light bulb that indicates the state.
| remuskaos wrote:
| I just had the plug laying around, and since it has a button,
| it does the job.
|
| But it actually has an advantage: I can plug a small lamp into
| it. After 14 minutes, the plug switches on and off every 2
| seconds, indicating that the time runs out, adding a little
| drama.
| urbandw311er wrote:
| Nice idea. But it needs to be harder for me to reverse. I think I
| would very quickly develop the reflex of disabling WiFi on my
| phone so it loads the site via mobile data.
| mingus88 wrote:
| Like any addiction, the addict needs to first _want_ to stop
| yunwal wrote:
| Having the addiction mere seconds away ensures that any
| addict will not stop, no matter how much they want it. There
| needs to be enough separation between you and the thing that
| your rational brain kicks in.
| magarnicle wrote:
| The trouble I have with all tech-based attempts I've set up to
| stop myself getting distracted is that it is me versus a much-
| more-motivated me.
|
| We have the same technical skills but one of us is not going to
| stop until he wins.
| j45 wrote:
| You can run a VPN no matter the data connection. And delete the
| apps and have to reinstall them, or login via web.
| remuskaos wrote:
| Yeah, thats just how it was when I completely blocked those
| services on my network.
|
| My hope is that this gentle nuding towards "come on, you've had
| 15 minutes, now just wait another 45, please?" is enough of a
| hurdle. I think it's a moderation tool.
| mikehotel wrote:
| If you don't mind supervised mode, this can help prevent this
| bypass: https://www.techlockdown.com/blog/prevent-turning-off-
| wifi-i...
| suprjami wrote:
| Glad to see GL-iNet get a mention.
|
| Their routers are OpenWrt compatible by design, the factory
| firmware is based on owrt or you can flash upstream for a "pure"
| image. I've used them for many years and they're great.
| remuskaos wrote:
| I really like them too. Not only are they OpenWRT compatible,
| they run more or less stock OpenWRT with a custom UI. They do
| also expose the standard LuCi for advanced settings too.
| p1necone wrote:
| I don't know if this'll help anyone else or if it's just specific
| to me but I'll throw it out there anyway.
|
| Drop the idea that short form content like youtube shorts or tik
| toks or whatever is somehow ignoble and worthy of scorn.
| Recognize it's just a fun way to kill some time.
|
| Internalized that? Cool.
|
| Now find a comfy place to sit or lie down and binge that shit.
| For hours. Do it for as long as it brings you joy. Had your fill?
| Cool.
|
| Keep doing this, whenever you've got some free time and there
| isn't something else you want to do more binge that short form
| "brainrot" content. Do not let the thought that you're somehow
| "wasting" your time enter your mind. You're having fun, and
| that's all that matters.
|
| If you're anything like me once you've internalized the idea that
| it's just dumb short videos for fun and you've watched hours of
| them, you'll just get bored of it. Maybe you'll spend 20 minutes
| scrolling occasionally but your brain aint gonna rot.
| OtomotO wrote:
| That's me circa 2010 when 9gag became really popular.
|
| I used to watch memes and images for hours upon end. Until at
| some point I just stopped and never did it again.
|
| Over the years people would send some links. I looked at the
| picture, maybe laughed, and closed the tab.
| markerz wrote:
| I kind of agree, but the cost is high for young people. I see
| similar problems between brain rot and junkie snack foods.
| Older people grew up without this instant gratification and
| arent used to it the same way young kids are. I grew up with
| snacks and crave them regularly, but all my older friends don't
| even think about snacks the same way I do. I think the
| addictive this fades with the development of your brain around
| 25 years old, as well as increased life experiences, but the
| addiction to short form entertainment is strong enough to
| prevent you from getting other forms of life experiences that
| would eventually make that content boring and feel
| unfulfilling.
|
| As an example, I used to watch a lot of dance videos. Recently
| I started taking dance classes and the videos just hit
| different now. The bar is so much higher for me to feel
| impressed because I'm digesting the content much more
| efficiently now and so much content is just repetition with
| slight variation.
| Centigonal wrote:
| oh, I wish. I have spent multiple 16 hour days watching just
| minecraft youtube videos. I'm an adult with responsibilities
| and many sources of joy and fulfillment outside of youtube. My
| personal appetite for mindless internet content appears to be
| infinite.
| mavhc wrote:
| Spend time examining your own brain to find out why
| j_bum wrote:
| I think this is dangerous rhetoric.
|
| I'm glad that _you_ had an experience where you found the
| corner of your internet to be boring. I do not think this is
| the common experience.
|
| And simply because _you_ didn't feel impacted by it, does not
| mean that it's not bad. This is obviously hyperbolic, but your
| comment reads to me like someone saying, "I used narcotics all
| of the time when I was younger, and I'm fine now. So everybody
| chill out." That doesn't mean narcotics are ok.
|
| Social media _does_ change your brain. It doesn't take much to
| find research on this, but here's an example of a longitudinal
| study of US adolescents [0].
|
| This type of online content is a form of a non-pharmacological
| "drug", so to say, as it can dramatically impact reward system
| connectivity.
|
| [0] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9857400/
| garrettjoecox wrote:
| Dopamine receptors fried. Maybe fine for you, but I wouldn't
| recommend it to anyone, kids especially
| loveiswork wrote:
| There are helpful nuggets of wisdom here. Also let's
| acknowledge some people are prone to watch hours of short form
| content a day, every day, at the expense of everything else in
| their lives, for a very long consecutive time (of course I know
| him -- he's me). They really are addicting!
| kaashif wrote:
| Actually, I've already tried that and found it boring from the
| start, not just after a few hours. I found context switching
| between videos to be exhausting, not worth it given the low
| amount of content per switch, and I prefer vegging out in front
| of a movie, documentary, or even 30 min YouTube video to be
| lower effort. This is independent of any consideration of
| nobility or scorn.
|
| I think the fact that people are scrolling through this stuff
| and NOT getting bored or tired is interesting, people are
| different to me in some way I don't understand.
| HeWhoLurksLate wrote:
| This is probably in the same vein as people finding out they
| have ADHD by taking drugs at a party and being able to focus
| for the first time in their lives; you might consider getting
| a psych eval
| kaashif wrote:
| You're saying that because I like long form content,
| movies, and documentaries, I need a psych eval?
|
| I realize that my comment may have been written poorly and
| I'm sorry. If it was unclear, I meant that I find watching
| long videos to be lower effort than watching many short
| videos, one after the other.
|
| Now that that's clear, I will refuse the psych eval and
| continue with my day.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| I may be wrong, but I think the person who mentioned ADHD
| is suggesting that you should get checked if you are
| neurodivergent because you are talking as if your
| experience is typical but what you describe seems like a
| pretty big outlier
| kaashif wrote:
| I don't think anything I have described warrants being
| evaluated for neurodivergence.
|
| Can we not just say different people are different and
| call it there?
|
| I know a lot of people that can't stand tiktok and insta
| reels.
| aaronbaugher wrote:
| I remember discovering Beavis and Butthead in the 90s and
| showing it to my parents, and their being more confused
| than offended by the short (for the time) and scattered
| 15-minute episodes. I'm pretty sure if you went back 50
| years and showed TikTok to people who were used to things
| like Columbo and Loveboat, they'd just be confused and
| wonder what the point is.
|
| If anything, I'd say the people who enjoy absorbing
| entertainment in 7-second chunks have been reprogrammed
| and desensitized in a way that's not normal, though I
| wouldn't slap any psych labels on them either.
| II2II wrote:
| For some people, that approach may work. If it does work, it's
| great since it avoids the mental anguish of beating yourself up
| (which is damaging in it's own right). That said, I can see two
| scenarios where it won't work: (a) those who have been dealing
| with the problem for an extended period of time, and (b) those
| who replace one counter productive habit with another. At the
| end of the day, we must face the reality that these products
| are designed to gain and hold people's attention. They are
| intended to be psychologically difficult to escape from.
| j45 wrote:
| Another thing is it can be easier to remove the junk food
| from the pantry than try to build the discipline and
| resistance to not eat it sitting there.
|
| That energy can go towards other things.
| spauldo wrote:
| Perhaps it's just the ones people keep sending me links to, but
| I've seen nothing to indicate that short-form videos are not
| worthy of scorn. At best you get a moderately funny joke, but
| most I've seen either breeze through a topic that deserves a
| longer format or they present extremely one-sided views of
| complex topics. The fact they're often used to further drive
| the political divide that's destroying my country just makes it
| worse.
|
| Want me to instantly lower my opinion of you? Send me a link to
| a Tik-Tok.
| remuskaos wrote:
| It seems you're already down voted, but I'd like to respond to
| this comment anyway. Also, I'll rephrase it slightly:
|
| "Drop the idea that drinking alcohol like shots or beer or
| whatever is somehow ignoble and worthy of scorn. Recognize it's
| just a fun way to kill some time (and brain cells).
|
| Internalized that? Cool.
|
| Now find a comfy place to sit or lie down and binge that shit.
| For hours. Do it for as long as it brings you joy. Had your
| fill? Cool."
|
| The key is moderation.
|
| I'm not against drinking and I'm not against using Youtube,
| Reddit, Instagram, Hacker News. But I get sucked into it way
| more that I want, and this is my way of having a nice old lady
| ask "haven't you had enough, honey?".
|
| Damn, I've spent days on Youtube, not even on "silly" stuff.
| There's a limitless supply of educational videos, PBS Space
| Time, Stumpy Nubs, Phil Salmony, DIY Perks.... But I still have
| a limited amount of hours in a day. Also I have shared
| responsibility of several humans and animals in this house, I
| can't just sit idly behind a screen all day (except for the
| eight hours I get paid to do it).
| userbinator wrote:
| Distracting yourself from distractions by building an overly
| complex system to help you do that, and writing an article about
| it, is certainly a very HN-ish thing to do.
| gerdesj wrote:
| It is possible that OP has made some parts of the story up or
| at least sexed it up a bit to jibe with the HN mindset
| (whatever that is).
|
| I found the article refreshingly short and to the point whilst
| being jolly amusing and informative. The bloke is German so
| English is a second language - very good skills.
|
| That's a skilled technical writer, that is.
|
| Bookmarked. More please!
| remuskaos wrote:
| Thank you, I really appreciate this!
|
| Alas, none of it is made up - honestly. My wife and I kept
| finding ourselves in the garden on a beautiful day scrolling
| reddit and instagram for up to an hour, on several occasions.
| We kind of know we're wasting our time, and we kind of want
| to, too. It's kind of a constant struggle of uber-me against
| animal-me and I really hope this moderation tool works how I
| image it.
|
| After I read Neils post I've completed the entire setup -
| including blog post - in maybe three hours. So if this keeps
| me from doom scrolling for an hour at least three times, I've
| gained some time back.
| cainxinth wrote:
| We want technological solutions to problems created by
| technology, and structured approaches to recovering from over-
| structuring our lives.
| AdieuToLogic wrote:
| There is a word for those who believe they cannot live
| without something, go to whatever means necessary in order to
| obtain it, even knowing it is harmful, only to find what was
| once thought an escape is now a prison.
| remuskaos wrote:
| We prefer the term 'addict', thank you very much.
| xattt wrote:
| Is there a difference between addiction and compulsion?
| BrenBarn wrote:
| More flour more water. More water more flour.
| fud101 wrote:
| More sugar, more salt.
| arcanemachiner wrote:
| Ted Kaczynski would be proud.
| lm28469 wrote:
| Hey that's what we do with climate change too! Just one more
| lanes guys, it's going to solve everything I promise
| nsgi wrote:
| Sometimes this is the distraction you need - building something
| just for the sake of it can be oddly grounding
| elric wrote:
| Modern problems require modern solutions.
|
| But on a more serious note, distraction and focus are difficult
| topics. When I'm highly motivated, I'm utterly indistractible.
| When I have to do boring toil, absolutely anything & everything
| can distract me.
| frereubu wrote:
| I have recently discovered that hardcore punk (like the album
| Feel The Darkness by Poison Idea) played at high volume in
| some headphones really helps me when I have to do those kinds
| of tasks. My hunch is that is translates my ennui into
| cathartic anger that I have to do this studpid f__king task,
| which generates motivation to show it who's boss and I plough
| through it. YMMV obviously - relies on you enjoying hardcore
| punk!
| SketchySeaBeast wrote:
| I call it giving the boredom monkey something to do. As
| long as he's in the corner enthusiastically banging his
| little drum I can get stuff done.
| drvhali wrote:
| Hyperfocus is a defining trait of some types of ADHD and
| Autism spectrum.
|
| But, don't discount addiction in-general. Social media,
| internet use, and gaming are some of the things that can
| provide quick dopamine hits, which is the problem being
| addressed here.
|
| Adding a button to turn it off for a short-time is like
| heating just a tiny spoon of heroin and injecting it. No AA
| sponsor should ever say, "Yeah, it's ok to dip your tongue in
| that whiskey." That's nonsense.
| anal_reactor wrote:
| Why aren't you motivated then? Is it because you're aware
| that most of your work is utterly pointless?
| sigbottle wrote:
| For me, the issue is, I always know that once I actually get
| into it it will be fine, but getting started even _for that
| day_ is a toil.
|
| For all my progress up there both intellectually and as a
| person, I'm still someone who will just sit in bed for 1 hour
| before work and watch brainrot instead of getting up and
| getting ready for work. Or sit in bed reading reddit for a
| few hours on a weekend before making myself breakfast.
|
| Once I get into it, it's fine, but the thought of spending
| ~30-45 minutes getting up and properly starting the day is
| enough to make me procrastinate hours away :(
| Cthulhu_ wrote:
| The "problem" is self-regulation, vs having someone else -
| a parent, a boss with a clipboard and your clock-in thingy,
| a military commander, etc - tell you what to do when. Self-
| discipline is hard and requires willpower, and I've always
| been of the opinion that willpower is a resource, but
| someone else telling you what to do when doesn't cost as
| much willpower as motivating yourself.
|
| Blue collar work is better in that regard; you clock in
| every day at the same time, do a job that doesn't involve
| computers, often optimized for output so you don't have
| many lulls of activity, take breaks when the bell goes, and
| clock out and shut work off completely once you're done.
|
| Meanwhile IT white collar work, especially WFH, requires a
| lot more self-direction, and since for most people in IT
| their entertainment is also digital, the boundary blurs by
| a lot.
|
| Part of me wants a blue collar job.
| denim_vampire wrote:
| Completely agree. I worked in a factory for a while, and
| while it was worse in many ways than my current tech job,
| it was so much easier to just show up and _do_ the work.
| avgDev wrote:
| I also worked at a factory before transitioning to
| programming, and can relate to everything you have said.
|
| My research resulted in me getting an ADHD diagnosis. My
| brain is screwed up. It just has a weird relationship
| with dopamine and motivation.
|
| Not sure if this would work for you but a low dose
| Adderall really helps me focus and feel good doing
| "slower" tasks like work. I would certainly speak to a
| physician if you haven't already.
|
| I have a child, who is brilliant, and performing great at
| school but he is already presenting similar symptoms as
| myself, hopefully I can help him set healthy limits and
| cope without meds.
| BrandoElFollito wrote:
| I code for fun and when I have an idea it is difficult for me
| to start.
|
| The weird thing is that this is for fun, I have no pressure
| but still need some time to just start. Once I started I can
| go for a line time.
| dirkc wrote:
| Distracting yourself by reading and commenting about someone
| distracting themselves from distractions by building an overly
| complex system is the ultimate HN thing to do ;P
| _Algernon_ wrote:
| If you identify a problem behavior then putting extrinsic
| constraints to manage that behavior seems like a reasonable
| thing to do. This comment reads like disparaging an ex-smoker
| for not still walking around with cigarettes in their pocket.
| conductr wrote:
| I read the article as if it was written by a smoker, that
| wanted to quit so badly, he engineered a complex machine that
| would only dispense him a cigarette on a defined and spaced
| out schedule. Thereby, not quitting at all.
| illiac786 wrote:
| Much simpler is using nextDNS as ad filter.
|
| But, even AdGuard isn't that complex, I think it's a one time
| distraction with some maintenance, compared to endless ads
| eating away at your brain, hours after hours. Worth it I say =)
| smileysteve wrote:
| Especially when nextdns has a free tier.
| s3p wrote:
| I love it though!! These kinds of projects are fun to do and
| attack a real life use case for the creator. I bet he and his
| girlfriend get good use out of it. If my roommate wasn't so
| insistent on unfettered access to internet, I'd try to do
| similar DNS filtering for our apartment.
| polivier wrote:
| I love Home Assistant.
|
| Many years ago we gave our then-toddler an old digital camera to
| play with. Some time later, we looked at the pictures he took. We
| were horrified to find out that he took pictures of the outside
| of the house at night. As in, our toddler would unlock and open
| the front door, go outside (at night!), take pictures of the
| house, go back in, close and lock the door, and go back into his
| bed. I bought some wireless door sensors and created an
| automation where if the sensors are triggered between 10pm and
| 6am, the lights in our room would turn on to wake us up.
|
| I expanded this later and today we have sensors on all
| doors/windows that kids can use to leave the house (we have 4
| young kids). As it happens, these are the same doors/windows that
| burglars can use to enter the house, so this doubles as an alarm
| system (that we can activate when we leave the house and will
| notify us remotely if the sensors are triggered).
|
| The best part is that with Home Assistant you are not locked into
| an app/ecosystem. Our door/window sensors are of a different
| brand than our lightbulbs, and we control everything from a
| single app.
| mcgrath_sh wrote:
| What door/window sensors did you use?
| polivier wrote:
| I almost went for the Ikea ones, but in the end I went with
| Aqara. More expensive, but very small/reliable, and the
| battery holds up very well.
| gerdesj wrote:
| I put Zwave window sensors on all windows at work (40 of
| them). These devices have two AAA cells. One of the gent's
| window sensors used to "die" far quicker than any of the
| others and eventually stopped working. I should explain:
| "gent's" := men's toilet.
|
| The sensors are quite large and simple and the gent's
| windows tend to be left open more often than the other
| windows. One of the two gent's sit down toilets is
| generally preferred to the other for very minor reasons but
| it is preferred.
|
| So, the battery terminals were getting slightly corroded on
| that window sensor because it was open more often to the
| outside environment.
|
| I've rubbed a bit of silicone sealant into the crack
| between the two parts of the sensor and expect that it will
| survive better now.
| BLKNSLVR wrote:
| This, for me, is the most interesting part of your comment:
|
| > our toddler would unlock and open the front door, go outside
| (at night!), take pictures of the house, go back in, close and
| lock the door, and go back into his bed.
|
| Did you ever ask your toddler why they did this? The thought
| process, for a toddler, to do that, to want a photo of the
| outside of the house at night enough to do that. That's some
| high level curiosity, worth fostering.
|
| One of mine at that age would have had that level of
| quirkiness, but probably would have been too scared of "the
| dark" (also, our house already had a security system installed
| when we bought it, which we still set off accidentally every
| now and then, so the kids would probably have known that as
| well).
| litmus-pit-git wrote:
| Result might not be as expected ;-)
|
| A much younger cousin used to do that -- sans the camera or
| photo taking part in my village. He could barely talk. When
| asked around that time and a bit later as well, because it
| continued, he said something that spooked some in the family.
| He let us know that she was playing with someone in the large
| courtyard. Some women in the family (at night after dinner
| they would all socialise away from work and male intervention
| relaxed; a very South Asian thing) would remark the way he
| would sometimes play away in a corner in the gigantic
| courtyard in the evening (evenings in the city -- in a lot of
| villages 7-8pm is quite the night) - as if he was playing
| with someone. Something, at least two more toddlers in the
| family had attested to before him. They all were teens/adults
| later at that time. Even the description matched. I was a
| teen, who stayed in boarding schools, and had been bullied
| too much and sadly bullied others too much in the guise of
| ghosts and what not so I didn't believe it, I don't believe
| it now. But it was weird. I think it is some kind of family
| memory or shit. My later explanation is/was -- someone scared
| those kids with such stories so that they won't wander around
| alone at night and they kind of started living it.
| interloxia wrote:
| Mine has perfectly sensible reasons from their point of view
| for a three year old.
|
| Fortunately the problem door has an old security chain held
| in by by time and wishful thinking but good enough to keep
| her in for now.
| polivier wrote:
| I don't recall if we asked him why he did this, but we did
| make it clear that he should never leave the house alone at
| his age. Curiosity-wise, however, we generally let our kids
| explore the world on their own terms as long as it's not
| dangerous. And "dangerous", in our view, is understood to be
| "lasting permanent damage" (doing something that can lead to
| losing an eye is dangerous, doing something that can lead to
| breaking a finger is not dangerous).
| russdill wrote:
| you...uh, are not alone
| https://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2020/09/richard.html
| ljf wrote:
| What an excellent story! I need to explore the rest of that
| site now, cheers for the introduction.
| awaymazdacx5 wrote:
| rasberry pi-5 for HDMI virtualization on a Wayland windows
| manager column should serve adguard assistance
| tmhrtly wrote:
| The one thing I've found that works for me on my phone is the
| OneSec app. It hooks into shortcuts (for apps) and a Safari
| extension (for websites) to prompt you with a small task to do
| (eg a 20sec breathing exercise) before you access the softblocked
| content. The time delay + task is enough for me to remind myself
| that this isn't what I want to be doing. And in the instances
| where I actually do consciously want to visit XYZ platform, I can
| just do the exercise and be granted access.
|
| The only downside is that the Safari extension is granted full
| access to my web browsing in order to facilitate the website
| blocking. They say they don't capture any data and at this point
| do trust them (you may feel differently). For blocking apps, no
| private data sharing is required.
| johncole wrote:
| Could I use a shortcut on iPhone to do something similar?
| AdieuToLogic wrote:
| > The one thing I've found that works for me on my phone is the
| OneSec app.
|
| Sometimes the simplest solution is the Luddite one; put the
| phone down and step away from it.
|
| If this appears to be an insurmountable ask, or otherwise
| infeasible, I humbly suggest there is a greater concern to be
| addressed than what yet another app on the phone which cannot
| be distanced may remedy.
| nkrisc wrote:
| It's too true. If your problem is your phone, the solution
| won't be found on your phone.
| tmhrtly wrote:
| I agree, this is the pathway. For me, this is the tool I've
| found that works to nudge me down that pathway by adding
| extra friction to the routes to cheap, crap dopamine. Often
| an interruption from this app is accompanied by my brain
| going "huh, so what do you really want to use this time
| for?".
| dsauerbrun wrote:
| how do you and others get past all the permissions that onesec
| needs? They say everything remains on device; however, it's a
| closed source application so there's not really any way to
| confirm that besides looking at the packets that are going out
| of your phone.
| atommclain wrote:
| I don't have this app installed, but I would use the App
| Privacy Report in settings to inspect the App Network
| Activity to see what domains it connects to and how often.
| While not conclusive, I think it could provide some level of
| insight to whether it's handing off your information or not.
| Ideally it wouldn't make any network connections.
| varenc wrote:
| I do something similar but with a global keyboard shortcut on my
| Mac managed with Alfred. When I hit the shortcut it just changes
| my system's DNS resolver to 1.1.1.1 and reset the macOS DNS
| cache. And then automatically switches back in 1 minute or 10
| minutes depending on the shortcut.
|
| Quite easy, but doesn't help anyone but me. Though I like that it
| only disables blocking on my device and not my entire network.
| gerdesj wrote:
| When I specify smart home stuff, I have several criteria. Things
| like controls must be mains powered or on UPS or both.
|
| If it is important, then if wifi/ethernet out then it should
| still work. So my doorbell used to have a link to a mechanical
| chime (Doorbird), the current Reolink jobbie does not but it is
| PoE and all my switches have UPS. The Reolink does have a
| separate chime that plugs into a power socket and a way better
| camera.
|
| Oh and none of my home things ever get unfettered access to the
| internet. I have two VLANs for IoT: things is for most devices
| and sewer is for those that scare me somewhat.
|
| I treat the whole thing the same way I do corporate IT and I do
| point Nessus at it. I have several Home Assistants that I look
| after - home and work and several customer ones too.
|
| The OP's choice of smart plug is clearly designed to be mildly
| inconvenient to get at but also reliable. I'll put money on there
| being a monitoring function too.
|
| That's a nerd that does things "proper like".
| phil21 wrote:
| > The Reolink does have a separate chime that plugs into a
| power socket and a way better camera
|
| I started using PoE to DC power adapters for most of these use-
| cases. It lets me centralize my UPS to the utility closet, and
| offer a ton of runtime that way. My router + switching setup
| now powers my entire house including remote switches (PoE++
| powered) and access points. Security cameras (and slowly now -
| security floodlights) are PoE powered as well. I have probably
| 12-14 hours of runtime off a large stack of UPS batteries, and
| could add a few days to that if I wheel my "whole home" UPS I
| never had the time to hardwire into the house yet into the
| room.
|
| Items like the fiber NIU and cable modem are powered via PoE
| splitters into 9/12/24V outputs they require. I still have a
| few random bridges and other various devices I should convert
| as well, but I've been lazy lately.
|
| I went with two lower port count "core" switches vs. one so I
| have redundancy there, so one going out will only take out half
| my network and I can still operate in a degraded mode - my AP
| density is such that it works fine, and I can re-patch the in-
| wall and PoE powered switches for workstations.
|
| The only issue is that it kind of grows with a mind of it's
| own... I am up to an absurd number of devices on the network
| now.
| gerdesj wrote:
| I live in a UK sticks n bricks two storey roof and a half
| building. It looks like a bungalow with three bedrooms in the
| roof on floor one (second floor for the US and other one
| based countries).
|
| I have two switches in my attic above those bedrooms and most
| of the rest of IT.
|
| That means I can easily run cable drops along my attic and
| then under the roof to the outer walls of my house. I've run
| four Cat 5e to my garage and four to my sitting room.
|
| Basically, I think we are both doing it right.
|
| The biggest criticism of IoT is insecure and unreliable. If
| you buy any old tat and wire it up to Alexa well that's fine
| if it hangs together and it mostly does these days. If you
| squint hard enough, you can forget about Alexa being a bit of
| a security ... quandry.
|
| There is no such thing as absurd when it comes to automation.
| ricardobeat wrote:
| Unfortunately there is no way to block websites at the network
| level (that I know of) as browsers and mobile phones have started
| using hardcoded DNS resolvers, so the utility of this is limited.
| AdieuToLogic wrote:
| > Unfortunately there is no way to block websites at the
| network level (that I know of) as browsers and mobile phones
| have started using hardcoded DNS resolvers, so the utility of
| this is limited.
|
| Any network traffic which goes through a gateway under your
| control can be controlled. DNSSEC[0] can make this more
| difficult, true, but not impossible as content ultimately
| originates from an IPv4/IPv6 address and can be dropped by
| upstream network devices.
|
| 0 -
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System_Security_Ex...
| remuskaos wrote:
| I thought I commented on this from my phone, but it seems it
| didn't go through, so I'll try again.
|
| Most apps I've tried (and browsers too) can be blocked just
| fine via DNS. The gli.net interface allows "Override DNS
| Settings of All Clients" and "DNS Rebinding Attack Protection".
| This way, the router itself is the only resolver actually
| reachable. Even if I try some manual `dig google.com @1.1.1.1`,
| I still get the routers result.
|
| The only thing it can't block is DNS over Https. I think that's
| by design, it seems it's impossible to block that.
| elric wrote:
| > browsers and mobile phones have started using hardcoded DNS
| resolvers, so the utility of this is limited
|
| Got a source for that? No phone or browser that I'm aware of
| uses "hardcoded DNS resolvers". They all use the OS DNS servers
| which the OS gets from DHCP.
| brynx97 wrote:
| https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-dns-over-https
|
| By extension, any application or device could rely on DoH
| instead of OS-provided or network-provider DNS servers. It is
| controversial, since it both helps individuals combat ISP or
| government censorship and also helps bad actors do bad things
| [1].
|
| [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_over_HTTPS#Analysis_of_D
| NS...
| elric wrote:
| DoH in Firefox is off by default (at least in every FF I've
| ever installed). And it's not hardcoded to any specific DNS
| server, you can use whichever provider you like.
| ethan_smith wrote:
| You can still block at network level by configuring your router
| to intercept all port 53 traffic, redirect DNS-over-HTTPS using
| firewall rules for known DoH providers, and employ TLS
| inspection on your gateway for complete control.
| jz10 wrote:
| NextDNS Privacy and Parental control features works really well
| for me
| day_visit wrote:
| I do the same but I'm embarrassed to say sometimes I go into
| the parental settings and change them to "get my fix". I
| haven't found an option to "lock" the settings from being
| changed when I need them most.
| AdieuToLogic wrote:
| Here is a gradated set of exercises to determine one's phone
| addiction, if any, in increasing levels of potential difficulty.
| 1 - on an off day, with no reason to require phone use,
| put your phone in a dresser drawer for the day and do not
| use or look at it. 2 - on an off day, with no reason
| to require phone use, put your phone in a dresser drawer
| for the day and leave your residence for at least one
| hour. 3 - leave your phone at home when either meeting
| friends, getting lunch, or going to the grocery store.
| 4 - leave your phone at home when going into the office
| for one day. 5 - leave your phone in a dresser drawer
| for an entire weekend. 6 - leave your phone at
| home when traveling for more than a day (vacation,
| visiting family, etc.).
| myself248 wrote:
| These are very good. I take phone-free walks around the
| neighborhood, to the store, downtown for a festival. It feels
| weird at first, then it's nice.
|
| I took an internet-free vacation last spring, and it was
| lovely.
|
| While planning the trip, I made sure my old TomTom's built-in
| maps seemed accurate to what I was seeing online; there wasn't
| a lot of road-building activity there in the last decade or
| two. Then I turned off my phone and locked it in the glovebox,
| there in case of emergency.
|
| Then I took a deep breath, started the car, and headed north.
|
| It was _awesome_ just knowing there was no way a notification
| could ding, nobody could call me, no news headline could pop up
| and harsh my mellow. Even if those things didn 't actually
| happen constantly, simply existing in a state where they
| _could_ was stressful, apparently, and turning the damn thing
| off was remarkably cathartic.
| AdieuToLogic wrote:
| Reading your story brings joy to my heart, not for any reason
| other than I can see in my mind's eye what you describe. And
| it rocks!
|
| Freedom is a gift, not from without, but found from within.
|
| We set ourself free by our choices. And we shackle ourselves
| by same.
| rrr_oh_man wrote:
| If you haven't done it, yet: Turn notifications off. All of
| them. It will improve your life.
| thi2 wrote:
| The hardest challenge is not using your phone when sitting on
| the toilet
| zargon wrote:
| If you sit on the toilet long enough to have time to look at
| your phone, you should probably address that.
| tapland wrote:
| If you never do, you'd hopefully be aware that it's
| exceptional.
| eCa wrote:
| As an always-sitter, it's always long enough.
| syabro wrote:
| Old good air freshener label reading
| zikduruqe wrote:
| Dr. Bronner's soap is good also.
|
| DILUTE! DILUTE! OK!
| mwidell wrote:
| I also recommend getting an Apple Watch with cellular - that
| way you can still be reached for emergencies, while not having
| access to any social media or other distractions. Since I got
| an apple watch I find myself leaving the phone at home more
| often.
| shreezus wrote:
| Agreed - I disabled all non-essential notifications (I don't
| need Slack pinging my wrist) and have found my watch actually
| helps me ditch the phone more easily.
|
| I'm still "reachable", but the watch UX is annoying enough
| that I won't find myself scrolling X etc on it.
| AdieuToLogic wrote:
| > I also recommend getting an Apple Watch with cellular -
| that way you can still be reached for emergencies ...
|
| For people who realistically could require emergency contact
| (parents of minor children, family members with health risks,
| etc.) this is a wise recommendation.
|
| However, for those not having these very genuine concerns, an
| Apple Watch with cellular connectivity (or equivalent device)
| could engender a placebo effect and mask withdrawal.
| gattilorenz wrote:
| Wouldn't a dumbphone work better for a fraction of the price?
| jen729w wrote:
| Your dumbphone can't have your actual phone number as that
| SIM is in your iPhone, so it's no good for emergency
| notifications. The reality is that the vast majority of
| people can't actually use a dumbphone as their daily
| driver. Society has pushed us past that point.
| eemil wrote:
| This simply isn't true. Where I live every major operator
| offers multisim i.e. two (e)sims with the same number.
| It's primarily used for smartwatches, but they support
| phones as well.
| mwidell wrote:
| A dumbphone does not have imessage, dictation, voice memos,
| timer, and other small things that makes life more
| convenient. That's why I prefer apple watch.
| bravesoul2 wrote:
| You could get a few of those with a HN style Rube
| Goldberg where you set up a VoIP you can call that will
| do voice to sms, call back timer, etc.
| stiray wrote:
| Very nice, will use it on my child, but this doesn't cover my
| case.
|
| I have it as a wallet (those flip cases) so it is always with
| me. But it can stay in backpack for days without using it,
| except maybe for calls (to talk with parents after I don't call
| for weeks :D) and to pay for public transit (huge mess to
| charge nfc cards). I don't use social networks, chat software
| (sms excluded) at all, never even registered to fb, cant even
| remember when was the last time I installed any app.
|
| I consider this a very sane use of phone. It is not addiction,
| rather satisfying addicted society that is pressuring me to use
| it.
| j45 wrote:
| Paying with a watch is a nice alternative too.
|
| Beyond not having the phone with you, I think the real
| measure is the number of times it's picked up and/or
| unlocked.
| AdieuToLogic wrote:
| > Very nice, will use it on my child, but this doesn't cover
| my case.
|
| Thanks for sharing your perspective. I need to point out what
| I originally stated was: ... exercises to
| determine one's phone addiction, if any ...
|
| Note the "if any" qualifier.
|
| You express having no phone addiction and I have no reason to
| think otherwise. More importantly, I am not going to
| adjudicate as to yourself or anyone else.
| stiray wrote:
| Yes, sure, as i said, will practice it on my 15 years
| old... he probably cant do anything of stated :D
| CGMthrowaway wrote:
| How does this work when you need a phone for 2fa?
| AdieuToLogic wrote:
| > How does this work when you need a phone for 2fa?
|
| See the stipulation of: on an off day, with
| no reason to require phone use
|
| If you "need a phone for 2fa" then that qualifies as a
| "reason to require phone use."
| AdieuToLogic wrote:
| > How does this work when you need a phone for 2fa?
|
| Just out of curiosity, suppose you are not on-call for work
| and it is an observed holiday. Do you foresee the need for
| two factor authentication for non-work activities?
|
| In other words, is 2fa a requirement for daily life?
| eCa wrote:
| One example would be Github for personal projects. There
| are several other use cases where the phone is a factor for
| logging into services.
| em500 wrote:
| Git pull a day before, git push a day later? Have we
| forgotten to do anything without a persistent internet
| connection 24/7? Or why we'd use a _distributed_ version
| control system in the first place.
| eCa wrote:
| It was an example of a use case familiar to many here.
| Some people use Github for more than just git.
| 0x457 wrote:
| We also conditioned to make small feature branches. Even
| my hobby projects force me to go through PR process.
| LeafItAlone wrote:
| >In other words, is 2fa a requirement for daily life?
|
| I never stay logged into accounts in browsers on my
| personal devices. And work requires daily auto. So in
| general if I need to do anything with any accounts, I need
| 2fa access. And for the phone apps I do stay logged in to,
| well, they are on my phone.
| timerol wrote:
| Level 4 is going into the office for a day, so anyone
| requiring 2fa at work cannot pass that point
| ecb_penguin wrote:
| There's no need to overcomplicate a silly exercise with
| rigid rules.
|
| Focus on the intent of the exercise. If you really
| mentally cannot get past 2FA, then get a hardware token,
| or a TOTP client on your desktop. Lots of solutions if
| this is really the hangup.
| rrr_oh_man wrote:
| 1Password?
| ecb_penguin wrote:
| You work around it
|
| 1. Get a hardware token
|
| 2. Install a TOTP desktop client
|
| 3. Only use the phone for 2FA
|
| 4. You understand the spirit of the exercise and don't get
| bogged down by silly rules.
| jskherman wrote:
| Looks like I just inadvertently skipped to level 4 every
| workday, due to working inside of a restricted area with lots
| of proprietary industrial stuff.
| annie_muss wrote:
| The problem is I know that I am completely addicted, but I
| cannot stop. I feel like I'm the alcoholic drinking a bottle of
| vodka a day. I have tried to give up many times but I just
| can't crack it. Every time I have a good day the next day just
| slides right back into addiction. I probably average around
| 5-10 hours of pointless screen time a day (scrolling random
| youtube clips. Researching items I will never buy. Fantasizing
| about jobs I can never get. )
|
| I have tried all kinds of blocking software and strategies.
| Blocking software, however elaborate, never seems to make a
| different. You find one way or another to get around the block
| and then after a while turning off the block just becomes part
| of your muscle memory. The most extreme thing I tried was
| cutting off the internet to my house and going back to a
| dumbphone for 6 months. For sure, I probably had less screen
| time. But I also spent many hours sitting in the station using
| the public wifi or watching hours and hours of pointless
| television.
|
| This is a really tough nut to crack. I think there is probably
| no technological solution to it.
| kolinko wrote:
| Did you check yourself for adhd?
| annie_muss wrote:
| I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago as an adult. I
| take medication for it and try my best to apply strategies
| but it is hard going. I wrote down some simple todos at 9am
| this morning but it's the end of the day now and I've done
| maybe 30 minutes of focused work and the rest browsing the
| internet.
|
| The confusing thing is sometimes I have days when I do
| manage to do work, but I can never see what I do
| differently on those days to other days.
| kolinko wrote:
| Did you discuss this with psychiatrist/therapist?
|
| At least for me this is the pattern I had before I had a
| good enough dose of meds.
| annie_muss wrote:
| I have spoken to a few therapists. I usually felt pretty
| good after speaking to them, maybe for a week or so but
| slip back into my old habits. Unfortunately, where I live
| therapy is not covered by health insurance so it's hard
| to afford.
| kolinko wrote:
| Did they specialise in adhd? The ones that don't often
| give recomendations that are counter productive.
|
| Also, a good idea is to explain what you're experiencing
| to the paychiatrist - he may recommend different meds or
| increasing the dosage.
| omikun wrote:
| Addiction is not the problem. It is a (poor) solution to a
| problem. Figure what your underlying problem is and address
| it first. Without doing that, you are only taking away one
| solution with no alternative.
|
| For me, I noticed I have no compulsion to surf after hanging
| out with friends where I have their attention and curiosity
| and they have mine. It is like an oxytocin surge that
| depletes overtime and needs recharging. Scrolling is like
| junk food in that it feels like a recharge but empties as
| soon as I stop.
|
| I now call up a friend or arrange a hangout if I feel like
| I'm running low and it's amazing how many friends are
| delighted to hear from me but then never reach out.
| annie_muss wrote:
| I think this is a helpful reframing, and I have spent time
| in my life trying to eliminate any possible issues:
| Improving nutrition, exercise, socialization etc. But my
| ability stay focused and work on tasks seems essentially
| random.
| thomastjeffery wrote:
| Even if there isn't an underlying problem, the only real
| way to change a habit is to replace it with a new one.
|
| I have noticed that usually people who make it their
| mission to _stop_ doing a thing are replacing that thing
| with the mission itself. This strategy is always bound for
| failure, because the moment it starts to work for them is
| the moment they end the mission. This is when, instead of
| reevaluating their strategy, they punish themselves for the
| failure to _not do_. The cycle repeats, and the person
| spirals into rumination about their stress.
|
| I didn't just stop biting my nails. I started trimming them
| instead.
| conductr wrote:
| Generally, I think it's boredom. Specifically, many people
| haven't learned it is a life skill to deal with boredom,
| instead they constantly find a way be entertained and a
| phone always within reach offers a great solution to that
| problem. I say, force yourself to be bored without a phone.
| Pick up a book, pick up a hobby, go outside, talk to people
| (meat space), gardening, exercise, etc.
|
| Even people older, like me, who grew up without these
| things for a good portion of their life. They lost the
| ability to be bored and need to relearn it.
|
| I personally have always refused to get sucked into the
| phone. Never turned notifications on, never cared about
| social media, etc. I don't like video'ing the concert I'm
| attending. I like being present and I love being bored.
| rightbyte wrote:
| Have you tried mounting the phone to a wall or something when
| at home?
|
| I figure the accessibility of phones are what makes the
| mindless scrooling habit so dangerous.
|
| I mean I keep my beer in the garage to not drink as much.
| abyssin wrote:
| One solution to how easy it is to get around self-inflicted
| blocks could be to find someone that agrees to manage your
| phone using the parental features. Personally I haven't found
| someone who I feel I could trust with such a power over me.
| Maybe a solution would be to pay somebody.
| pjc50 wrote:
| > watching hours and hours of pointless television
|
| This is the thing; the brain is not actually comfortable just
| sitting idle with the reins slack. There's got to be some
| stimulus. I don't think there's any real solution other than
| finding a displacement activity. I know somebody who weaned
| themselves off smoking by developing a Gameboy Tetris
| addiction instead.
|
| Other than going out and trying to be social, there's a whole
| range of "something to do with your hands" activities. If you
| take up knitting then at least at the end of it you have a
| scarf. Myself, I'm trying to train myself to open one of the
| language learning apps every time I think I'm spending time
| scrolling.
| wltr wrote:
| My solution to this was substitute one thing for another.
| E.g. instead of visiting Facebook, I visit hacker news. But
| since I just hate most of the posts, comments, ycombinator
| and dang personally, I tend to spend much less time here.
| It's less engaging than flashy Instagram, Facebook, or real
| news websites, so I'm less addicted. Over time, it's easier
| to fight the smaller addiction. Given this HN example, I
| still can spend hours reading comments to some active topic,
| but when I see some sheer stupidity, I realise 'hey, I'm just
| wasting my time here!' And it's easier to close the tab and
| go back to the real world.
| littlecranky67 wrote:
| Try to parental software and put the code into a time-lock
| like lockmeout.online - there is no way to bypass that or
| circumvent your way around it if you do it right in the first
| place.
| leokennis wrote:
| This is a good one. My phone is my memory. If I ever need to be
| without a phone, I 100% need to carry a notebook and pen. And
| likely a camera.
| rrr_oh_man wrote:
| > If I ever need to be without a phone, I 100% need to carry
| a notebook and pen. And likely a camera.
|
| Try it once a week. It will improve your life immeasurably.
| franga2000 wrote:
| I guess it's a good test for something, but I wouldn't call
| that something "phone addiction". I think wanting to be
| reachable by friends and family is fine and "addiction" starts
| when you start compulsively _using_ your phone, like if you 're
| scrolling through [insert social media here].
|
| And phones are much more than content consumption machines - I
| like having a little pocket camera with me in case a see a new
| cat in the neighbourhood or something, and looking up bus
| schedules, renting city bikes, calling a cab, etc. are things I
| all but need to be able to do when I'm out.
|
| My trick to almost never looking at my phone has been, somewhat
| ironically, having a smartwatch, as well as carefully curating
| the notifications I get on my phone. If I know I can't miss an
| important notification, I'll never even look at my phone, so
| there's no chance I even see one of those time wasting apps.
| And when a notification buzzes on my wrist, I can see in a
| fraction of a second if it's something really important or if
| it can wait.
| jszymborski wrote:
| Smartwatches similarly have had the same effect for me and I
| can anecdotally recommend it.
|
| I think another thing to consider is having ways for people
| to reach you _without_ your cell phone. For instance, I have
| a home phone, and calling my cell also rings that home phone.
| You could set up something similar if you have an office
| phone, or using a softphone on your desktop. That leaves you
| with instances where you leave home or the office, which are
| honestly cases where I'm personally least likely to look at
| my phone because I'm usually doing things that occupy my full
| attention (unless I'm commuting where I'm often reading a
| book on my phone).
| Ajedi32 wrote:
| Yeah, this feels to me a bit like trying to find out if
| you're addicted to indoor plumbing by committing to not
| flushing your toilet for a week.
|
| Maybe if we were talking about social media or some other
| non-essential service _on_ my phone, but the phone itself is
| hard to do without because of its practical utility, not
| because of addiction.
| bravesoul2 wrote:
| 7. Keep your Nokia 3210 with you at all times
| blitzar wrote:
| > in increasing levels of potential difficulty
|
| Level 0 or 100 depending on the person: take your phone with
| you and just don't a) look at it every 5 minutes, b) reply to
| incoming messages instantly or c) check in to see what some
| pointless celebrity posted in the last 3 minutes.
| theoreticalmal wrote:
| I feel like I always "need" my phone, as it is my car key,
| workout tracker, garage door opener, baby monitor, and HVAC
| controller. Obviously I could have separate physical devices
| for all those tasks, but the whole reason I run my homelab is
| so that I can control them from one portable item that's always
| on me
| BeFlatXIII wrote:
| Interestingly, I'd find #1 to be significantly harder than 2
| and about half the scenarios in 3 [waiting for friends and
| would make me nervous without real time updates].
|
| The temptation is too great to get bored and check my phone
| when I'm in the house with it.
| littlecranky67 wrote:
| You can set the phone unlock code to a very long combination
| and put the unlock code into a time-lock [0]. No temptation
| there, yet you can still take calls and make outgoing calls
| (using Siri or Assistant), use the camera etc.
|
| [0]: lockmeout.online
| ec109685 wrote:
| I don't think addiction is the right way to look at it.
|
| I think most people can easily do all the way through #6 if
| they put their mind to it. It's not a physical addiction.
|
| The real cost is when you're not intentionally trying to
| deprive yourself. Do you gravitate back to unhealthy (at least
| the way you define it) behaviors?
| noisy_boy wrote:
| Most of the time, I don't carry a wallet so I just use my phone
| to tap and pay at the store. To get to the store, I use my
| phone on the bus to tap and buy ticket. To get back into my
| residence, I need to use the app on my phone to open the main
| gate as well as access the lift.
|
| I can still do the first two without the phone but my housing
| society has eliminated physical cards with basically zero
| consultation.
|
| It is basically a losing battle.
| Exoristos wrote:
| Your tests may work on plebs, but I have a smartwatch.
| wildpeaks wrote:
| A good compromise is to set apps to use only wifi and disable
| data mode of the SIM card, this way you don't receive
| notifications when you're outside without sacrificing the
| ability to call for support in case of emergency or simply take
| photos to capture a fleeting moment.
| subscribed wrote:
| 7: don't have breakdown when travelling to your family without
| phone.
| moffkalast wrote:
| Yeah if there's a thing I could advise anyone is do not leave
| the one thing that combines literally everything one could
| need in an emergency and everyone relies on and expects you
| to have, at home.
|
| If there's every a solid reason to use a phone it's when
| travelling.
| weq wrote:
| Modern day methadone maintainence plan. So many people in this
| world need this button! Goodluck on your journey!
|
| I quite tech at home when i started working as a software
| engineer over 20yrs ago. Hobbies are a great way to break free,
| and quitting news fullstop is another good way to avoid social
| media. You dont even need to delete your accounts, just turn off
| all notifications of every app and avoid coupling your life to
| them in any way.
| cdg007 wrote:
| I'm down with innovations
| alkonaut wrote:
| I'm sure there's no amount of ads or social media that will rot
| your brain faster than trying to do programming in YAML.
| tigrezno wrote:
| With homeassistant you don't need yaml for 99% of automations.
| I'm sure OP posted the source code of the automation but used
| the graphical UI to make it.
|
| You also have the possibility to use Node-Red for that.
| alkonaut wrote:
| I have used HA quite a bit and been burned. I think in the
| choice between graphical "no code" or "low code" and yaml, I
| choose yaml. But to do imperative logic there is just one
| useful way: a proper programming language.
|
| This is just like when writing CI scripts for GitHub actions
| or Azure pipelines: the right amount of yaml (if it must be
| used at all) is to just invoke a program in some more
| expressive language than yaml.
| bmicraft wrote:
| Depending on when that was, it might make sense to try it
| again. I've got 25+ actively used automations and none of
| them need custom yaml anymore. Things really are
| continuously improving with every passing year.
|
| I do use the (jinja) value templates in some places though.
| cess11 wrote:
| Conditioning oneself like some kind of lab rodent is unlikely to
| avoid brain damage.
|
| Shame has a better and longer track record.
| roscas wrote:
| "The internet is the bane of my existence. Ads, distractions,
| sponsored content, bad news, bad ideas, more ads, social media,
| antisocial media, even more ads." that is call for Pi-Hole on a
| Raspberry PI install. Wide block of ads and dns firewall all in
| one, without any "free trial" from AdGuard. I wonder what is
| their default "white list"...
| baggachipz wrote:
| This is so much easier to accomplish with a pi-hole and the
| pihole remote app[1]. Block requests out to forbidden sites at
| the network level, disable the pihole for an amount of time when
| you want to slum it.
|
| [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pi-hole-remote/id1515445551
| remuskaos wrote:
| Well the inconvenience is kind of the point. I don't want
| another app on my phone to allow me to indulge.
|
| The point is that I have to walk, physically move, to the
| corner where the plug is, push the button and be allowed to
| procrastinate. That is the design hurdle, not so high as to
| block completely, but just high enough that I don't get sucked
| into the endless feed each time I'm bored.
|
| Edit: Also I want the granularity. Ads should always - without
| exception - be blocked. Social media should be allowed on
| demand and within the rules.
| hydrogen7800 wrote:
| I did something more low tech, but much more expensive. Not that
| I have the tech chops to do anything more sophisticated than
| install pihole (with help), though. I bought a 2001 E39 BMW that
| requires some work. I still doomscroll too much, but half is now
| about this car and car repair in general.
| neurostimulant wrote:
| An ikea tradfri on/off switch seems better for this purpose. I
| think the one with just on/off switches is discontinued as it's
| no longer listed in their website, and it has steep discount in
| their brick and mortar stores, cost <$8 the last time I grabbed
| one.
| orsenthil wrote:
| Does anyone know how to block ads in Amazon Prime Videos?
| e40 wrote:
| My serious answer to this is to torrent the content.
| rlue wrote:
| Great concept. But author, if you're reading this: a piece like
| this could be so much better with a quick summary of what it does
| somewhere in the first two paragraphs. Something like:
|
| "I've leveraged my home automation system to limit my access to
| social media to 15 minutes at a time, no more than once an hour.
| Using the built-in adblock feature, my router black-holes DNS
| queries to social media by default--which I can now disable
| temporarily by pushing the button on any one of several smart
| outlets around my house."
| BrandoElFollito wrote:
| I must have missed something, but why not just using a zigbee
| button to trigger the 15 min of open internet?
| guluarte wrote:
| I have found that the problem with smart home automation is that
| it suddenly stops working after an update, and fixing it becomes
| annoying, and when you have multiple triggers and routines you
| lose track of what activated what.
| bmicraft wrote:
| That's not really true with home assistant. The two exceptions
| are devices which - require third party cloud
| services - use custom integrations (because they aren't
| natively supported by HA)
|
| Which is also why everybody and their dog recommend getting
| devices which support local control.
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