It wouldn't surprise me if this has something to do with all the advertising on the site
.

i don't think so, this link has the same issue and advertising is not evident
http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/

dr google says its a hosting issue

it has taken me back to chrome to post this, with much difficulty i point out; edge is now unable to even reach the picbasic home page.
hoping the notifications still work, i have run out of ways to get here easily and can't see me putting up with jumping though all the hoops frequently.