Block URLs

Does anyone have a suggestion for a good way to block access to certain URLs from a Mac? I don't care about blocking content, just certain sites. I'm a UNIX guy, so I'm confortable working at the shell/terminal level if that is what's needed.

I'd be OK blocking at the router level if I can control it by MAC address (blocking by time would also be nice). I currently have an Airport that handles internal wireless and connects to a Cisco RV042 for access to the Internet. The Airport lets me block access by MAC address and time, but it's all or nothing. I need to let some URLs through.

Does anyone have any suggestions / experience with a similar setup?

Are you familiar with the "hosts" file? You can block URLs from there. However, this site lists ways that it can be done other than from the hosts file:

LINK

Many routers allow a blacklist to be created too. But it depends on your make/model/firmware version of your router

Thanks, chscag. I am familiar with hosts files. That should work to block access. I may write a script that edits the hosts file so I can enable/disable URL blocking on demand or from a crontab entry.

mrplow, unfortunately my router doesn't allow a blacklist by MAC or IP address. Do you know of any that do? I'd consider upgrading if the cost was reasonable.

Ultimately I may need to set up a proxy that will give me this kind of control, but going the hosts route should work for now. Thanks for your replies!

I've had Netgear, DLink and Sagem routers that all allow blocking by domain and keyword.