Watch 24 Hrs of Global Internet Activity in 8 seconds

'The animated map, from an anonymous researcher, is beautiful, mesmerizing — and made using highly illegal means.'
 

(graphic courtesy of The Week)
 
So, how did they do it? I'll let Peter Weber at The Week explain:

&&&

'The data came from infecting 420,000 computers with automated, web-crawling botnets — and "hacking into 420,000 computers is highly illegal," says Adam Clark Estes at Vice.'

As a precaution, the mind behind the method wished to remain anonymous. Naturally.

The article goes on to explain the billions of version 4 protocol devices sampled, yet the picture is not quite accurate because of the rise of version 6 devices, and the data set is further compromised because only the Linux OS was targeted, etc., etc.

Color me skeptical. Linux is good, but it ain't that popular.

And notice how this 'global internet' graphic is suspiciously similar to another type of global activity graphic - the so-called 'light pollution' satellite imagery, available on the intertubs.

The correlation is obvious: technologically advanced societies (mostly western style democracies) have an abundance of various types of technological activity - including relatively inexpensive graphic software available to anonymous 'researchers.'

But, wait. There's more: The analysis of all this high tech activity isn't complete without the de rigueur, neo-bolshevik pablum describing the results as 'a chart of privilege.' Yet, there's hope, Comrades!

"With cheap smartphones taking off in Africa and $20 tablets popping up in India, the world is becoming more connected by the minute," says Vice's Estes. 

Designed, manufactured, and marketed by productive, technologically advanced corporations in western style democracies who consider it a privilege to drag luddite thug-ocracies into the new millennium. Thank you very much.