Today I have updated my wall of Buttons (if your site is missing and you would like to see it there, then by all means let me know) and I hereby announce that this website has mirrors at FC2 and Nekoweb... kind of. I've put the following links on the homepage:

I had a mirror at FC2 for a while but it became outdated because uploading website changes, or any content, to multiple places is a hassle. I also found the servers to be too slow and they put advertising on pages which really made a mess of things where I used frames. I also had an account over at Nekoweb for a while but hadn't used it. So I decided I would start afresh with each and just upload a "landing page" of sorts, so that they are there if/when I need/want them. I intend to at least update the pages every once in a while to reflect my latest contributions to the WWW.

This somewhat reminds me of the days of GeoCities. They weren't all that rosy; GeoCities was pretty stingy with how much space it provided (10-20MB IRRC, during my time there) and I quickly ran out of space because back then I liked creating wallpaper designs, and they ate up my space.

c.2002 "wallpaper": a guinea pig on a flatbed scanner (parallel) and a rendered snowy photo
from a webcam aimed out of my bedroom window. Created using Windows 98 and originally uploaded over dial-up.

I therefore had my website at FortuneCity and TopCities, which I think each provided 100MB, and just a cut-down version at GeoCities by the time that shut down. Amusingly, how these sites put adverts on each page is just like what FC2 does today - I'm thankful that Neocities (and Nekoweb) don't do this.

Having backups, mirrors and general alternatives is a good idea. These days people experience bans on all sorts of sites, occasionally for good reason, I suppose, but generally it seems not (#youtube). There are also the algorithms and shadow bans, along with what has seemed to be an increasing trend of bickering children who just want other people who say things that don't align with their reality to shut up, or worse.

This year has also seen blockings in the form of the so-called "Online Safety Act". It seems that as soon as this was announced various services reacted by promptly blocking their UK users. Pu$$ys. Requesting ID at every term is not how things should be in a free society, and not online, where, when I was new to the online world in 1999, the general advice was that you should pick and use a handle and avoid giving people too much information about yourself. "Papers, please"? F*off.

But, really, I think far too many parents are incapable of doing their due-diligence when it comes to safeguarding their children, in this always-online era, and therefore governments use this as an excuse to exert control over everyone. I was already well into my teens when I ventured online in the late '90s and I know how much I struggled/failed to restrict my own time online (and still do), likely to the detriment of my college education. My parents had no clue, because few people did, whereas today, parents have no excuse, while at the same time they themselves bury their heads in their phones and doom scroll on TicToc et al while their kids play on Roblox until 3am.

I was a frequent library-goer from a young age and I kind of remember getting my own library card when I was old enough (whatever age that was). It had a box in the corner with a [Y] hand-written in it, if I remember correctly, pertaining to "Youth", and when I was old enough again I remember getting the librarian to change this, which she did by sticking a little white square over the Y; I was now permitted to venture through to the Adult section and borrow books from there, not that I really had any particular interest or understanding about what was beyond (just books with bigger words in as far as I knew), but it was sort of a proud moment, like a coming of age thing, like being old enough to buy a lottery ticket or a beer* (permitted here in the UK at 16/18 respectively). I think this is how the internet should be; there should be areas created specifically for young-uns, an expanded section for teens, and then everything else available and accessible to everyone else.

*not that I encourage these things beyond an innocent tipple every now and then if one should so desire, but I've seen how dull it is for youngsters when they become technically old enough for such things but they have already been partaking in them (even at their parent's encouragement).

By the way, if you think you're not affected by the Online Safety Act, and if you hotlink to images hosted on imgur, this is for you: