[ninenot]

Since we are not financially able to contribute (the recession is REAL in the industrial Midwest...) please take this for what it's worth.

It may be interesting to run a news-headline indicating when the Internet itself is having trouble. While FR has been seemingly stable through the last 10 days, this AM the 'net as a whole seemed to DIE beginning around 0630 Central Standard.

Since FR is a major source of news and since ALL FR members use the Internet by definition, perhaps an "internet meter" showing red for SLLLOOOOOWWWW, orange for Not Too Fast, yellow for Passable, and Green for "Normal" would be useful.

THAT will keep people from assuming that FR is down or slow when in fact it is the Internet itself.

[per loin]

Try here for a site that does that. Adding such a meter from an outside site might slow down FR.