That's pirate math.

CarGuy1 makes a note to double check the captain when splitting up the booty.

Still wrong!  He has ONE apple... cos his other hand is covering his tockley to stop it getting sunburned.

Fact is, a decade consists of 10 full years... no less!  Now in this case, the decade commenced at January 1st 2000, right, and when the first full year had elapsed it was midnight December 31st 2001, right, and if you count from whence the first year elapsed, ten full years expires on December 31st 2010 at 12.00am.

The only way it could have ended on December 31st 2009 is if one year (any year) was canceled due to lack of interest, but was still mathematically calculated in by the powers that be to stop people retiring a year early.

It won't matt'r none if'n ye watches I divvy up tha booty... it's still g'wen ta be "One fer you n' two fer me... two fer you n' three fer me... three fer you n' four fer me"  Why? Cos I 'aves a ship t' run... an' it ban't be cheap... not when she be in dry dock gittin' fitted wiv gadgets so's us can sail up ta Stardock's front door.

wrong...unless they now use a standard year at having 730 days...I believe December 31st 2000 (vs 2001) would be more accurate

You are quite correct... 2000 it was!  Bugger... damned typo, and I missed it.

My Christmas present, Canon PowerShot SX120 IS is the first on the list of a decade of Great things.    And it Rocks!!

I'm glad that you got something that really makes you happy.  My ex-wife (my first missus) has one (yeah, we're talking again after 20 years of not) and she reckons it's totally the best camera she has ever had... and she's had a few decent ones in the past.

Exactly... Fred doesn't say, when his hands are empty: "Oh look, I have zero apples in my hand!", does he?

Zero is a vacant number, in fact, and occupies a space in the mathematics table purely to add units of 10, 100, 1000 when 9,99, 9999, etc, have accrued. 

So, by using that logic, the fact that a decade is 10 full years... not a moment less, we can count the 2000's as a decade as being over only when 2010 is concluded.  This is calculation is reached purely by virtue of the mathematical fact that the first complete year of the decade hadn't elasped until 31 December 2000 at 12.00am.   Prior to that point in time, 2000 qualified only as a collection of 11 months, plus 30 days 23 houra 59 minutes and 59 seconds.

Sigh....wrong, Starkers....

Orright, have it your way.

The concept of 0 is the basis of all higher mathematics.

I challenge you to count digitally without using 0

Edit: Wiki

is Wiki a gadget? or Google?

As I stated in an earlier post, 0 exists to count from 9 to 10, 19 to 20, etc.... so yes, it is integral if we are to count beyond 9.

However, 2000 is the zero year when counting down the decade...we count from 2001 (when a full year has elapsed) to 2010 to complete a full 10 year period... which IS a decade. 

So, using your fingers (so as not to get lost/confused along the way) count 31 December 2001, 31 December 2002, 31 December 2003 and so on until you get to 31 December 2009... um, that's the one that's just gone by.  Anyway, it's at that point you will notice that you have a tenth digit sticking up and unaccounted for... that digit, and you don't need to hold it up 'til midnight on December 31 2010, by all means use it in the meantime, is to count the tenth and final year of the decade.

Yeah, I know, sarcasm is the lowest form of wit...but I was being facetious.   

He is correct.

Our calender, whether you use the Gregorian or still adhere to the Julian was given to us by the Romans who did not have a symbol for zero.  So, from the start of AD:

1st Year     I

2nd Year    II

3rd Year     III

4th Year     IV

5th Year     V

6th Year     VI

7th Year     VII

8th Year     VIII

9th Year     IX

10th Year    X

Extending this, the first century, did not finish until the end of the 100th Year, ie C.

The year 2000 was the last year of the 20th Century and 2001 the start of the 21st Century and the start of the the 1st decade of it.