All Things Geek

[Coss]

Here's an interesting tidbit I found a couple weeks ago.

www.pi-hole-net

Get Raspberry Pi (2 or 3, not sure if an original Pi would work but probably so), install Rasbian on it and then go grab the install script on that site. It'll set up a DNS masquerading server with a set of known web advertiser sites. Set all you devices on your home network to use the Pi as your DNS and whenever you're surfing and a webpage has a link to an ad on one of the known sites the Pi will return it's own address in place of the advertiser.

No more ads! It's not 100% but it does cut down on the advertisements pretty dramatically. Since I got mine set up it's been blocking more than 1000 ads each day.

I used to have an AdTrap and it was a bit better since it used a privoxy setup as well as dnsmasq. But that company seems to have gone out of business. Phone numbers and web sites all seem to be disconnected.

I was thinking that it's basically acting as a Proxy Server; pretty cool.
I haven't worked with a Pi unit yet (no time) but I know they cost next to nothing.

I think AdTrap was "absorbed" into another company; I read a little quip about them a while back, but don't recall the company that "absorbed" them.

 

[Muzhik]

I think AdTrap was "absorbed" into another company; I read a little quip about them a while back, but don't recall the company that "absorbed" them.

No doubt, it was the Microsoft Blob that absorbed them.

Mark my words, we need to hit that thing with a lot of dry ice and haul its blobby butt down to the Antarctic! Hey, it just might work this time!

 

[BiloxiGeek]

I was thinking that it's basically acting as a Proxy Server; pretty cool.
I haven't worked with a Pi unit yet (no time) but I know they cost next to nothing.

I think AdTrap was "absorbed" into another company; I read a little quip about them a while back, but don't recall the company that "absorbed" them.

Well they started as a subsidiary of Bluepoint Security. The way I understand it one of the Bluepoint employees was the guy that came up with the idea and ran the Kickstarter project for it. But Bluepoint's web site and phone numbers are also disconnected.

If that wasn't the absorbing company you read about I'd appreciate a tip if you ever recall the company's name.

 

[BiloxiGeek]

I was thinking that it's basically acting as a Proxy Server; pretty cool.

The AdTrap was a proxy server and maintained a decent ad network list for blocking DNS lookups.

Pi-Hole (at least for now) is strictly doing the DNS thing. It doesn't block as much as the AdTrap did but it does a pretty good job. I'm hoping they expand the functions to include some of what the AdTrap was doing. The downside to adding that would be the RPi's network which is only a single 100MB port. The AdTrap had two 1GB ports so did work as a proxy and firewall and could support most any high speed broadband connection.

 

[Coss]

Just read this article (way different topic than the Pi)

15 cool desks and workspaces that geeks will love

Why couldn't I have found a place to work that had: 2, 11, 14 or 19?

 

[Coss]

Well they started as a subsidiary of Bluepoint Security. The way I understand it one of the Bluepoint employees was the guy that came up with the idea and ran the Kickstarter project for it. But Bluepoint's web site and phone numbers are also disconnected.

If that wasn't the absorbing company you read about I'd appreciate a tip if you ever recall the company's name.

I can do that.

 

[Rob Croson]

Just read this article (way different topic than the Pi)

15 cool desks and workspaces that geeks will love

Why couldn't I have found a place to work that had: 2, 11, 14 or 19?

I remember seeing a demo vid of that Dynamic Desktop (#2) about two years ago. Real slick. That's what surface computing should be.

 

[Coss]

I remember seeing a demo vid of that Dynamic Desktop (#2) about two years ago. Real slick. That's what surface computing should be.

There was a second one towards the end of the slide show that didn't impress me as much as the first one. First thing I thought was "was didn't it have a virtual keyboard" until I remembered the article I read about how people hate those projected keyboards; no tactile feedback for one.
But that Pons<?> work space didn't make any sense at first, until I looked at the second picture.
Those 3/4 "bubbles" would be great for killing shared workspace noise.

 

[Rob Croson]

First thing I thought was "was didn't it have a virtual keyboard" until I remembered the article I read about how people hate those projected keyboards; no tactile feedback for one.

Yeah, no feedback, and lots of potential for RSI. Constantly banging your fingertips into an unyielding surface with no cushioning at all. Swiping helps, but is way too inaccurate, clumsy, and imprecise for serious use.

 

[Frim]

Ahhh. Air brakes. So you can stop in mid-air. How "Wile E. Coyote" of you.

Is this the train from Back to the Future II?