A while back (when my laptop
chewed through my entire ANA data plan in like 4 minutes) I lamented the fact that laptops don't have the sophisticated data-throttling controls that smart phones do. One of my readers told me about a cool tool for MacOS and Windows that enables these types of controls for your laptop (or desktop) computer. It's called
TripMode.
It's US$8, there's a free trial, and you can pay by several means, including Apple Pay. Installation is simple, and once it's launched you have a task bar item that lets you selectively enable internet access for various applications and services. You can completely disable TripMode whenever you want. One cool thing I like about the preferences is that you can tell it to speak every time it blocks something (e.g., "Application Calendar was blocked"). This gives you a great sense of how many things are silently sucking bandwidth when you're not even thinking about it.
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| selectively and instantly block access to the internet for various apps |
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| Configurable schedules, profiles, and notifications |
While I've been loving JetBlue's unlimited, fast, free wi-fi, I'm not sure that it's going to catch on worldwide, especially on long-haul flights with foreign carriers. Given how expensive trans-oceanic wi-fi can be, this $8 app could easily pay for itself in a single session. Even if you're not on a pay-by-megabyte wi-fi plan, having a tool like this could help speed up your onboard internet usage by preventing your computer from doing other, competing things over a slow connection.
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