Surfus

The guardian god of the Internet. 

Surfus stands heroically in front of stylized waves of Web, his surfboard grasped in his right arm, and his computer under his right foot, symbolizing complete domination. 

A coil of fiber-optic cable is draped on his left shoulder and his name adorns the base. He is ready to surf the net.

Historical perspective: The expression "surfing the internet" was introduced by a librarian, and yes, riding waves was an inspiration for the iconic term. In March 1992, Jean Armour Polly, a Master in Library Science published an article called "Surfing the Internet" on the University of Minnesota Wilson Library Bulletin. 

"In casting about for a title for the article, I weighed many possible metaphors," Jean Polly wrote. "I wanted something that expressed the fun I had using the internet, as well as hit on the skill, and yes, endurance necessary to use it well. I also needed something that would evoke a sense of randomness, chaos, and even danger. I wanted something fishy, net-like, nautical." 

"At that time, I was using a mouse pad from the Apple Library in Cupertino, California, famous for inventing and appropriating pithy sayings and printing them on sportswear and mouse pads. The one I had pictured a surfer on a big wave. 'Information Surfer,' it said. 'Eureka,' I said and had my metaphor." 

A few months later, in March 1993, unaware of Jean's article, Tom Mandel of the former Stanford Research Institute (SRI) wrote an executive overview of the internet called "Surfing the Wild Internet."