Elsewhere: /etc/hosts  ∞

I’m pleased I found out about Dan Pollock’s custom hosts file. From the file comments:

Use this file to prevent your computer from connecting to selected internet hosts. This is an easy and effective way to protect you from many types of spyware, reduces bandwidth use, blocks certain pop-up traps, prevents user tracking by way of “web bugs” embedded in spam, provides partial protection to IE from certain web-based exploits and blocks most advertising you would otherwise be subjected to on the internet.

You can download the standard file directly.

If you don’t know what a hosts file is then do a little reading first. Please also see Brett Logjam’s tip on creating a self-updating hosts file, from Pollock’s, using a cron job.