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Author Topic: IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder  (Read 36267 times)

nudone

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IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« on: May 01, 2005, 02:45 PM »
i once had a program that would remind you at set intervals to take a break from the computer - you know, for health reasons.

of course - i uninstalled it and continued to spend hours sat staring at my monitor all day instead. yep, i'm probably going to get deep vain thrombosis as a result of using my computer - great.

how about a little program that you set to blank the screen every couple of hours or less - maybe it bring ups a message (visual and audio) telling you in a polite way that it's time to go and make a drink or whatever, thereby forcing you to take a break.

yeah, i know you'd ignore it and just carry on working - the crucial part is the screen would remain blank for 5 minutes (with more messages or whatever displayed) and you would have no way of overriding it - any attempt to do so would hibernate the computer.

(i know, i know, i'd uninstall it and never use it - let me just dream for a while that i would do the right thing and obey it.)
« Last Edit: August 06, 2005, 03:52 AM by mouser »

mouser

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Re: IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2005, 03:07 PM »
this is a good idea but i think there are a LOT of apps to do this already.

nudone

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Re: IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2005, 03:14 PM »
yes, sorry. i didn't really look for anything before posting - i'll have a look later.

Steph

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Re: IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2005, 04:28 PM »
one of them which is open-source : http://www.workrave.org/

nudone

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Re: IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2005, 07:42 AM »
downloaded and installed 'workrave'.  :up:

looks like exactly the right kind of app for the job. nicely done all around.

(my problem is the lack of discipline to actually obey the break reminders though - i really do need something that can't be overridden.)

mouser

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Re: IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2005, 07:57 AM »
workrave is open source, it would probably be a snackable request to modify workrave to not allow you to override it :)

nudone

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Re: IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2005, 11:48 AM »
well, i'll certainly be grateful if anyone decides to modify it to prevent the breaks from being overridden.

if no one thinks it's worthwhile i'll understand - it would be better if i could make myself more disciplined instead (maybe i should learn to write code - it would be easier).

skrommel

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DONE: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2005, 07:53 PM »
TakeABreak - Locks the computer in user defined intervals

Features:
- Change the work and pause time.
- Careful! In pause mode the only way out is to restart the computer!



You'll find the downloads and more info at Skrommel Software.

Skrommel
« Last Edit: September 17, 2005, 08:05 PM by skrommel »

nudone

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Re: IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2005, 03:38 AM »
thank you very much skrommel.

i had forgotten about making this request but i shall definately try out your script.

skrommel to the rescue once again.

tempdonationcoder

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Re: IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« Reply #9 on: April 03, 2009, 11:50 AM »
TakeABreak is great however it can be heavy on the CPU - it causes explorer.exe run heavy :(

edit:
Also adding dimming of the screen (like in ghoster) would be a cool feature
« Last Edit: April 03, 2009, 11:57 AM by tempdonationcoder »

tomos

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Re: IDEA: forced coffee/tea/cigarette break reminder
« Reply #10 on: April 03, 2009, 05:22 PM »
hi tempdonationcoder :)
have you seen app103's Instant Boss ?
https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=4602.0
https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=4430.0
it's got a different slant but certainly well worth a look

havent seen this one before must try it out, thanks!
Tom