Slovakian artist creates stunning map of the Internet
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Do you live near Googolplex Gulf, by the MS-DOS Sea, or closer to the South Datastream? Or do you spend more of your time on eBay Island?
An amazing map depicting these places and more by a Slovakian student and amateur graphic designer has taken the Internet by storm -- and while there aren’t any storms on the map, there is a “Torrent of Lost Souls,” and currents are depicted on the Pirate Sea and Ocean of Information.
Click here to zoom into a clickable, interactive version of the map
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Martin Vargic, the brains behind the beauty, told foxnews.1eye.us he was inspired by a similar map of the Internet by the popular online comic xkcd. Despite the incredible detail and obvious effort in the work, which he made using data from monitoring site Alexa and other sources, the artist had gone largely anonymous. Until now.
'The next version of the map will be even more ridiculously detailed.'
“I post my works mainly to deviantart, and until recent days, I was never significantly noticed,” he wrote in an email. “It was my hobby, and it still is my hobby, though I am planning to start selling prints of my maps on Amazon quite soon.”
Borrowing design language from the classic maps of National ;Geographic, it divides the online world into two parts, he explained, one for software and another for websites and social networks. The “old world” on the right side of the map showcases software companies, gaming companies and some of the more real-life oriented websites.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Western World, the “new world” at left, is composed of two major continents: A northern one showcases social networks, search websites, blogs and more, while all major adult-oriented websites are located on the southwestern continent of the map -- it’s Pornlandia, in other words.
“In the very south of the map, there is located a ‘Great Southern Land’ of obsolete websites and online services,” Vargic added.
Outside the main map are four smaller maps showing facts about the Internet: the most used web browsers, most used social networks, and Internet penetration by country.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Most amazingly, Vargic told foxnews.1eye.us he drew the whole thing freehand, using only Adobe Photoshop.
“I created the map in quite a short time, three weeks to be exact. I often worked early in the morning, and I can say I really enjoyed it.”
This isn’t the end of the line for the project, Vargic said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I am working on the next version of the map, which will be even more ridiculously detailed than the previous one, and will encompass all major websites without any significant exceptions, it's coming in mid-February.”