My apologies Jim, as I was not trying to insult your intelligence.

I did not know the answer, but that is the answer given by the creator and it leaves a lot to be desired. His answer appears to indicate that he just did it for shits and giggles.

lichess.org is a game server, and supports real-time playing. The ping is a critical information when you play fast games, it helps to diagnose lagging when it happens.