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Mmm, Pi-hole

troyhunt.com

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Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#411

Post by pdimitar »

lyk wrote: post #257
moftz wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Host file blocking on mobile devices produces some weird web browsing. I like using browser plugins because it gets rid of the whole chunk of html so it's like the ad was never there in the first place. On android, there are these huge blank spots you have to scroll past to keep reading. I still keep adaway on but I wish I could just use ublock origin with android's chrome.

You can use uBlock Origin in Firefox on Android, and I've found DNS66 to be a good non-rooted adblocker on Android.

Now there's also Blokada which is a little bit better (found it to block some ads that DNS66 actually let through; it was a random discovery, I am not a researcher).

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#412

Post by pdimitar »

JetSpiegel wrote: post #96
egeozcan wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

90% of the time, I just don't do that dance and not watch the video.

I copy the URL(CTRL-l CTRL-c), open a new terminal and try youtube-dl $URL

Yep, I do that often. It's apparently a very underrated tool because it can pretty much download most of the video content out there on the internet at large. But many people have no idea about it, even technical people.

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#413

Post by pdimitar »

jjnoakes wrote: post #153

I hate ads as much as the next guy. This cat-and-mouse game has been going on for as long as I can remember. But I have to wonder why the ad networks don't require content creators to place some "ad libraries" into the web servers or CMS systems directly, so that the ads are served exactly the same way as the content (same domain, same pages, etc). That's my nightmare scenario. I figured it would have happened everyw…

Wondered that many times myself. I see several reasons:

(1) Their current tech still works on most users so it's not economically justified to invest several times more just to catch a few extra percent of the users (the tech-savvy) in their net.

(2) They are not technically savvy enough to figure it out (thank Cthulhu if that's true!).

(3) They do not want to pay for the extra bandwidth costs and to upgrade their servers. And they will have to do both because looking at any ad inspection article reveals that the ad/tracking bandwidth can be easily anywhere from 3x to 20x the bandwidth needed to serve the content itself. Furthermore, the ad/tracking tech uses elaborate scripting techniques to avoid part of the automated defenses of browsers or network devices. Running those scripts 24/7 increases your electricity bill significantly.

Overall I believe it's a case of "we could probably do better but we get a hell of a deal for the minimal investment we made". Which is really good for us the techies -- because they leave us alone -- but seriously sucks for everybody else.

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#414

Post by craftyguy »

helper wrote: post #145
craftyguy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. This thing is in the best possible location for poisoning DNS for every system on your network. That should be a HUGE concern.

It is an order of magnitude safer than a browser plugin.

and then this happened: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18086418

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#415

Post by acranox »

I run a dns server with BIND for my local network. Is there some equivalent way to get this functionality without using a Pi?

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#416

Post by pdimitar »

eb00 wrote: post #176

Pi-hole is so important to me that I am unwilling to use the web without it. I also will not use Microsoft Windows without it. The Mozilla DNS over HTTP project concerns me because of this. If DNS over HTTP becomes the default for most software then I will have a serious problem. Don't bother trying to tell me this will be optional. Absolutely nothing will make me trust you after the MR. Robot incident. I would cut o…

To address your last: I am rebuilding my career lately and working towards an income where I have several thousand $ free every month so I can just buy a maxed out iMac Pro (~$13,500 I think) in 6-8 months and only use my PC for gaming.

Already fully invested -- a MacBook Pro, an iPhone X, an iPad Pro. Only thing missing is a desktop machine.

The fellow technical crowd in HN and Reddit loves to crap on Apple for "slowing down progress" but Safari is a very solid browser. Between a good ad blocker and reading mode, it actually gives you control and styles pages for... you know, reading. I really like Safari on all my devices because it allows me to consume content how I want and forces the websites to behave.

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#417

Post by pdimitar »

auslander wrote: post #343

uBlock Origin in medium mode, to block 3rd party scripts and frames, is much more effective, its not depending on any lists. I'd also neved point to Cloudflare resolver 1.1.1.1, and to Google's too. Use your VPN's dns or Quad9 9.9.9.9

What is your recommendation based on? Why don't you trust Cloudflare but trust Quad9?

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#419

Post by ansible »

mmcclure wrote: post #376
ansible wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been waiting for these guys to launch in the USA since I first heard of them. They're still in beta?

I've been using them in the US for over a year for what that's worth.

And I just got the beta invite. Yay!

Re: Mmm, Pi-hole

#420

Post by SZJX »

pkulak wrote: post #384
1943820037 wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not parent, but I would absolutely _demand_ people to write all content for free. I refuse to pay a single cent for anything that is even remotely accessible on the Internet and does not result in a physical tangible good being delivered to me, of which I pay $15/mo as acceptable rate-limited mobile LTE bandwidth -- my only communication related recurring cost. There are several reasons at play here: - Content qualit…

The best content I've ever read has been books that each took years to write. After that come NPR and the Washington Post. Then Ars. I pay for all of them, and everything else I read, present company included, isn't even in the same league of quality. I guess I'm saying that I couldn't disagree with you more; if all the content I didn't pay for went away, I doubt I'd be negativity effected at all.

Very true. There's a proliferation of content nowadays but most of them are just of absolutely horrible quality. I regret having wasted quite some time on hastily written free contents instead of more systematic books.
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