Now seems like an especially good time to remember that on the timeline of human history communication over the internet, like a lot of technology in wide use today, is still an extremely recent development. This is probably too easy to forget given how much different the worldwide web is today than it was ten years ago and I suppose there are reasons for that worth discussing; reasons that also pertain to the fact that after a period of relative dormancy this website will be resuming a more frequent and regular posting schedule for the foreseeable future.
To explain, a review of some personal history is in order.