4 ms·

I've considered doing that. What if we just shut down HN e.g. from 11 am to 1 pm Pacific = 2 to 4 pm Eastern? This feature wouldn't be much use for people Aus

by pg 16y ago

I've considered doing that. What if we just shut down HN e.g. from 11 am to 1 pm Pacific = 2 to 4 pm Eastern? This feature wouldn't be much use for people Australia, but at least it would be helpful for some users.

csomar 16y ago
What about detecting IPs and switching by region?
- staunch 16y ago
  There can be no way to get around it. I will use a proxy if I have to, helllllllp!
brk 16y ago
Seriously, this is a nice gesture, but like most other forms of social welfare, I don't think you can save people from themselves through things like this.
keeptrying 16y ago
This would be like a drug dealer not dealing for certain part of his regularly scheduled day. I can only imagine that this would make it worse because your cutting off supply and thus increasing demand. You'll probably increase traffic :).
aik 16y ago
That's a scary thought. I think the HN community is very aware of time wasting. There appears to be a constant stream of don't-waste-time encouragement. HN is a good personal investment if you don't take the "fake work" bait[1]. Any non-fiction book is the same - you can spend hours reading every word/sentence/paragraph/page, or scan and focus with a purpose. It's easy to fall into passivity. [1] Perhaps there is a better system to bring "good investment posts" to the top.
Tycho 16y ago
I'd like a 'timeslot' feature that I could set myself eg. block my account all day except between 10pm and 11pm. This actually occurred to me previously when I activated the noprocrast feature, which was good also
- hugh3 16y ago
  This is a damn good idea, better than the existing noprocrast.
- umjames 16y ago
  I like this idea a lot, except knowing me, I'd clear my cookies and cache and just read HN not logged in until I could login. Maybe a way to get around this is to remove the links (not the text of the links, but the link functionality itself) unless you have an account and are logged in. I guess in the end, if you don't have the self-control needed not to throw away your time reading about things (instead of doing things), you probably aren't going to benefit from being blocked from HN. You'll find something else equally unproductive to fill that hole.
  - tome 16y ago
    Then you could just create a new account!
- ecuzzillo 16y ago
  Another idea that would make this work even better might be to have any changes in your blocking settings only take effect a week after you make the changes. It's hard to have discipline about settings for right now, but it's easy to have discipline about settings next week.
- jonpaul 16y ago
  I know technical solutions are fun, but why not just practicing good ol' fashion self-control?
  - swombat 16y ago
techiferous 16y ago
Perhaps some tweaks could be made to encourage more valuable content on Hacker News. For example, a link to a new Ruby gem that may solve a problem I have makes me more productive. Links about Facebook, Google, Apple, TechCrunch, etc. drama is junk food.
po 16y ago
This is basically a lite version of what Woot does right? If that's any indication it would turn your users into crazed fanatics.
santry 16y ago
The best way to get someone to continue a behavior is to give intermittent positive reinforcement. I predict shutting down HN for a few hours a day would make us even more addicted.
staunch 16y ago
I think a 4 hour window is more like it. That's a lot of work that will get done.
bootload 16y ago
"... This feature wouldn't be much use for people Australia, but at least it would be helpful for some users. ..." Might not be that bad if you work at night - Aus time.
teyc 16y ago
You can cookie the user and suggest that they have been served their daily ration of HN. :)
- GFischer 16y ago
  I actually like this suggestion. Maybe an inline comment targeted at the user - in red or otherwise highlighted - saying: "you've been reading HN for X hours today, maybe it's time to enjoy some sunlight?" or similar text :)
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
nitrogen 16y ago
I think a slightly customizable version of this would be useful, though too much customization can lead to people developing instinctive defenses against the scheduled shutdown (like I sometimes do with maxvisit/minaway by opening enough tabs all at once to occupy me for the minaway duration).
chewbranca 16y ago
If you were to shut off HN during a set time period everyday, don't do it during lunch time. Eating lunch and reading HN is something I do that is _actually_ productive, or at least more productive than eating lunch and not reading.

by pg 16y ago

csomar 16y ago

What about detecting IPs and switching by region?

staunch 16y ago
There can be no way to get around it. I will use a proxy if I have to, helllllllp!

brk 16y ago

Seriously, this is a nice gesture, but like most other forms of social welfare, I don't think you can save people from themselves through things like this.

keeptrying 16y ago

This would be like a drug dealer not dealing for certain part of his regularly scheduled day. I can only imagine that this would make it worse because your cutting off supply and thus increasing demand. You'll probably increase traffic :).

aik 16y ago

That's a scary thought. I think the HN community is very aware of time wasting. There appears to be a constant stream of don't-waste-time encouragement. HN is a good personal investment if you don't take the "fake work" bait[1]. Any non-fiction book is the same - you can spend hours reading every word/sentence/paragraph/page, or scan and focus with a purpose. It's easy to fall into passivity. [1] Perhaps there is a better system to bring "good investment posts" to the top.

Tycho 16y ago

I'd like a 'timeslot' feature that I could set myself eg. block my account all day except between 10pm and 11pm. This actually occurred to me previously when I activated the noprocrast feature, which was good also

hugh3 16y ago
This is a damn good idea, better than the existing noprocrast.
umjames 16y ago
I like this idea a lot, except knowing me, I'd clear my cookies and cache and just read HN not logged in until I could login. Maybe a way to get around this is to remove the links (not the text of the links, but the link functionality itself) unless you have an account and are logged in. I guess in the end, if you don't have the self-control needed not to throw away your time reading about things (instead of doing things), you probably aren't going to benefit from being blocked from HN. You'll find something else equally unproductive to fill that hole.
- tome 16y ago
  Then you could just create a new account!
ecuzzillo 16y ago
Another idea that would make this work even better might be to have any changes in your blocking settings only take effect a week after you make the changes. It's hard to have discipline about settings for right now, but it's easy to have discipline about settings next week.
jonpaul 16y ago
I know technical solutions are fun, but why not just practicing good ol' fashion self-control?
- swombat 16y ago

techiferous 16y ago

Perhaps some tweaks could be made to encourage more valuable content on Hacker News. For example, a link to a new Ruby gem that may solve a problem I have makes me more productive. Links about Facebook, Google, Apple, TechCrunch, etc. drama is junk food.

po 16y ago

This is basically a lite version of what Woot does right? If that's any indication it would turn your users into crazed fanatics.

santry 16y ago

The best way to get someone to continue a behavior is to give intermittent positive reinforcement. I predict shutting down HN for a few hours a day would make us even more addicted.

staunch 16y ago

I think a 4 hour window is more like it. That's a lot of work that will get done.

bootload 16y ago

"... This feature wouldn't be much use for people Australia, but at least it would be helpful for some users. ..." Might not be that bad if you work at night - Aus time.

teyc 16y ago

You can cookie the user and suggest that they have been served their daily ration of HN. :)

GFischer 16y ago
I actually like this suggestion. Maybe an inline comment targeted at the user - in red or otherwise highlighted - saying: "you've been reading HN for X hours today, maybe it's time to enjoy some sunlight?" or similar text :)
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

nitrogen 16y ago

I think a slightly customizable version of this would be useful, though too much customization can lead to people developing instinctive defenses against the scheduled shutdown (like I sometimes do with maxvisit/minaway by opening enough tabs all at once to occupy me for the minaway duration).

chewbranca 16y ago

If you were to shut off HN during a set time period everyday, don't do it during lunch time. Eating lunch and reading HN is something I do that is _actually_ productive, or at least more productive than eating lunch and not reading.