The Internet needs no introduction, most of you use it every day to connect with friends, write emails, and post photos. Maybe some of you also read the news and play online games too!  In short, it connects the world to, well, the WORLD!  And Wi-Fi – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi wireless network technology that uses radio waves to provide network connections – is how a lot of people connect to the internet with their phones and computers.  “I already knew all that!” you say.  But I bet you didn’t know how the internet birthed a tiger like me? And did I swim around in little bits and bytes of data before popping out into the world?

The story starts, like a lot of good stories do, long time ago (in internet time), in a land far-far-away, on top of snowy mountains.  A man with a vision and team of tireless volunteers.  In 2006, Mahabir Pun together with his team connected 13 remote villages with Wi-Fi in Nepal in the Himalayas – and I was literally zapped into existence!  You know when it’s winter and you’re wearing a sweater and walking really fast on a carpet and you suddenly feel a ZZZZZAP~!  And your hair suddenly stands up because of static electricity?  Imagine that but times A MILLION, rrrAOOO!

“But how did the internet produce a lifeform?” you ask.  “And a tiger?”  RRAO, the first question is really a story for another time.  And the tiger part? The internet that humans created is really filled with a lot of really fascinating information – did you know that there are lots of photos of all kinds of different animals, and there are MILLIONS of photos of this animal called a ‘cat’.  They say that the internet is RULED by cats (and some are even celebrities!), but I think tigers have the edge, don’t you think?  For one, the tiger one of the largest cat species in the world, RRAO (louder than a lion)!  Katy Perry does have a nice song doesn’t she?  I’m a fan.

Maru the cat
Here’s a cat celebrity looking comfy in a box – maru / mugumogu /blog / YouTube channel

Even Tim-Berners Lee, inventor of the world wide web talked about kittens on the internet! https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2091d4/i_am_tim_bernerslee_i_invented_the_www_25_years/cg0wpma.  If you ask me though, tigers are the best type of cat out there, RRAO!

Mahabir Pun explains the Nepal Wireless relay station in Mahore, Nepal
Mahabir Pun explains the Nepal Wireless relay station in Mahore, Nepal / Michael Nyffeler / YouTube

Links for the curious:

If you want to read more about the amazing Dr. Mahabir Pun and his team, go here: http://www.internethalloffame.org/inductees/mahabir-pun.  And here is his Internet Hall of Fame acceptance speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsZt09NWzmU.

If you want learn about how cats took over the internet http://www.movingimage.us/exhibitions/2015/08/07/detail/how-cats-took-over-the-internet/

Don’t believe that the internet is ruled by cats, check out these cat celebrities!