Well Skuzzy has said that if the "next to last" ping in a pingplot is the problem it is more likely a "return path" ping problem. Email Skuzzy the ping plot and ask him to ping back to you. He might ba able to spot something for you.
As for the running processes, I'd search on google to see what was what. I think you can stop a few more with out trouble, and if one or two of those are using your connection to check the web, or send info, like looking for updates and such you'll get that regular spike you see in the game variance, tho those aren't dead perfect looking.
