Bitch slammed my car

It wasn't nearly this bad

 Over the week between Christmas and New Years I got a little late X-mas gift. A man was teaching his daughter how to drive. She then attempted to parallel park my car which was parked on the street outside my house. Instead of hitting the breaks she hits the accelerator and and hits my car so hard it broke the grip of the parking break and nearly caused it to roll into my mailbox. My dad then goes out to asses the situation and get the insurance information. While my dad headed back inside to get the insurance card the guy RUNS BACK INTO HIS CAR AND TRIES TO DRIVE AWAY. So my dad runs after them and stops them at the end of the block. He says he regrets not calling the police at that point.

So now I became stuck without a car for two weeks. Luckily I was on winter break so I didn't have to worry about my commute. The damage to the exterior of the car was minor, but upon inspection the mechanic said the collision completely destroyed the exhaust system and would cost over $1000 to fix (good thing the other guy was footing the bill) although my car is estimated to be worth only $3000 (it's a 1997 Volvo Station-wagon).

Luckily Im finally getting it back tomorrow.

The Hosts File: The Ultimate Ad Blocker

(source)

The hosts file is a hidden file in all internet connected computers that redirects domain names to their correct IP address without the domain names system. Most computer users never see or use this file in any meaningful way. However, it can be an extremely powerful tool for combating malicious websites and ads. You can use the hosts file to block certain websites from connecting to your computer (and vice-versa) by redirecting their domain names to your localhost (127.0.0.1). Are you still with me?

A good man named Dan Pollock has compiled an extensive list of ad servers and malware sites and put them into a custom hosts file that you can use! By adding this list to your hosts file, you can block almost every online ad imaginable, its even more effective than Ad Block Plus. 

First things first, you need to get to your hosts file. You must have administrator privileges to access it.

On Windows, the hosts file is located at: C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Open the file in Notepad.

On Mac OS X, it's a little more complicated.

It is located at: Macintosh HD/private/etc/hosts

but the /private folder is hidden. To view it, enter Terminal (in the Utilities folder) and type:

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Then type:

killall Finder

And hit Enter, the Finder will restart and you should see a faded folder named private. Navigate to the hosts file and open it in TextEdit.

To hide the folders again type:

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles NO

Then do killall Finder again.

If you are using Linux then you should already know where to find it.

First thing you want to do is create a backup of your hosts file before you modify it. Save it as hostsbackup.txt and put it somewhere you won't lose it.

Now, copy and paste this (yes, all of it) into the hosts file a line below the text already in it. The file has more detailed instructions if I am not clear enough.

The link above is just a basic list of ad sites. Alternatively, you can use this or this hosts file instead (which are much larger and block even more ads), or combine all three into one.

Finally, you may want to scan through it for websites you don't want blocked for whatever reason (use ctrl+f to search).

If you want to add a site to the list that you want to block, on a new line type: 127.0.0.1 the website.com (do not include the http:// or www.)    

Save the file as hosts without an extension (no .txt) and replace the original hosts file when prompted.
Your internet just got better!

If you are experiencing problems, just replace it with your backup copy of the original. (Be sure to save it in the correct folder and with no file extension)

You can use this trick to pull pranks as well. The hosts file can be used to forcibly redirect one site to another. If your friend or co-worker has administrator access and is stupid enough not to lock his computer when unattended, you can go to the hosts file and add a line. First, type the IP address of the site you want them to be redirected to. (Use this tool to find IP's) Then put a space and then type the website you want to trigger the redirect. Here is an example entry:

69.65.107.209 google.com

Now, whenever he tries to go to google.com, he will be redirected to the infamous lemonparty.org !


To reverse it, simply delete the entry you added from the hosts file.

UPDATE: One of the secondary hosts files I provided (the one from hosts-file.net) is breaking the entire hosts file on my Mac. If you are a Mac user, do not use the file from that link or part of it.