Need game timer software cause I lack self control | Hacker News Reader

Need game timer software cause I lack self control

8 pointsScotterC9 comments

I'm looking for existing software or direction for how I should write my own.

What I want is a simple timer that would allow me, say, a two hour session of Starcraft 2. It would alert me when 2 minutes are left so I could save my game and then it would quit and disable the application for 24 hours.

All the software (mostly parental) I've found logs you off the computer or shuts it down. I'm looking for something that is just application specific.

If it doesn't exist then I want to build it. My experience is mainly in ruby and a little bit of java but I'm willing to learn something new if it would make it quicker/easier.

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I'm sorry to say it, but the only way to cure your sickness is to suck up your time and just get 100% of the SC2 achievements. Once you do that the temptation will go away.

Happy hunting!

You got downvoted for trying to make a joke, that hardly seems fair, that's why I voted you back up.

Now remember everyone, Hacker News is for SERIOUS business only, no joking, no lightheartedness, no screwing around.

I would say in regard to the original post that a low tech solution might just be a digital watch and some self-control. The thing is you have to be concrete before you go into it. I used to have a terrible time exercising until I said beforehand "I'm going to do X minutes of this or Y reps of that" Giving yourself a goal provides you with a kind of instant gratification when you complete it, which is similar to the stimulus you are getting from StarCraft 2.

That's what irks me. I am actually quite disciplined in exercise and my diet but when it comes to the instant gratification of computer games I just got no self control :)

SafeEyes might work for you. I think they have both application-specific controls and some cron limits. It's aimed at parents, but might work for what you're going for.

Hadn't seen that one yet. Thanks.

However, it appears to only block online gameplay and internet game related sites. I don't see anything about blocking a specific application.

Oh, I think you're right.

Maybe http://www.rescuetime.com/ could help with blocking distracting sites and more. If it doesn't have what you're looking for, shoot them an email, who knows they might listen to ya (besides, they're a YC company - show them your HN love and that might get even more attention :)

Thanks to @robdimarco. Found something that works for MacOSX. 'SelfControl' http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/ It allows you to choose specific domains to block. For the Starcraft example, blocking battle.net would be somewhat effective. Source code is on GitHub too. Now I just need something for Windows 7.

What's the best way to prevent an application from launching temporarily?

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