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Some weeks back, I decided to set Pi-Hole (the DNS-based black hole for ads and other creepy requests) again on my home network. I already had an Ubuntu VM available. It only took minutes to get it going on that. I previously ran it on a Raspberry Pi Zero.

My Eero mesh network uses the Pi-Hole for DNS and Pi-Hole used OpenDNS for its DNS. About a week ago, my Ubuntu VM changed its static IP address unexpectedly and, in a hurry, I just restored Google DNS settings to it because I knew them (8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4). But I’ll probably go back to OpenDNS, because no one on Earth should trust Google.

Pi-Hole is a wonderful product.

I picked up a Sound Device MixPre-3 (not the second generation) a few days ago. I’m excited. Plan to use this as an audio recorder for personal projects and as an audio interface at work to replace my very nice pair of Roland Quad-Capture interfaces. No complaints about the Rolands. I bought this to replace my Tascam DR-100 Mk II for personal projects. I don’t need the microphones on that and I don’t need it pocket-sized, so this MixPre seems like a great fit.

For years I’ve wanted a Raspberry Pi, but I didn’t have a practical application.

The other day, I decided to use one as a whole-home ad-blocker via the PiHole project. I ordered a Pi Zero W (wireless) kit via Amazon for $36.

Despite looking at photos of the Pi Zero with human hands for scale, I was still suprised at how teensy this thing is!

Anyway, the setup was super easy. The OS came on a micro-SD card via NOOBS and that was a smooth process.

I plugged it into my main TV and it properly determined the resolution.

My AirPort Extreme change involved just changing its DNS servers. Nothing fancy and no troubles whatsoever from that corner.

2 January 2018 Note: Turns out my Airport Express, which extends my home wireless network’s range, has its own DNS settings. I set these to point to the Raspberry Pi this weekend when I discovered this.

There were just no problems with anything.

Now I’m going to get a Pi 3 B as a retro gaming (Nintendo) station.

3 February 2018 Update: Going strong as my whole-home ad blocker.

9 March 2018 Update: No problems. This thing just runs. I’m a little sickened by how often my Amazon Echo Dots phone home. So much accumulation of blocked attempts that it was skewing my block stats, so I whitelisted the site. Geez.