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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 9th, 2023

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  • I’ve been running PiHole for awhile, in short it’s your own DNS server that’s configured to block DNS requests to known advertising domains. So when you load a website and it sends a DNS request to PopularAdvertisingCompany.com to load an ad, PiHole blocks the request so the ad can’t be loaded. It’s useful for devices that you can’t put an ad blocker on, like iPhones and smart TVs and such, but can’t block stuff like YouTube ads cause they come from the same domain as the videos themselves.

    It also has bonus features like DNS caching which can speed up web browsing.


  • Any router from a mainstream brand is likely fine, just don’t enable any of their “cloud” BS and don’t use their smartphone app. I’ve had good luck with Asus, they have an app but you don’t have to use it at all.

    For security, try to enable WPA3 on your Wi-Fi networks, otherwise WPA2 is probably fine unless you’re being targeted by a government-sponsored hacking operation. Choose a long password for your network.

    Once you get it up and running, then worry about DNS and PiHole and VPNs and all that. Don’t get in over your head.





  • The project started as an independently developed ZLUDA, meant for Intel GPUs. AMD started funding development of the project, expanding its scope to also work on AMD GPUs, with the condition that if AMD abandons it, the code would become open source. This happened a few months ago, but now for some reason AMD backtracked and pulled the open-source code for reasons we don’t know. AMD is usually pretty good with this stuff though, so I’m interested to find out what their motives are.






  • Counterpoint: a used PS5 will probably run $450, and including the cost of a TV isn’t fair because basically everybody already has one (you’d have to factor in the cost of a monitor too if you want a fair comparison).

    Building a new PC is likely to be less cost effective if you only plan to use it for games, and if you’re building your first PC and can’t carry over components like storage and the chassis. The initial investment will pay off in the future, but not everyone has $800 to throw into a PC all at once.

    Finally, saying that a mainline console like the PS5 will be “trash” in 5 years is objectively wrong. Modern consoles are often supported for 7-8+ years, and even after that point, they will continue to play all the games they did before.

    I agree that a PC is generally a better investment than a console like the PS5. But you shouldn’t make that argument by being disingenuous or exaggerating the downsides of what you’re arguing against.