Tips when K9 and OpenDNS are not enough to stop you

Hi there,

I've known about NoFap for a while and just joined after yet another relapse. My relapses are most often due to me craving for PMO so much and always finding a way to get past the porn protections I set up.

This time I raised the bar much higher to not let me find porn within 5 minutes by using some "security" hole (I can get pretty creative when I crave for PMO). My goal was to make porn much more bothersome to access for someone who can bypass standard protections quickly and easily.

IMPORTANT/DISCLAIMER: If your porn blocker is efficient enough for you, you might not want to read on. Some tips I give may give you hints about how to bypass your own porn blocker.

I thought I'd share what I've come up to after several relapses. Sorry in advance if some of the information I shared is well-known by some of you. I just mean to help. Feel free to complete with other tips. I might add new tips if I have another relapse due to other software weaknesses, and find a way to patch them.

This is all done in Windows 7 but should work in Windows 8.x as well.


Multiple porn blockers

For maximum protection, I advise installing several porn blockers on top of each other. I use both K9 and OpenDNS. Sometimes a new/underground website will be filtered only by K9, sometimes only by OpenDNS. Both softwares can be installed and fully functional at the same time without any conflict. You'll know that K9 failed to do its job when the blocked page that appears is the one from OpenDNS.

K9 blocks addresses while OpenDNS is limited to domain blocking. K9 has blacklists that are not only updated by humans but also automatically updated by machines that analyze the content of webpages. That makes K9 usually more quickly aware of new/underground websites that OpenDNS doesn't know about. A very good thing in K9 for "auto-discipline" is that you can create a bookmark in your browser to block a site, without having the K9 password. Another good thing in K9 is that you can add as many sites as you want in the "Always block" category (OpenDNS limits that to 25 domains in the free version).

Unfortunately, HTTPS websites blocking causes problems with K9. You cannot add them easily to the Always Block list. I then rely on the Windows hosts file to block both HTTP and HTTPS protocol for many domains. I would normally use OpenDNS, but the 25 domains limit is too easily reached.

So, in short, on my computer:
1) The Windows hosts file does the first pass
1) K9 does the second pass
2) OpenDNS does the third pass

Note: I used to also have the Firefox Procon Latte addon, but it's so easy to remove a Firefox addon, even if reasonably well-protected, that I finally gave up and now rely exclusively on OpenDNS and especially K9, which are (to my knowledge) unremovable when you neither have access to an admin account nor access to Safe Mode.


Tips for stronger protection

In no particular order. Use or ignore the tips that you think are relevant for you.

1) Block Proxy Avoidance category. Block the "Proxy avoidance" category. This is all too easy to get to those websites and browse any website you want. Also block the Way-back machine at archive.org. There's also one site to surf the web completely through your browser, and that's not even considered a real proxy.

2) K9 Safe Search. Activate the K9 safe search to prevent the main search engines from displaying adult results.

3) Block web translators. Several of them allow you to browse the website of your choice and translate on the fly. I use a combination of K9 Always Block and Windows hosts file.

4) Block website screenshots. Several websites will allow you to take a screenshot of any website online.

5) Block web to PDF converter sites. Several websites allow you to convert any url to a PDF.

6) Block image/picture online editor sites. Several websites will open any image if you enter their URL, bypassing your filters.

7) Prevent other potential browsers from accessing the web. You can do that by installing Zone Alarm Firewall's free version (http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-free-antivirus-firewall.htm), activate maximum program control and allow web access only to some programs. Then password protect the settings. Only your main browser and usual applications should be able to access the web.

8) On Android cell phones, I have not found any solution I trust, so I just banned the HTTP protocol through the Wi-Fi router settings. Banning this protocol only will still allow you to get your emails!

9) Have a Windows Administrator account and a User account. Without this, it's so easy to relapse. On a daily basis, use the User account. This way you can't quickly and easily alter things like DNS settings or install new software. Set an Administrator password that is hard to remember.

10) Choose passwords you cannot remember and enter quickly. Use passwords that you cannot remember but that you can find somewhere in your home. Don't use a password safe software, it's all too quick and easy to use. I use a book, pick a long sentence, and only pick the first letter of each word to compose the password. I've stored the book somewhere else than my home so it's much less likely I make use of it.

11) Passwords everywhere. Put a different password for every machine and software : Windows Admin account, Zone Alarm, K9, OpenDNS.

12) Disable Windows Safe Mode for non-admins. Use registry key SafeModeBlockNonAdmins available from Windows 7 SP1. This way you can forbid any non-admin user to enter safe mode.

13) Block K9's Unrated category. This is a K9-only option. Many porn websites are being created everyday, some are unrated. You're better off forbidding access to unrated websites.

14) Prevent recovering your K9 password easily. K9 allows you to ask your password to be reset and sent to your email instantly. This is very bad if you're trying to restrict yourself, not others. One workaround is to :

a) Create a mail address alias or new account with something you won't remember, eg. [email protected]. Write it down temporarily
b) Change your K9 password to something random. Don't store it anywhere.
c) Change your K9 email to [email protected]. Validate the change by clicking on the link in the confirmation email sent to [email protected].
d) Now delete your alias or account.
e) Get rid of the fahadjljdlkhfafhjl you have written down.
f) Get rid of all emails containing your secret alias.

Now how would you recover access to your K9 admin page?
a) Google "k9 forgot password and email"
b) Follow steps on K9 website.
c) You can change your K9 email to your main email address, but it will only take effect in 7 days.

 

Updated with additional tips I applied.

 

Some more updates to patch holes.

 

Even more patches. Damn this is insane.

 

Pretty robust this time thanks to the help of Windows hosts file... Gave up the use of Procon, too many ways to cheat!

 

Sure, the temptation will always be there, and I won't be building up my ability to resist it by over-protecting myself. I'm seeing this super-protection as something to start me up for real (I wouldn't like it to separate myself from my computer as you did). Let's say I have an addiction for candies that I want to stop. Having a bag of candies at home is not a good idea, especially during the first months of craving. Without over-protecting myself from porn like explained above, even with K9 and OpenDNS installed, I can get porn within seconds (not exaggerating). There's way too much risk for me for relapse, and I don't have the necessary willpower to resist yet.

I want to kill the habit first. That habit making me look at porn when bored or feeling bad. Instead, I want to learn how to deal with boredom and other emotions in an efficient way, without porn. Then only after this goal achieved can my willpower be of some use. Anyway, this is a bit off-topic as this discussion thread really is only meant to be technical... Thanks for your input and good luck in your nofap challenge.

 

Except blocking HTTP and HTTPS on your home router (only for your smartphone MAC address), I have no working solution yet... Of course, you would be able to access porn from other wifi access points.

If you are ok with browsing with no image at all on your smartphone (whereever you go), you could install a text-only browser (there are some) and use another app to block all other browsers.

 

I just tried Little Web Browser (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weejim.app.lynx&hl=en), which looks like the default Internet Browser for Android but with images disabled. Does what it says, but unfortunately it's unstable for me. You could try it though.

I may try TextOnly Reader Pro (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spacenext.textonly.reader.pro), but only if it supports javascript (still looking for that info).

 

You're welcome.

Just found a free (old) version of TextOnly, looked nice but has a mode to enable images, which makes it worthless in our case :/