Internet Speed [2014 edition :P]

[Jackalope]

Low ping just means you are close (logically at least) to the server doing the test-- i.e. you are probably in the same city, on the same network.

This.

I can cherry pick servers and get ludicrous ping times.

(this one is a couple of miles away, connected directly via fiber)
64 bytes from xxx (x.x.x.x): icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.476 ms

(this one's in the same building as me)
64 bytes from xxx (x.x.x.x): icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=0.136 ms

(this one's in my cubicle)
64 bytes from xxx (x.x.x.x): icmp_seq=0 ttl=0 time=0.031 ms

On a less-than-fully-utilized connection, ping time is a function of wire distance and switching/routing latency.