Whatever happened to Olson Electronics?

[[email protected]]

When I was young, I practically lived in that store. Then it just
sort of vanished. Recently I looked on the web and found a company in
Ohio (not Akron), bearing the same name, but it did not specify what
they do.

I miss that store and others like it. These days the only way to get
parts is mail order it seems. That takes the fun out of it. Kind of
seems that building electronics projects is a thing of the past. I
guess these days it's cheaper to buy the cheap throwaway stuff made in
foreign countries. Even Popular Electronics and similar magazines are
all gone. Sad but true. I guess the kids growing up today will only
be able to remember talking on cellphones when someone asks them what
they did in their youth (40 years from now).

 

[[email protected]]

In my opinion, there has never been a better time to be an electronics
hobbyist. Look at all the neat products one can buy at a site like
www.sparkfun.com. Triple-axis accelerometers for ten bucks. You could
probably put together a decent IMU for less than the price of a dinner
at Applebees, not including the software development time. Try doing
that in whatever "glory days" of electronics projects you're talking about.

Except PIC programming is not "electronics".

There are still magazines and websites that cater to those interested in
DIY electronics, like Make magazine. There are websites like
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/ that have huge userbases. Just
because some musty old electronics rag isn't publishing schematics of
color organs anymore doesn't mean that a lot of kids aren't doing
eletronics projects - but the times are different and so are the
projects. And honestly, DIY electronics has always been a rather niche
market. The vast majority of people in their who are in their 50s or
60s now didn't build anything when they were kids, either.

I don't see a lot of "kids doing electronics projects" at all. I do see a lot
of script kiddies, OTOH.

 

[[email protected]]

Olson went bankrupt in the early '80s and closed all their stores. I
never bothered to see if the corporate offices & warehouse survived.
The store in Cincinnati tried to liquidate their stock, but most of what
they had was overpriced junk, and returns.

I miss Burstein-Applebee. They had good prices on current & surplus
consumer electronics in the '60s. Most of the parts in my high school
electronics classes came from them, or Fair Radio, in Lima, Ohio. Fair
radio is still in business.

Kind of surprised they went bankrupt. They were once very popular.
Guess it's a sign of the times, as I said, now a days it's all
imported cheap throwaway junk, so no one bothers to build stuff or for
that matter even repair most stuff.

I still like doing this stuff, but it's hard to find parts anymore, at
least locally. Radio Shack is about all there is, and they have
little anymore for parts. Seems they're mostly about cellphones now.
Seems they now devote a 4x8 foot piece of floor space for all their
components, all in little bins. Whenever I walk into a Radio Shack
these days, I'm asked "would you like to purchase a _____ cellphone
plan". When I say, "No, I just need a capacitor". they all walk away
from me. (probably because they dont know what a capacitor it).

I'll have to look up Fair Radio. I recall the name.
Thanks

 

[[email protected]]

In my opinion, there has never been a better time to be an electronics
hobbyist. Look at all the neat products one can buy at a site like
www.sparkfun.com. Triple-axis accelerometers for ten bucks. You could
probably put together a decent IMU for less than the price of a dinner
at Applebees, not including the software development time. Try doing
that in whatever "glory days" of electronics projects you're talking about.

I agree that it's much easier to get parts data and schematics these
days, via the web. I'll have to check this website.

There are still magazines and websites that cater to those interested in
DIY electronics, like Make magazine. There are websites like
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/ that have huge userbases. Just
because some musty old electronics rag isn't publishing schematics of
color organs anymore doesn't mean that a lot of kids aren't doing
eletronics projects - but the times are different and so are the
projects. And honestly, DIY electronics has always been a rather niche
market. The vast majority of people in their who are in their 50s or
60s now didn't build anything when they were kids, either.

Whoa, wait just one minute.... I'm in my 60's. I built lots of stuff,
even a color organ, (which still works). I used to get some of the
Popular Electronics kits from "Southwest Technical Products", and
built some Eico kits and Heath kits too.

I miss those kits too. They saved the hard part of finding components,
etching boards, and winding coils, etc.

 

[Rich Webb]

I agree that it's much easier to get parts data and schematics these
days, via the web. I'll have to check this website.


Whoa, wait just one minute.... I'm in my 60's. I built lots of stuff,
even a color organ, (which still works). I used to get some of the
Popular Electronics kits from "Southwest Technical Products", and
built some Eico kits and Heath kits too.

I miss those kits too. They saved the hard part of finding components,
etching boards, and winding coils, etc.

Kits are still out there. Ramsey, Sparkfun, and Jameco
<http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/hk/default.asp?page=hk>
<http://www.sparkfun.com/categories/157>
<http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/st...subCategoryName=Education & Hobby&category=70>
all have some flavor of kits available. (Why, oh why, does Jameco insist
on such stupidly long URLs?) I'm sure that there are others, these are
just the ones that come to mind.

Add SeeedStudio <http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/kits-c-138.html>
Heathkit is still (or again) around <http://www.heathkit.com/>
KitsRUs <http://www.kitsrus.com/>
....

 

[Don Lancaster]

When I was young, I practically lived in that store. Then it just
sort of vanished. Recently I looked on the web and found a company in
Ohio (not Akron), bearing the same name, but it did not specify what
they do.

I miss that store and others like it. These days the only way to get
parts is mail order it seems. That takes the fun out of it. Kind of
seems that building electronics projects is a thing of the past. I
guess these days it's cheaper to buy the cheap throwaway stuff made in
foreign countries. Even Popular Electronics and similar magazines are
all gone. Sad but true. I guess the kids growing up today will only
be able to remember talking on cellphones when someone asks them what
they did in their youth (40 years from now).

Bursteain-Applebee completely blew away Olsen, both for quality and
bargains.

A local favorite was Cameradio.
Who, believe it or not, still exist. Sort of.

--
Many thanks,

Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073
Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: [email protected]

Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com

 

[gregz]

Bursteain-Applebee completely blew away Olsen, both for quality and bargains.

A local favorite was Cameradio.
Who, believe it or not, still exist. Sort of.

I used to buy parts from cameradio and tydings. In the early 60's remember
buying transformers and stuff, was making an am modulator. In the 80's
ordering parts mostly from the big vendor reps around Pittsburgh.

I got a hold of a pinball machine I was rebuilding. Bad transformer. Lo and
behold, Olsen had one, with 4 or 5 taps with all the right voltages. I also
bought some of their sell out boxes loaded with parts before they closed. I
loved that store.

Greg

 

[Don Lancaster]

I used to buy parts from cameradio and tydings. In the early 60's remember
buying transformers and stuff, was making an am modulator. In the 80's
ordering parts mostly from the big vendor reps around Pittsburgh.

I got a hold of a pinball machine I was rebuilding. Bad transformer. Lo and
behold, Olsen had one, with 4 or 5 taps with all the right voltages. I also
bought some of their sell out boxes loaded with parts before they closed. I
loved that store.

Greg

I remember buying a five pound assortment from somebody that consisted
of one huge unmarked transformer and a zillion 78 RPM phonograph needles.

Ended up selling the needles as compass points to the college mechanical
drawing class I was taking for a dime each.

High finance.

--
Many thanks,

Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073
Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml email: [email protected]

Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com

 

[[email protected]]

<http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDrillDownView?lan

[snipped long url]

all have some flavor of kits available. (Why, oh why, does Jameco insist
on such stupidly long URLs?) I'm sure that there are others, these are
just the ones that come to mind.

Use this instead for that stupidly long Jameco URL
(My newsreader software wont allow me to post a URL that long, without
breaking it apart on several lines).

http://tinyurl.com/7xbrga9

 

[bud--]

I agree that it's much easier to get parts data and schematics these
days, via the web. I'll have to check this website.


Whoa, wait just one minute.... I'm in my 60's. I built lots of stuff,
even a color organ, (which still works). I used to get some of the
Popular Electronics kits from "Southwest Technical Products", and
built some Eico kits and Heath kits too.

I miss those kits too. They saved the hard part of finding components,
etching boards, and winding coils, etc.

I suspect a lot of us older people learned a lot from building kits. Or
reading articles about building projects where the theory of operation
was included.

Heathkit is trying to get into kits again
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/08/heathkit-is-back/

 

[[email protected]]

On Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:19:50 -0500, Rich Webb

I'm going thru this whole list of kit sites.
Just a few comments.....

<Kits are still out there. Ramsey, Sparkfun, and Jameco

---
<http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/hk/default.asp?page=hk>

Ramsey has a huge selection of kits and a great variety. Several
caught my eye. I may get a few of them.

---
<http://www.sparkfun.com/categories/157>
Mostly useless LED toys, quite a few "what the heck is this for" kits,
and a few what appear to be useful test equipment projects for a
reasonable price. (Seems to be several defective PDF files on their
site).

---
<http://www.jameco.com/webap.......... (url below)
http://tinyurl.com/7xbrga9
Quite a few kits, most are just LED toys, useless gadgets, a large
selection of "what the heck is this for" kits, (especially that
Arduino category), Leaving under ten kits that show promise. The
website keeps showing the same kits in multiple categories. Site
needs work!

---
<SeeedStudio <http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/kits-c-138.html>

Poor selection, not much there. Only 19 kits, mostly toys that seem
too expensive, and a thing called "Freeduino USB complete kit" (what
the heck is that?)

---

Heathkit is still (or again) around <http://www.heathkit.com/>

Looks like Heathkit is trying to make a comeback. Currently they have
only one kit listed on their site, and promises for future ones.
Too bad they dont still have many of their older ones, especially test
equipment, which is always needed, and doesn't get obsolete.

---

KitsRUs <http://www.kitsrus.com/>

This site is now for viagara? *I didn't know that came in kit form*
Of course this might come in handy if attacked by a naked woman during
kit construction.

Scratch this one from the list!

 

[Rich Webb]

This site is now for viagara? *I didn't know that came in kit form*
Of course this might come in handy if attacked by a naked woman during
kit construction.

Scratch this one from the list!

Interesting. From here that link takes me to DIY Electronics, who make
the KitsRUs kits. Might want to check your DNS!

Yes, a lot of the kits up above are "LED toys" but that's fine. They're
aimed at neophytes, with non-critical components and simple construction
that "does something." The intent is to get an early success that can be
built upon.

 

[[email protected]]

Interesting. From here that link takes me to DIY Electronics, who make
the KitsRUs kits. Might want to check your DNS!

WHAT THE HELL??????

Ok, here's what I'm getting....

Normally I use the browser K-Meleon 1.54 for common browsing.
I also have Firefox 3.6.15
and Seamonkey 1.1.15
(Note, I run Windows 98se [by choice]. thus I have older versions of
browsers, such as FF.)

When I use K-meleon, I get the viagra page, but it does contain a
small portion of the REAL site, with the picture of Peter and Ladda,
but most of the text on the page is for viagra etc....

HOW DO I CHECK THE DNS ON A WEBSITE? (this is beyond me).
(I know how to do it on a usenet group and email, but not on a
website).

---

Ok, using Firefox, I am getting the CORRECT "KitsRUs" page. Same with
Seamonkey.

As soon as I load the page in K-meleon, I get viagra stuff.....

Here is what I did, I opened the source code of the page, and it's
apparently been hijacked by this viagra page, but that only works on
certain browsers, and all of this is way beyond my computer knowledge
from here on..... Maybe one of you can make sense of this. I'm
thinking that the website itself must be lacking something for this to
happen.

(I did try to load the page with java script disabled, after clearing
the cache, and I still got the junk page).

Here are the first lines of this source code of this webpage. I'm
going to attempt to copy the text of the entire source code and will
post it as a separate message with the subject: KitsRUs Source Code.
(I dont know if I can post it due to odd formatting, line lengths,
etc, but I'll try).

--------------
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html> InstanceBegin
template="http://www.kitsrus.com/Templates/maintemplate.dwt"
codeOutsideHTMLIsLocked="false"
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
charset=iso-8859-1"/>
<meta name="description" content="Kitsrus.com >> Canadian pharmacy
viagra | Best Quality without a prescription | Safe & Secure | Generic
& Brand | Free viagra pills | viagra sale online | viagra for sale |
viagra sale online | viagra for sale |"/>
<meta name="keywords" content="canadian pharmacy viagra, cialis
professional, cialis viagra levitra"/>
------------------

Let me know what the hell is going on here!!!!

Yes, a lot of the kits up above are "LED toys" but that's fine. They're
aimed at neophytes, with non-critical components and simple construction
that "does something." The intent is to get an early success that can be
built upon.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with LED toy kits. They're great for kids
and safe to build. But there really is nowhere offering the advanced
kits that were once offerred by Eico and Heathkit. You could build
all sorts of test equipment, ham radio stuff, and even a complete
color tv. While I never built their color tv (which was very costly),
I did build several of the test equipment kits (all tubes), [I still
have them]. I also have some of the Heathkit ham radio (shortwave)
stuff. I did not build these, I bought them second hand.

I noticed sparkfun.com has an inexpensive capacitor tester. That may
be my next kit to build. That will likely be more accurate than the
old 'eye tube' cap checker that I have, and I want to build a kit.
It's been years!!!
I enjoy building stuff, as long as I dont have to spend weeks hunting
for parts, nor have to etch boards.

 

[SMS]

When I was young, I practically lived in that store. Then it just
sort of vanished. Recently I looked on the web and found a company in
Ohio (not Akron), bearing the same name, but it did not specify what
they do.

I miss that store and others like it.

I think it was the free pearls that caused their demise. Actually it was
more the huge expansion of Radio Shack. Ditto for Lafayette's demise.

My sister used to talk to Sid Olson when she was doing fund-raising for
a Jewish non-profit.

These days the only way to get
parts is mail order it seems. That takes the fun out of it. Kind of
seems that building electronics projects is a thing of the past.

It's actually making a big comeback thanks to Arduino. Geez, even Radio
Shack is selling Arduino. The CTO of Best Buy said that he wants to get
the chain to sell Arduino.

Even back in the "olden days" I remember that I still had to mail-order
most parts since the local electronics stores didn't stock much, and
what they did stock was high priced. Fry's had a lot of components when
they first started out, but now they don't do much in that regard. I
must have been ordering from Digikey and Jameco for 30+ years. Now, All
Electronics and MPJA are also good sources.

Even Popular Electronics and similar magazines are
all gone.

Nuts and Volts is the new Popular Electronics.

<http://www.nutsvolts.com/>

 

[Rich Webb]

Interesting. From here that link takes me to DIY Electronics, who make
the KitsRUs kits. Might want to check your DNS!

WHAT THE HELL??????

Ok, here's what I'm getting....

Normally I use the browser K-Meleon 1.54 for common browsing.
I also have Firefox 3.6.15
and Seamonkey 1.1.15
(Note, I run Windows 98se [by choice]. thus I have older versions of
browsers, such as FF.)

When I use K-meleon, I get the viagra page, but it does contain a
small portion of the REAL site, with the picture of Peter and Ladda,
but most of the text on the page is for viagra etc....

Is it possible that K-meleon has been compromised? When I look at the
page source (Opera 11.60) I don't see any references to Viagra -- but
I'm not an HTML/AJAX/javascript/PHP/... coder so there could easily be
something hidden there that I don't recognize.

HOW DO I CHECK THE DNS ON A WEBSITE? (this is beyond me).
(I know how to do it on a usenet group and email, but not on a
website).

I had thought that perhaps your DNS cache or your upstream DNS might
have been poisoned to redirect legitimate inquiries to the Viagra page.
Might still be possible.

When I do a DNS lookup I get the IP address 69.163.165.237. You can do a
web-based DNS check using http://whois.domaintools.com/.


Also look for a copy of the freeware "Netlab for Win95" ver 1.4. Runs
fine on Win98 through (at least) XP. Last updated in 1998 (coincidence!)
but it has some handy basic tools including DNS lookups.

Ok, using Firefox, I am getting the CORRECT "KitsRUs" page. Same with
Seamonkey.

As soon as I load the page in K-meleon, I get viagra stuff.....

Here is what I did, I opened the source code of the page, and it's
apparently been hijacked by this viagra page, but that only works on
certain browsers, and all of this is way beyond my computer knowledge
from here on..... Maybe one of you can make sense of this. I'm
thinking that the website itself must be lacking something for this to
happen.

(I did try to load the page with java script disabled, after clearing
the cache, and I still got the junk page).

Here are the first lines of this source code of this webpage. I'm
going to attempt to copy the text of the entire source code and will
post it as a separate message with the subject: KitsRUs Source Code.
(I dont know if I can post it due to odd formatting, line lengths,
etc, but I'll try).

--------------
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html> InstanceBegin
template="http://www.kitsrus.com/Templates/maintemplate.dwt"
codeOutsideHTMLIsLocked="false"
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
charset=iso-8859-1"/>
<meta name="description" content="Kitsrus.com >> Canadian pharmacy
viagra | Best Quality without a prescription | Safe & Secure | Generic
& Brand | Free viagra pills | viagra sale online | viagra for sale |
viagra sale online | viagra for sale |"/>
<meta name="keywords" content="canadian pharmacy viagra, cialis
professional, cialis viagra levitra"/>

I see:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html><!-- InstanceBegin template="/Templates/maintemplate.dwt"
codeOutsideHTMLIsLocked="false" -->

<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;
charset=iso-8859-1"/>
<meta name="description" content="description"/>
<meta name="keywords" content="keywords"/>
<meta name="author" content="author"/>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="default.css"
media="screen"/>
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="doctitle" -->
<title>Kitsrus.com website</title>
<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="head" --><!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
<style type="text/css">
<!--
-->

Yes, a lot of the kits up above are "LED toys" but that's fine. They're
aimed at neophytes, with non-critical components and simple construction
that "does something." The intent is to get an early success that can be
built upon.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with LED toy kits. They're great for kids
and safe to build. But there really is nowhere offering the advanced
kits that were once offerred by Eico and Heathkit. You could build
all sorts of test equipment, ham radio stuff, and even a complete
color tv. While I never built their color tv (which was very costly),
I did build several of the test equipment kits (all tubes), [I still
have them]. I also have some of the Heathkit ham radio (shortwave)
stuff. I did not build these, I bought them second hand.

I noticed sparkfun.com has an inexpensive capacitor tester. That may
be my next kit to build. That will likely be more accurate than the
old 'eye tube' cap checker that I have, and I want to build a kit.
It's been years!!!
I enjoy building stuff, as long as I dont have to spend weeks hunting
for parts, nor have to etch boards.

Take a look at <http://www.batchpcb.com> and
<http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/fusion-pcb-service-p-835.html?cPath=185>
for some really cheap alternatives to DIY etching. I've used BatchPCB
(they're associated with SparkFun) and was quite pleased with the
results. Haven't tried SeeedStudio's service but $1 (not a typo) per
board for ten 5 cm x 5 cm boards (2 sides, HASL, PTH, masked, and
silk-screened) is quite tempting.

 

[[email protected]]

Is it possible that K-meleon has been compromised? When I look at the
page source (Opera 11.60) I don't see any references to Viagra -- but
I'm not an HTML/AJAX/javascript/PHP/... coder so there could easily be
something hidden there that I don't recognize.

If it is compromised, how do I find out if it is? Or what file would
I look for in the program? I'm not sure how to ask this?????

(it's not stored cache, I delete the cache after each use, or daily
whichever comes first).

It would be nice if someone else on here could install K-Meleon and
see what they get. I should mention it's quite a nice browser, it has
features not found in others, such as the ability to enable/disable
java & java script, pictures, cookies, clear the cache, adn all of
that right from the tool bar without going into settings. Also has
tabs. It runs much faster than Firefox. It's not a big program
either. The only complaint I have about it, is that it will
occasionally get a bad script and it likes to hang for a minute, then
pops up a message telling me to stop script. Otherwise it's great.

I do not have any firewalls or any of that stuff. I am on basic
dialup service.

I had thought that perhaps your DNS cache or your upstream DNS might
have been poisoned to redirect legitimate inquiries to the Viagra page.
Might still be possible.

DNS cache, is that my own cache (for the browser), or is that
something on my ISP's server?

I can write basic html code (text and pictures), but after that, I'm
lost. From looking at the source code of the page, I cant see how
it's doing that redirect..... I thought it might be a script, so I
disabled both Jave and Java script and it still goes to the viagra
page.

I wish there was a way to determine the DNS while I'm seeing the
viagra page. There probably is, but I'm not sure how.

When I do a DNS lookup I get the IP address 69.163.165.237. You can do a
web-based DNS check using http://whois.domaintools.com/.

I went there and entered "www.kitsrus.com". I got the following
(below). Same IP address you posted.
I did this WITH K-Meleon.

-------------------------
Registrant:
Ladda Kiatgungwalgri
po box 88458
SHAM SHUI PO, HONG KONG 99999
HK

Domain Name: KITSRUS.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Kiatgungwalgri, Ladda
po box 88458
SHAM SHUI PO, HONG KONG 99999
HK
852 2304 2250 fax: 852 2725 0610

Record expires on 09-Mar-2014.
Record created on 08-Mar-1997.

Domain servers in listed order:

NS1.DREAMHOST.COM 66.33.206.206
NS2.DREAMHOST.COM 66.201.54.66
NS3.DREAMHOST.COM
Website Title:
Kitsrus.com website
Title Relevancy
100%
Meta Description:
description
Description Relevancy:
100% relevant.
Meta Keywords:
keywords
Keyword Relevancy:
0% relevant
Compete Rank:
#375,770 with 3,935 Unique visitors per month
Wikipedia:
11 pages
AboutUs:
Wiki article on Kitsrus.com
SEO Score:
97%
Terms:
2470 (Unique: 883, Linked: 53)
Images:
20 (Alt tags missing: 19)
Links:
28 (Internal: 23, Outbound: 5)
Similar Domains:
kitstairs.com, kitstechnologies.com, kitsonla.com, kitsplans.com,
kitspak.com, kitsreview.com, kitstechnology.com,
kitsstringsnthings.com, kitsonlineemporium.com, kitstar.com,
kitsplendid.com, kitstart.com, kitsport.com
Search Engine Preview (View details)


ICANN Registrar:
NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Created:
1997-03-08
Expires:
2014-03-09
Updated:
2011-02-07
Registrar Status:
clientTransferProhibited
Name Server:
NS1.DREAMHOST.COM (has 1,197,223 domains)
NS2.DREAMHOST.COM (has 1,197,223 domains)
NS3.DREAMHOST.COM (has 1,197,223 domains)
Whois Server:
whois.networksolutions.com
General TLDs:
KitsRus.comkitsrus.com whois (registered and active website)
KitsRus.netbuy kitsrus.net (deleted and available again)
KitsRus.orgbuy kitsrus.org (deleted and available again)
KitsRus.bizbuy kitsrus.biz (never registered before)
KitsRus.infobuy kitsrus.info (never registered before)
KitsRus.usbuy kitsrus.us (never registered before)
Server Type:
Apache
IP Address:
69.163.165.237 Reverse-IP | Ping | DNS Lookup | Traceroute
ASN:
AS26347
IP Location:
United States - California - Fairfield - New Dream Network Llc
Response Code:
200

------------------

Also look for a copy of the freeware "Netlab for Win95" ver 1.4. Runs
fine on Win98 through (at least) XP. Last updated in 1998 (coincidence!)
but it has some handy basic tools including DNS lookups.

I'll give this a try.......
This sure has me puzzled!!!!!

Thanks for the help!

 

[[email protected]]

I think it was the free pearls that caused their demise. Actually it was
more the huge expansion of Radio Shack. Ditto for Lafayette's demise.

Damn, I forgot all about those free pearls......
I agree Radio Shack had much to do with it. Too bad RS didn't at
least stick with what they originally were intended. From what I
recall, they began as a parts source for ham radio guys.

I dont know how to even describe them these days. Their parts supply
is darn near non-existant. They dont have much in the line of radios,
CB, shorttwave, scanners, computers, or any of that stuff anymore, and
what they do have is costly. Everytime I go to a RS store these days
I ask myself how they stay in business. It looks like cellphones are
their major business now, and with all the competition in that market,
its hard to imagine how they survive. particularly since there is a RS
store in almost every medium sized town and several in every big city.

My sister used to talk to Sid Olson when she was doing fund-raising for
a Jewish non-profit.


It's actually making a big comeback thanks to Arduino. Geez, even Radio
Shack is selling Arduino. The CTO of Best Buy said that he wants to get
the chain to sell Arduino.

Until yesterday, I had never ever heard the word Arduino. Looking at
these kit websites I keep seeing the word. Now I see it in this
message. So, I went to google and brought up a few webpages. Maybe
I'm just too damn old to understand this.....

I'm seeing a board that plugs into the serial port on a computer.
They are discussing software and writing C++ code, and stuff like
that.... I ended up saying WTF????? I just dont understand this.....
If I order a kit, I expect a board and a pile of resistors, caps,
semiconductors, and a few other parts. What does any of this have to
do with software? Why is this "kit" going to be connected to a
computer? For example, if I build an audio amplifier kit, why does it
get hooked to a computer? The more I read these articles, the more
confused I get. Especially when they start talking compiling in C++
programming and using Bluetooth (which I thought was for cellphones).
All I can understand is that this stuff is designed for those under
the age of 30, and anyone older than 30 cant understand it. I sure
dont!!!! Of course I might be missing something. Have they found a
way to make a computer insert and solder parts onto a board just by
pressing keys or using software? Damn, that would require a USB
soldering iron and robot to insert the parts..... I think I better
leave all of this for the under 30 crowd who have blue teeth. While
they're eyes are stuck to their cellphone screens, I can sneak up on
them with a vacuum tube and scare the crap out of them with it. Ya
know, the filament glow inside the tube will scare them.....

And, just for fun, there's always the "I'll trade this fully charged
600volt capacitor for your cellphone", routine! Here, just grab these
two little leads ********* .....

 

[Rich Webb]

If it is compromised, how do I find out if it is? Or what file would
I look for in the program? I'm not sure how to ask this?????

(it's not stored cache, I delete the cache after each use, or daily
whichever comes first).

It would be nice if someone else on here could install K-Meleon and
see what they get. I should mention it's quite a nice browser, it has
features not found in others, such as the ability to enable/disable
java & java script, pictures, cookies, clear the cache, adn all of
that right from the tool bar without going into settings. Also has
tabs. It runs much faster than Firefox. It's not a big program
either. The only complaint I have about it, is that it will
occasionally get a bad script and it likes to hang for a minute, then
pops up a message telling me to stop script. Otherwise it's great.

I do not have any firewalls or any of that stuff. I am on basic
dialup service.


DNS cache, is that my own cache (for the browser), or is that
something on my ISP's server?

I can write basic html code (text and pictures), but after that, I'm
lost. From looking at the source code of the page, I cant see how
it's doing that redirect..... I thought it might be a script, so I
disabled both Jave and Java script and it still goes to the viagra
page.

I wish there was a way to determine the DNS while I'm seeing the
viagra page. There probably is, but I'm not sure how.


I went there and entered "www.kitsrus.com". I got the following
(below). Same IP address you posted.

Your local DNS cache (different from the browser's cache) contains a
lookup table of URLs against IP addresses. When you type
http://www.some_domain_name.com your computer first checks the local
cache for a matching name. If one is not found, it goes out to a DNS
server, either one setup by your ISP or a specific one that you may have
setup (or may have been setup by <daa DUM ... daa DUM ... daa DUM>
something else).

The domaintools.com lookup gives what *their* DNS server has. A DNS
query from your local machine will (usually [*]) return the same result.

From a command prompt, enter "ipconfig /flushdns" followed by "ipconfig
/registerdns". That should clear your DNS cache and then re-connect to
the designated DNS server.

I can't recall whether there are any built-in tools in Win98se to allow
you do to an explicit DNS lookup. That's what the "NetLab" mentioned
earlier will allow you to do; you can enter www.kitsrus.com and ask it
to show you what your particular machine finds for the matching IP
address.



[*] AIUI, some large sites can resolve to different IP addresses for,
e.g., load balancing.

 

[SMS]

Damn, I forgot all about those free pearls......

<http://images.goantiques.com/dbimages3/IHB2564/IHB2564S_3651.jpg>

 

[[email protected]]

A google search says kisrus.com belongs to 'Canadian pharmacy viagra
There is no reference to the canadian pill site in the page source.

Thanks, I just googled it and see what you're saying. It even says
"This site may be compromised".

Which it obviously is!!!!

I found an email address on the site (ladda AT kitsrus.com).
I'll send an email to let them know.
Not sure how they can fix this, but that's not my job.

How can a site get compromised like this? If it was an actual
redirect, I'd understand it (sort of), but the URL in top of my
browser retains the correct URL when the page is showing the viagra
junk. This internet stuff sure can get weird at times!!!1

At least now I know it's not my own computer.

BTW: I fixed the problem in K-Meleon. I compared the settings to a
fresh install which I did on a spare computer. This is what I found.

There is a setting in K-Meleon called "User Agent". It should be set
to "default". Somehow mine got set to "custom" rather than "default".
(I probably clicked the wrong button when I was recently changing some
java script settings a few weeks ago). I'm not sure what this setting
is supposed to really do?????? But, setting it back to "default"
fixed the problem. ~~~~~~GO FIGURE~~~~~~

Weird how this shit works!!!!
Sometimes I think it's intended to drive us insane