In computer news this week:

What people really look for and do on the internet in 2003

Ah the internet. You have access to the great libraries of the world. English literature, the classics, great plays, Shakespeare, all at your fingertips. Listen to classical music, hear operas, read the great novels of the world online, view the art masterpieces, what a wonderful educational world.

Unfortunately, it appears not too many people are doing that on the internet. In fact it appears that the topics people are searching for mirror television and the movies. When you need to find information on the internet, you go to what is called a search engine and you type in the topics you're interested in. Many of these engines then publish their top 50 lists weekly.

You may form your own opinions as to what visitors from another planet might say about this top 50 list, after the concept of the internet "as a great educational tool - similar to television's introduction " is explained to them.

Here's the top topics for 2003 which people were searching for on Lycos last week starting with #1:

1 Power ball Lucky lotto - now the internet lets you go broke and develop a gambling addiction from the comfort of your own home

2 Kazaa program for downloading and swapping music files - if your emember on last week's show I told you how Ezula is part of this program - don't go there

3 Clay Aiken - American idol. I don't know who is this as I've never watched the show

4 Dragonball - was #1 at this time last year

5 Strippella starring Pamela Anderson - Pamela has consistently been in the top 50 searches for the past several years now on Raw Bytes and we salute her acting ability

6 Federal donotcall list - www.donotcall.gov - finally something that is useful and makes sense - this is the website to go to register your phone numbers not to be called by telemarketers, and the response to the service had been overwhelming - over 25 million people signed up in the first month.

7 Britney Spears - still in the top 10 despite her admission she's not quite as pure as she once was

8 Harry Potter - Harry Holds the same spot he did last year at this time

9 Brooke Burke popular pinup - never heard of her

10 Las Vegas sin city - but you ahve to actually go there to go broke and develop a gambling addiction

11 Tour de france bicycle race - wow something actually bumped wrestling out of the top 10

12 Kristana Loken terminator babe - still another babe I'm too old to be aware of and I won't be seeing the movie

other repeat top searches for this year and last year include:

WWF Wrestling - you can still see huge brutes breaking tables online

The Bible - The Bible trails rappers and wrestlers AGAIN this year? What's wrong with this picture?

Marijuana wacky weed - I guess that wasn't just in the 60's

Notable names that have dropped way down top 50 list which means they're tanking:

Eminem and Jennifer Lopez.

Notable names that have dropped off top 50 list last year and this year which means they're due to be seen on tv peddling golden oldies:

N'synch - Madonna, and the Backstreet boys.

Ah, the internet. Well, maybe next year, Mr. Shakespeare - who incidentally may be found at www.shakespeare.com.

For Raw Bytes, this is Frank Delaney

POB 222 Spangle, Wa 99031 (509)245-3736 Email: fdspokane@aol.com