Sunday, August 2, 2009

How Would You Like Your Computer to Become a Federal Computer?

Thanks to Dr Dave, who brings us this latest piece of WTF from our new Hopey Changey Unicorn Riding Non-Intrusive Government Administration.

Cash For Clunkers is a Government Scam to Access Your Computer

Ok, so here is something you can do. It may seem a little daunting at first, but even if you're just a little tech savvy, you can do it too. Update your HOSTS file.

Read a little of this - Block Unwanted Parasites From Your Computer

Translation for the reading averse... Replace your HOSTS file with one that blocks all known malicious websites plus advert sites. In addition, be able to add sites like cars.gov to the list.

Then read this small section - How to Edit Your HOSTS File

Something not mentioned here that I had to do in order to edit the HOSTS file was: Right Click and select Properties and Uncheck Read Only.

I have updated my hosts file, and if I type cars.gov into my browser, it comes back and say 'Exsqueeze me? Baking Your Powder?? Nolo Comprendes Senor.." Which is cool.

If you want to do this, leave any questions in the comments, and I'll be happy to help.

5 comments :

  1. Hi Kid!
    I'm glad I found your site when you commented Dr. Dave, I'm going to check this out! Have a nice Sunday

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  2. Hi Bunni! Thanks for stopping by. I've been using this Hosts file for 5 years or more and regularly update it.

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  3. Thanks, Kid...This is an excellent suggestion. I'm adding this to my post.

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  4. Be my guest.
    I enjoy having this added level of protection.

    AdBlock works well with ads, but with this method the ad site isn't even hit.

    One thing I'd add to this is that since the HOSTS file is cached on system start up, that when you modify the file, the first time your browser has to go to the net/dns server, your system will re-cache the HOSTS file, making the first web site you visit awfully slow to come up, making some folks think there might be a problem. There isn't.

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