Freedom

Freedom is an application that disables networking on an Apple computer for up to eight hours at a time. Freedom will free you from the distractions of the internet, allowing you time to code, write, or create. At the end of your selected offline period, Freedom re-enables your network, restoring everything as normal.

Freedom enforces freedom; a reboot is the only circumvention of the Freedom time limit you specify. The hassle of rebooting means you're less likely to cheat, and you'll enjoy enhanced productivity. Freedom is free, but if you find Freedom useful, please consider a donation of ten dollars to fund continuing development.

Jun 17, 2009 0

Overheard

What writers are saying about Freedom:

Ruth Ozeki, award-winning writer of “All Over Creation” and “My Year of Meats” writes of Freedom, “I don’t usually endorse products, but this one is terrific.”
The playwright Amy Wilson, whose new show Mother Load opens tomorrow in NYC, says Freedom is “the most wonderful software ever invented.”
On Twitter, Maureen Johnson (The Key to the Golden Firebird, Suite Scarlett) gave Freedom a nice shout-out.
Hope Larson, author of Chiggers, Twitters that she’s using Freedom to get away from Twitter.
Other nice Tweets from Melissa Oliveira, John Bucher of BCBusiness Magazine, Malinda Lo and Elizabeth Marks.

Jun 7, 2009 0

Freedom in the press

Some more great coverage of Freedom:

Freedom recieved a mention on the CBC program “Definitely not the Opera.“ This week’s show was on distractions (it was a great show, BTW), and I am interviewed briefly about Freedom about 20 minutes in.
Freedom was featured on the excellent blog O’Reilly Radar. This blog is a daily read for me – so it was great to see Freedom mentiond.
Finally, I really enjoyed Susan McWilliams’ analysis of Freedom over at Front Porch Republic.

I always enjoy reading about Freedom – if you’ve blogged about the program drop me a line!

Download Freedom

Current Version: 0.5.1

Freedom is free to use. Download and open Freedom.dmg, then drag Freedom.app to your Applications folder. Mac OS X only, tested through 10.6.1.

Support Freedom

Your secure donation of ten dollars will fund continuing development of Freedom.

Follow Freedom

Twitter.com/fstutzman

More Information

Writers on Freedom

Jason Snell, legendary Mac journalist and editorial director, Mac Publishing (publisher of MacWorld): "There may be no bigger boon to Mac productivity.."

Rebecca Traister, writer, Salon and New York Magazine: "I have gotten an immense amount of work done.."

David Sirota, author of New York Times Bestsellers Hostile Takeover (Three Rivers) and The Uprising (Crown): "The greatest tool for work efficiency in Apple programming history."

Dennis Cass, journalist and author of Head Case (HarperCollins): "To say that it’s changed my life is an understatement."

Doree Shafrir, author of Love, Mom: Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Messages from Home (Hyperion) and writer/editor New York Observer, Gawker, Philadelphia Weekly: "45 minutes of Freedom=844 words written. It's a miracle, I tell you!."

Leo Babauta, editor of Zen Habits and author of The Power of Less (Hyperion): "When I need to do serious work, I try to remove distractions by closing the browser to do actual work. If I find myself opening the browser too much, I’ll use a utility (such as Freedom) to shut off the Internet altogether."

All quotes unsolicited, and sourced from content posted to the web. No endorsement implied.