Cold Turkey Blocker Strategies

Introduction

Now that I have owned Cold Turkey Blocker for over 18 months I wanted to share some strategies that have been helpful to me. Since I am trying to avoid blacklisting, many of these strategies will require the paid version of Cold Turkey. I find Cold Turkey to be quite good and well worth the one-time fee. That said, I am not affiliated with Cold Turkey in any way. When I wrote this guide the Cold Turkey version was 4.4.

This guide will be broken into two parts. The first part will be a general overview, applicable to all blockers, operating systems, browsers, etc. The second part will be a more detailed guide for Windows 10. Steps 2 and 3 are by far the most important and effective. Below is a downloadable Cold Turkey import file which provides examples of the strategies described here. I would encourage others to share their strategies as well.

First, let's define a few terms so no one gets left behind:

• "Blacklist": A blacklist is a list of individual websites or entries which are to be blocked
• "Whitelist": A whitelist is a list of individual websites or entries which are to be allowed (and all websites which are not contained in the whitelist are blocked)
• "DNS": 'Domain Name Server' is a special server which maps the URL typed into the browser with a host that will provide content back to the browser.

Blacklisting is costly, both in terms of effort and in terms of computational resources. Too much blacklisting is onerous and it also slows down your computer. My general strategy is to find a solution that avoids a large blacklist, and then use short blacklists afterwards to "clean up any leftovers."


Part I: General Overview

1. Set browser to disable images

When setting up blocks and debugging problems I find it useful to temporarily disable images in my browser. This allows me to verify that unwanted websites are being blocked without inadvertently viewing content from that site. See part II.1 for instructions on how to do this in Chromium browsers.

2. Force Safe Search

A good way to control web access without blacklisting is to control search engines. This is because search engines are the primary way we access the web. Most search engines include a "safe search" option, which attempts to filter vile content. By forcing the search engine to use this option we have massively restricted our internet access without a long blacklist. See part II.2 for instructions on how to do this with Google's search engine.

3. Force Safe DNS

Because all of your browser traffic is siphoned through a DNS, this is also a helpful bottleneck where unwanted material can be filtered out. There are a variety of companies that offer free DNS servers which block websites associated with vile content. It is well-known that a DNS can be used with a modem or router, but it can also be used with an individual device. See part II.3 for instructions on how to do this with OpenDNS Family Shield.

4. Prevent Uninstallation

This one is self-explanatory. See part II.4 for instructions on how to do this in Cold Turkey.

5. Reddit, YouTube, etc.

Reddit is tricky because it hosts smut alongside useful content. My strategy with sites like Reddit is to block searches and then use a short blacklist to clean up the leftovers. Others may be comfortable blocking the entire site. See part II.5 for instructions on how to do this in Cold Turkey.

6. Block Softcore Material

Blockers are never a silver bullet. Self control is always a necessary virtue. That said, if you do want to try to block 'softcore' websites that are immune to strategies 2 and 3, I would recommend blacklisting these sites. See part II.6 for instructions on how to do this in Cold Turkey, along with blocks for image and video searches.

7. Judicious Whitelisting

There are some occasions where whitelists can be helpful. For example, depending on your circumstances a nightly whitelist may be useful. See part II.7 for instructions on how to do this in Cold Turkey.


Part II: Detailed Guide

1. Set browser to disable images

To disable images on a Chromium browser, such as Google Chrome, simply open the browser and go to Settings > Privacy and security > Site Settings > Images > "Don't allow sites to show images". Theoretically you could use Cold Turkey to prevent changes to this setting, but I only use it for debugging.

2. Force Safe Search

There are many search engines that attempt to offer a "safe" setting. In my experience Google is the best, especially when it comes to images. Therefore my strategy here will be to force the user to use Google search, and then force Google search to use safe search. You can use a different search engine if you prefer. Here are the steps for Windows 10. If you are using a different operating system, see <this guide>, which is my source for these instructions.

• A. Add non-Google search engines to a blacklist (Cold Turkey includes a preset list of search engines)
• B. Force Google search to use safe search (link)
  • i. Click the Windows key, type "cmd" and hit enter. This will open Command Prompt.
  • ii. Enter the command "ping forcesafesearch.google.com" and note the IP address. The IP address will look something like: 216.239.38.120.
  • iii. Click the Windows key and type "Notepad".
  • iv. Right click on Notepad and choose Run as Administrator.
  • v. In Notepad, open your hosts file. In most Windows installations, this is located at: "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts". (If you paste "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\" into the folder navigation area of File Explorer you will be taken to the location. Next to the file name you may need to change the extension from "Text Documents" to "All Files" in order to view the hosts file.)
  • vi. Add a new line at the end of the hosts file, "216.239.38.120 www.google.com #forcesafesearch". Replace 216.239.38.120 with the IP address you received in step B.ii
  • vii. Save the hosts file
• C. Use Cold Turkey to prevent changes to the hosts file (link)
  • i. Click the Windows key, type run, and hit enter. Paste "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\" into the run dialogue. Or, if your hosts file is located elsewhere, navigate to that folder.
  • ii. Right-click on the hosts file and select Properties.
  • iii. At the bottom of the Properties window check the checkbox for "Read-only". You will probably need administrator privileges.
  • iv. In Cold Turkey add a window title block for "hosts properties". *

At this point you should only be able to use Google safe search.

According to the Cold Turkey user guide, "For macOS users and non Blocker Pro users, the free version of Qustodio may be able to help as well."

3. Force Safe DNS

• A. Change your DNS Server Settings (link)
  • i. Go to the Control Panel.
  • ii. Click Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings.
  • iii. Right-click the network interface which is in use, and click Properties. You will probably need administrator privileges.
  • iv. Select the Networking tab. Under "This connection uses the following items," select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and then click Properties.
  • v. Select Use the following DNS server addresses.
  • vi. Use the OpenDNS Family Shield entries (link). These are 208.67.222.123 (primary) and 208.67.220.123 (secondary).
  • vii. If necessary, repeat steps iv-vi with Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6). Use the OpenDNS IPv6 entries (link).
  • viii. If necessary, repeat steps iii-vii with the network interfaces which are not currently in use.
• B. Use Cold Turkey to prevent changes to the DNS
  • i. In Cold Turkey add a window title block for "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties". *
  • ii. If you did A.vii then also add a window title block for "Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) Properties". *

At this point you will be using OpenDNS Family Shield to filter vile content.

4. Prevent Uninstallation

Cold Turkey Blocker can only be uninstalled with a special uninstallation tool. To prevent the uninstallation of Cold Turkey Blocker, add a window title block for, "cold turkey blocker removal tool". *

If you have the free version of Cold Turkey the best you can do is blacklist the web page(s) where the removal tool can be downloaded.

5. Reddit, YouTube, etc.

To block searches on Reddit, add a website block for " reddit.com/search/* ". To block searches on YouTube, add a website block for " youtube.com/results?search_query=* ". Similar blocks can be added for other, similar sites. Note that it is still possible to search these sites via our Google safe search. Only internal searches are disallowed. It may also be useful to add a small blacklist to clean up the leftovers.

Another strategy for these sorts of sites is a whitelist, where you block the entire site but then add "Website Exceptions" for the subReddits or YouTube channels you want to allow. As of version
4.4 Cold Turkey allows blocks on entire YouTube channels. In order to block (or make an exception for) a YouTube channel you simply use the channel URL while omitting the ampersand ("@").

6. Block Softcore Material

Beyond blacklisting sites with softcore material, like pinterest, we can also block image or video searches. Like I said, Google safe search seems to do a good job, but if you want to further block Google image or video searches, use the website blocks, " google.*/*tbm=isch* " for images and, " google.*/*tbm=vid* " for videos. We could add similar blocks for other search engines, but this is unnecessary because we prevented the use of alternative search engines in part II.2.

7. Judicious Whitelisting

To create a whitelist you simply add a website block for " *.* " to block all sites, and then add any exceptions you want to allow. To create a block which is only active at certain times, such as at night, click the "Continuous block" link below the title of the block and change the setting to, "Block this list according to the following schedule." In my downloadable example the "Nightly Block" is a whitelist which is in effect from 10 pm until 7 am every day.

8. Unsupported Browsers

Occasionally there will be a new browser or an obscure browser that slips through Cold Turkey’s fingers. The best fix is to block the .exe if you have the browser installed. You could also block the website from which the browser is downloaded. If the browsers or circumventions are coming from the Windows Store you can add a Windows 10 App block on Winstore.app.exe. Cold Turkey provides solutions for most any problems that might come up, and I have not covered all of them in this guide.

Note: The downloadable examples are very simple. If you do use them, be sure to carry out II.2.B before enabling the Force Safe Search block, and to carry out II.3.A before enabling the Force Safe DNS block. If you fail to do this you will find yourself on the wrong side of a locked door, for the block will prevent you from changing those settings.

* To add a window title block, enter the block interface, and under the Applications tab click Add window title… .

Cheers and good luck!
-Ferdinand

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Downloadable examples file: <Cold Turkey Examples.ctbbl>
(I was unable to attach a .ctbbl file)

 

I am glad to hear it!

 

That's probably a good way to do it. Website URLs do not allow whitespace characters, and different search engines parse them differently. For example, if I do a Google search for "I love coffee" I find that Google uses the '+' symbol to denote whitespace, which is common. So you could use the '+' symbol for a whitespace, but it would only work on certain search engines. Others use ' %20 ' as a URL encoding for a whitespace.

I think your solution is the better approach. In Cold Turkey if you go into a block and the click "Import" there will be an option for "All searches containing..." That option gives something very similar to what you yourself came up with.

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@WinstonVek - Sure, you can PM me.