# Can someone explain why this link is failing?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-why-this-link-is-failing/716984>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [April 6, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-why-this-link-is-failing/716984 "2015-04-06T19:43:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-why-this-link-is-failing/716984/21 "2015-04-08T22:18:48Z")

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This is why that poor link is failing:

> **[Why Johnny Can't Read: And What You Can Do About It: Rudolf Franz Flesch:...](https://www.amazon.com/Why-Johnny-Cant-Read-About/dp/1568491387)**
>
> Why Johnny Can't Read: And What You Can Do About It \[Rudolf Franz Flesch\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Why Johnny Can't Read: And What You Can Do About It

😛

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-why-this-link-is-failing/716984/22 "2015-04-09T09:52:35Z")

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> [@TroutMan](#):
>
> I might be the outlier. My 404 error was looking for a URL on Viglink, but it sounds like I’m the only one that got that. Oh well, I can blame it on IE, which is the other whipping boy around here.

That can happen, but it has nothing to do with the link. It most likely means the Viglink server went down for a bit–or even your DNS went down for a bit and thus your computer couldn’t find Viglink.

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