Tracking stuff came as soon as you could communicate asynchronously with a server, really. It became widely known and a plague in the 10s but it started as soon as Ajax was available. Keep in mind that Google and most of the websites were free and ads driven almost from the start because that was the only way to create a critical mass of users.

Why limit yourself to seized data from the US only if hosted in the US if you can buy data from all over the world. In some respects that is a very smart move, in some other is deplorable and arrogant.

You are missing PPAs from the list even though it needs some attention on which PPA is being used. I used to use the when I was on Mint.

Carcinisation

The moment I realised that is the moment I quit both cigarettes and Meta products…

To be honest, the minimum you really need for a colourful website is just HTML and a dash of inline CSS, especially if you want to recreate that nostalgic early internet type of feeling. JavaScript is very much optional.

In my opinion you should start easy, understand how it all clicks together, especially HTML and then start building, and eventually rebuilding, on top of it after you have grasped the basics. Most people gets scared by HTML, CSS and JavaScript because they are usually presented together as if you couldn’t use one without the others, but you most certainly can.

Just my 2 cents.

I think that the start was a PCMCIA or PC Card.