The toughest part of the puzzle is that the trouble is intermittent. I can have two or three hours of access with no trouble at all, followed by two or three of being blocked ("Can't find web site" is a common message").

But I also have a variable that throws a wrench in the gears -- a dodgy cable modem service provider. So I never know what part of the works is gummed up.

I also have a 12-gauge shotgun that could probably fix this computer overnight.

I've just upgraded(?) to the "AOL 9.0 Security" version. Before, the problem of accessing the SOG sites was intermittent. I could log off and back on again (it might take 2-4 times) and I could finally gain access.

Since my upgrade this morning I have not been able to gain access to any SOG sites through AOL, no matter how many times I log off and on.

Don't know where you're at on this by now, but I can report that I've had access problems to the Forum for about 2 weeks when trying to come in through AOL. (I have an alternate cable/ethernet connection through Explorer, which is what I had to use on this visit.)

The history strongly suggests that this is an AOL bug, despite predicted denials and diversions from the provider.

I now have a cable connection, nothing out of the ordinary. As I said above, my success used to be intermittent, but I am now completely shut out. I'm using the Internet Explorer for this access.

It all went black when I upgraded to their new "AOL 9.0 Security" software. This included the McAfee virus scan software that I did not have. I was recently able to speak by phone (the on-line help is a joke) to a tech support person. He concluded that he could not find the site either and he would fill out a report.

I'm no wizard on the technical side, I don't want to be. I'm sure there is a switch thrown somewhere that has caused this blackout. If I could find the switch then I could go back to being intermittent. I think this is a separate issue from the intermittent problem that has been there for at least a year.

For me this is just an inconvenience, but for any other AOL user reading my business card and trying to access my site ... well, I can almost hear my card as it hits the bottom of the can.

When you are unable to get to SOG with the URL of http://www.portraitartist.com, have you then tried http://199.217.241.56 as I've suggested earlier? It should come up, which would be proof that the problem is with their name servers and caching procedures. If you have not done this, please do so and tell me what happens. But, the fact is, in conversations between my host company and AOL, AOL has admitted it is their problem.

When you have the problem, see if you also have the problem with the following sites. Please report the results.

http://www.asopa.com
http://www.leonloard.com
http://www.st-louis.net
http://www.autotire.com
http://www.newground.com
http://www.meltonmachine.com

I signed up for the free month with AOL and unfortunately encountered the problem only one time and was unsuccessful in getting help from tech support because I kept being disconnected during each online support session and when I got disgusted and finally signed off and then back on, the problem was no longer there.

Cynthia,

I just tried this: http://199.217.241.56, as you suggested.

What I got was the SOG home page. However, as I have seen many times before, it is mostly a shell. The rotating (refreshed) image at the top never loads (x) and many (not all) of the images throughout the page do not load.

I cannot successfully link from anything on the page with some exceptions. For example, the Connie Erickson link, which is an SOG hosted site, will not come up. However, the Marvin Mattleson link, which is independently hosted will come up. With these type of exceptions, everything else indicates website not found. If I try to go to "competitions," it says website not found, "forum," it says website not found.

Also, when I first initiated this: http://199.217.241.56, it took about 60 seconds to load the home page that I described above.

Also, the other two sites that you suggested came back website not found.

Mike,

You beat me to some changes I made to my post above - I added in some other sites.

Cynthia,

None of them worked. I think you are doing what I have always been curious about.

Thanks, Mike. I'm not sure what it means, but I'm communicating with St. Louis Internet.

Mike, you're on a Mac aren't you?