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I have big exams coming up and I can't refrain myself from using the Science Fiction Stack Exchange site (It is so exciting!).

Is there any option so that I can temporarily disable my account until my exams are done and switch it on after it with my current reputation and all?

Please can anyone suggest where to apply for temporary suspension of my account... I guess I am not able to refrain myself.. Even if I could so from using the site, i always keep thinking the question I can ask on the site.

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  • 3
    Log out and close the browser...poof! Now go study!
    – Taryn
    Jan 28, 2016 at 14:24
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    You could ask to be suspended for a while... or add a hosts file entry for Science Fiction & Fantasy that will just go to loopback...
    – Oded
    Jan 28, 2016 at 14:25
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    Nobody suggested randomly insulting people to get a suspension – I am amazed.
    – Wrzlprmft
    Jan 28, 2016 at 15:14
  • 2
    You could post some spam. This would result in your account being destroyed, and I think your IP would be blocked. After your exams, use the 'contact us' link at the bottom of every page to see if you can have your IP unblocked.
    – Keen
    Jan 28, 2016 at 16:37
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    @Keen In your earnest attempt to solve this user's problem, you have quite possibly suggested a solution akin to solving it with regular expressions - now they have two problems.
    – Tim Post
    Jan 28, 2016 at 16:46
  • Please can anyone tell me where to apply for temporary suspension?
    – Prakhar Londhe
    Feb 11, 2016 at 14:13
  • @prakharlondhe Head to the Scifi.SE chat room and get a moderator's attention.
    – Keen
    Feb 11, 2016 at 15:47

5 Answers 5

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Disabling your account isn't practical. While there are some very specific reasons we'd be willing to accommodate a user's request to enter a willing suspension, they're more along the lines of "I'm not quite myself lately, and I don't want to leave unflattering public artifacts of that".

And, disabling your account isn't going to prevent you from reading the site, which you'd totally do, and you know it :P. And, anything that you can undo yourself won't help - what's to stop you from just saying your exams are done? What's stopping you from just taking the blocking entry out of your hosts file?

Ain't nothin' to it but to do it. Go study. If it wasn't that site, it'd be something else - just muster up some hocus focus and get through it.

And, good luck.

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  • I don't just get into stack for looking at the things... I normally enter to ask a question or write an answer... And I am not able to muster the energy.. please would you disable my account?... and the enable time should be 22 May.. Please?
    – Prakhar Londhe
    Feb 11, 2016 at 14:07
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Edit your hosts file and route the relevant time wasting sites to 127.0.0.1. When you are ready to come back, remove those lines from the hosts file.

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  • 3
    ASK ME HOW I KNOW.
    – Pollyanna
    Jan 28, 2016 at 14:38
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    Tempting... How do you know?
    – Patrick Hofman
    Jan 28, 2016 at 14:39
  • @PatrickHofman I'm betting it has something to do with uservoice.
    – Tim Post
    Jan 28, 2016 at 17:50
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    I had to quit Stack Overflow in spring of 2009, I was spending hours on it daily, and the easiest way was to block it using my hosts file. Yes, I could get around that, but it was just that little extra effort that I needed to dissuade me from going back for pointless stuff. If you examine my SO history you'll find I added 480 questions between Aug 2008 and May 2009, and between Jun 2009 and Jan 2015 only 90 questions. My rep still keeps going up, though - 20k when I quit, and 37k just due to the long tail effects of stuff I posted years before.
    – Pollyanna
    Jan 28, 2016 at 18:11
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    Of course, that's when I got addicted to meta...;)
    – Pollyanna
    Jan 28, 2016 at 18:12
  • Relevant: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4004/…
    – Pollyanna
    Jan 28, 2016 at 18:19
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You could (let someone else) change your password and put the password in a safe with a time lock on it...

(Or, as Oded suggested, you could request a suspension, but that would be really awkward)

The real thing you should do: pull yourself together. Be strong. Luckily, there is a site to learn that :)

There is no other way, sorry. We know SE is working on your addiction.

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  • Someone else would have to change the password. If they wrote it down and put it in a safe, they'd still know it. :P
    – Taryn
    Jan 28, 2016 at 14:26
  • Use Keepass or some other program to create a password. Smart guy who can remember that one.
    – Patrick Hofman
    Jan 28, 2016 at 14:26
  • This is referred to as a password escrow, and would only work if you used a login service you don't otherwise need - for instance if you chose facebook as your openid provider and don't mind also not having access to facebook during this time. Use a service to create a long password you aren't likely to remember, and only cut and paste it, never write it out or type it out (to avoid your own memory). Print it out on a piece of paper and delete any electronic copies so you have to go through the process of typing in a long complex password, then store is securely.
    – Pollyanna
    Jan 28, 2016 at 15:00
  • Or lose it and go through account retrieval. But blocking the site is batter, IMHO, because you can still browse without logging in, and due to the universal login, you might also lose access to sites you do need access without an account.
    – Pollyanna
    Jan 28, 2016 at 15:00
  • Jep, indeed. I didn't hope that was read too seriously, right? @AdamDavis
    – Patrick Hofman
    Jan 28, 2016 at 15:01
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I had similar issues a while back, so I tried using an addon called LeechBlock to prevent myself from browsing sites for more than 15 minutes during the times I was supposed to be working. The problem was, the ability to undo the block was within my power - I'd rationalise disabling the addon sooner or later and end up wasting my time again.

I'm saying this because, as a few people have mentioned, even if you could get your account temporarily suspended it wouldn't get to the root of the problem. You could browse anonymously, register a new account, remove any edits you made to hosts, etc.

If you're anything like me and prone to procrastination, there aren't really any shortcuts to making yourself focus. Just try to stay aware of what you're doing and try to learn to recognise the warning signs that you're getting distracted!

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I suggest a twist on Patrick Hofman's answer. Go to the teacher for your last exam, and ask them for a favor. Have them change your SE password to the correct answers for the exam. Then logout.

Then go study so you can get back into your account after you've mastered the subject matter of the exam.

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    Haha, genius!!!
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Feb 6, 2016 at 8:05
  • If only i wasn't using google for my login. Being unable to login to google for a few weeks wouldn't go over too well
    – Kevin B
    Feb 11, 2016 at 16:07

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