I moved it to the thread where it evidently was meant to go.
Maybe, maybe not, this link suggests it is possible on androids anyway.
Eminently possible, as long as you have root on the device (since /etc/hosts is a root-owned file).
My Droid 4 has a custom hosts file with lots of advertising sites redirected to localhost, and a little bitty webserver answering HTTP calls to localhost with blank data (so host file redirects don’t result in stuck/timeoute web pages).
Yet another possible Viglink misbehavior: Yesterday, the webcomic Schlock Mercenary had a bit of a blip with their DNS servers, with the result that some people (myself included) couldn’t view the page, and instead got a page apparently trying to sell the domain name. Yllaria started a thread about it. Well, this morning (when the site was still down for me), that thread had a link where no legitimate link could possibly be: The word schlockmercenary.com in the subject line was converted to a link. Now, the site is back up, and the link has disappeared from that thread. I can’t say for sure, but it sure looks like Viglink is in cahoots with whomever it was who was trying to profit off of the site’s brief disappearance.
The Viglink opt out must be yet another cookie that shouldn’t be killed.
Screw that. NEVER trust advertisers and trackers. If a browser can run Ghostery, download it. (Is Viglink short for Vigilant link?)
Why save cookies? Browsers can sign into any form requiring a screen name and a password or by an AppleScript if so desired.
I use an AppleScript to quit Firefox, It nukes all the cookies that may lurk, including those that don’t expire for 99 years and Adobe’s Flash super cookies that those SOBs created to dig holes into the operating system where they plant themselves so they won’t disappear when cookies are cleared via the browser.
That’s gotta be it.
Just happened, after fine Amazon links. Resurrecting this since I noted it where it occurs, http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19643467&posted=1#post19643467.
Interesting. At first, I had no idea what you were talking about. Hovering over the link I see the link goes to walmart.com; but quoting that post, I see the url is amazon.com. Using the “Disable VigLink” page mentioned above, it properly shows and goes to Amazon. Sneaky.