[NetBehaviour] Map of the Internet.

[marc]

Map of the Internet.

http://xkcd.com/c195.html (Sketch).

The labeled websites (”Google”, “Flickr”, “Slashdot”, etc) are just 
based on the location of the particular server I got when I pinged the 
site from my home machine on the day I was working on the map. Each site 
there has many servers and mirrors, and the IP of each may change from 
day to day. But their location is actually based on both the first and 
second quad — although the map is drawn in the style of a geographic 
map, with wobbly borders, it’s laid atop a regular grid which can be 
extended fractally downward. When I was putting down the location of a 
server for a particular website, I worked out where within the grid it 
should fall. This isn’t really for the purpose of telling you anything 
useful about that website, but rather to suggest that IPs can be placed 
as unique points on this map. Everything here was done by hand across a 
couple large sheets of paper, and it’s not trying to be completely 
accurate in all the details (although I did my best). It’s more of a 
survey than a practical road map.

more...
http://blag.xkcd.com/2006/12/11/the-map-of-the-internet/