Whoa.
This is a screen capture of Mouse Odometer, one of the many widgets for Yahoo! Widget Engine.
According to its fact gathering abilities, my mouse pointer has traveled an expanse of 16 miles. This is the kind of distance that would get me from Washington Square Park, (think New York University) through the length of Manhattan, all the way to the Cross County Mall up in Yonkers.
But my mouse has really moved much further, hasn’t it.
It’s one thing to measure the physical distance that the pointer travels on a screen, but really where has my mouse pointer gone? To watch the election, to 4Chan, to Reddit, to YouTube, to various Torrent sites, and more.
Thus, this computer of mine, this single 4 number IP address amongst an ocean, has passed throughout the United States, Canada, India, Japan, Germany, Estonia, Algeria, France, the UK, traveling on a network of pulsing light (when it’s not running through wires) and servers. Oftentimes, I am not just traveling to one of those places at one time. I can split up my travels whether in the form of torrents, in which case my peers and seeds can come from anywhere on earth, or even in the form of tabbed browsing.
Not only once, but every day, over and over again.
And it’s not just me! Every computer with an internet connection does this, and every computer in this web of computers is bouncing information off each other. If you’re reading this, I’m connected to you! Imagine how large this network can become. It’s astounding.
My mouse is powerful.
And yours is too. Take this coupon and use it well:
