Possible to use hosts file to block forum signatures?

[aggies]

In some forums that I read on a regular basis I come across some pretty
annoying signatures that I'd like to block. I tried copying and pasting
their address into my hosts file but that didn't work. Am I doing something
wrong or is it just not possible to block forum signatures?

[Lance Delacroix]

On Thu, 3 Jul 2003 11:13:35 -0700, "aggies" <not@here.com> prounounced
a fatwah thus:

>In some forums that I read on a regular basis I come across some pretty
>annoying signatures that I'd like to block. I tried copying and pasting
>their address into my hosts file but that didn't work. Am I doing something
>wrong or is it just not possible to block forum signatures?

A HOSTS file is for DNS lookups. You can use it to specify IPs of
frequently accessed host URLs (the original use), or you can use it to
redirect lookups to your own computer for the purpose of obviating
genuine lookups. HOSTS has nothing to do with filtering usenet or
web-forum posts.