At least, the existence of TouchWiz and other skins gives modders like Cyanogen a trade to ply -- but it leaves average users oblivious to the phone they could really have.

ENGADGET: IRL: Mailplane, Verizon Wireless iPad and the Samsung Galaxy S running CM9

Japan's ANA, for instance, is outfitting its new 787 fleet with gender-segregated bathrooms that have windows and bidet-toilets ("Washlets") that offer warm, pressurized water jets for a fresher clean than one-ply paper.

CNN: Best economy-class innovations

Even if a four-ply Scottish sweater feels slightly coarser on the shelf than its French or Italian counterpart, the argument goes, it lasts for decades, arriving at cozy perfection around the time those fancy continental sweaters might start to pill.

WSJ: Men's Fashion: Cashmere Confidential

The city buses are colour-coded to instantly telegraph what type of route they ply: red buses are express, green buses run short routes between subway stations and other points.

BBC: Living in: Great cities for public transport

City officials acknowledge that the open air cable cars, which ply only eight miles of track, produce a disproportionate amount of accident-related costs.

NPR: San Francisco Cable Car Accidents Costs Millions

U.S. nuclear submarines ply the region's waters, however, and Washington makes clear that its so-called nuclear "umbrella" over South Korea is meant to deter an attack on its ally by North Korea, whose 1950 invasion ignited the three-year Korean War.

NPR: NKorea: Cold War History With US Justifies Nukes

The half-dozen expedition ships that also visit each summer provide an opportunity for locals to ply their goods and make an income (and for the kids who managed to commandeer a Zodiac left on shore, a bit of summertime fun).

BBC: Life in the fragile, frozen Arctic

"From today, the Sangatte centre will no longer draw would-be illegal immigrants to northern France and traffickers will no longer be able to use it to ply their evil trade in human life, " Mr Blunkett said.

BBC: Asylum centre plan scrapped