Coding, and computers in general, have always been fun because when it finally works out, and does the thing you're trying to get it to do, it's the most fantastic feeling of accomplishment and attainment...like finishing a jigsaw puzzle, or handing in an important essay. It's exhilarating and confidence-building. Having the information at our fingertips to achieve these objectives is valuable beyond expression.

The modern internet is somewhat akin to a badly-looted Library of Alexandria, but can still mostly satisfy our curiosity and provide nearly immediate intellectual satisfaction...some of us still remember trying to find paper books with information on electronic resistors for a band-colour reference that is now a simple 'search' away.

However, these wonderful feelings can, in some circumstances, be predicated and poised on the whims of 5-7 people allowing this information flow through their networks of ever-decreasing permission. That's 5 to 7 people on Earth, deciding what the 'rest' of us get to read, watch, hear and debate. It's a reminder of just how small the internet really is...13 servers, in 480 locations around the world. So, it's worldwide, yes, but not as big as you might think.

Either way, limiting ourselves to the platforms of those that would treat, for example, Parler the way they were treated would not be, in my humble opinion, a wise business decision. To that end, and to highlight that this type of behaviour is, again in my humble opinion, extremely unacceptable, I choose alternative platforms wherever and whenever possible...so you won't find me hosting anything on, for example, the likes of an "Amazon Web Server" or an "Azure" server any time soon.

I think that a decentralised, independent internet benefits us all, and strongly encourage everyone to detatch from services that would remove anyone's ability to compete on a level playing field, and would instead saddle you with restrictive censorship, questionable practices and behaviours that should be vehemently discouraged by rational clientele and discerning customer alike. Remember, as today they knock "them" over, tomorrow there's no one between them and you.