Freedom

If you ever told me that my little piece of software would get its own MacWorld review…

Ah, the Internet: Fountain of information, smorgasbord of entertainment, nexus of social networking. Oh, and bane to productivity.

As anyone who’s procrastinated in the past decade knows, the Internet’s vast stores of instantly accessible content are nigh irresistible…especially when you’ve got work that needs doing. A few years back, I covered Think, a utility that visually blocks out all but the current program, and there’s also WriteRoom, a full-screen word processor for focusing on your writing. But while these utilities can help hide other programs, they can’t save you from yourself. That’s where Freedom comes in.

3.5 mice.  Not bad, but I’d argue Freedom is a 4 mouse program at least!

Freedom also got a little coverage in the USA Today article Some ditch social networks to reclaim time, privacy, a front page feature.

One antidote to the always-on life is Freedom, free software that disables any Apple computer’s Internet access for up to eight hours. About 100,000 Web users have downloaded Freedom since 2008, says Fred Stutzman, a graduate student in information sciences at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the program’s creator.

“Freedom is a statement that it’s OK to push back from this tide of technology and find some space to really think,” he says.

I need to update the sidebar!

Last week, I announced that all proceeds from MacFreedom registrations would be sent to Haiti relief efforts.  I’m pleased to report that because of your generosity, we raised $350.00!  This is no small sum and will go a long way.

Here’s the breakdown of where the money went:

• I completed one “custom build” of Freedom for a generous donor who sent $150.00 to Médecins Sans Frontières, earmarked for Haiti Relief
• There were 20 Freedom registrations for a total of $200.00 sent to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund (I covered the fees PayPal charges me).

All I can say is thank you!

If you’ve ever thought about registering Freedom, now is the time.  For the next week, all Freedom donations will be directed to Haiti relief efforts.  This is a great opportunity for you to register your copy and make a difference.  At the end of the week I will post an update listing the number of donations and where the money was sent.

Register/donate here.

Please register your copy of Freedom and support those in desperate need.