I have toyed with the idea of using hosts files instead, but what bothers me is the lack of daily updates. Granted, there is so much bad crap out there that it's impossible to avoid it all.

Another thing I want to do is find a router that allows host files and script regular updates. It would be great to never have to install extensions or tinker with hosts file for every box on the network. I've also said I'd be interested in seeing a proxy server that strips out all of this stuff so no maintenance on the user end is required.