Ads are one of the most annoying things in existence. They interrupt you constantly and many times even may lead you to suspicious website which contains viruses. On desktops, it is easy for us to block them using browser extensions like “uBlock Origin” and many more, but in the case of smartphones, no such app exists. So I started researching ways to rid me of this annoyance. One good solution I found is to use a small computer known as a Raspberry Pi and a software called Pi-Hole to block ads. The Raspberry Pi is a very inexpensive mini-pc which can accept a multitude of linux-based operating systems and can be modded to act like anything, from robots to a security camera and in this case, an ad blocker. to act as a local DNS server and pass all DNS queries through it. The Pi will refer to a collection of lists of known ad and tracking weblinks to blacklist all ads on the website so that they are block and don’t load.
Learning Outcomes:
LO1 Identify own strengths and develop areas of growth
Since childhood, I played around with electronics which has made me confident around electrical hardware. But I am as clueless as anyone on the software part of it like how to install operating systems or how to use the terminal to install new software to name a few. So i knew that I had to work on that first.
LO2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills
The biggest challenge I faced was my software illiteracy. So First, I acquainted myself with these by watching online tutorials on learning the terminal like “Linux Terminal Introduction” by the YouTube channel “ExplainingComputers” and various resources which took me many days to understand. Then I learned how to install operating systems on the Pi using the official Raspberry Pi handbook. Then I installed the Pi Hole software using a tutorial named “PiHole Setup the Easy Way” by “CubicleNate” on YouTube. This software makes the Pi act as a local DNS server and pass all DNS queries through it. It will then refer to a collection of lists of known ad and tracking weblinks to blacklist all ads on the website so that they are blocked and don’t load.
LO7 Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Ads are often the only source of income for many websites on the net which provide their services for free such as CNN, Google and many more. By blocking the ads, I realise that I may be proving to be an obstacle in their business model which, on a large scale, may lead to these services being turned into paid ones. But blocking these ads will cause me great convenience and increased productivity. After weighing the pros and the cons, I decided to go ahead with the project as this project is relatively hard for the average internet user to complete and is most likely not going to go mainstream. So this probably wouldn’t severely hurting the cash reserves of these massive multi-billion dollar companies.
Evidence:
