The first Lycos 50 of 2002 shows three things that are hot with Lycos users: money, movies, and Morpheus (#2).

The turn of the new year means that Lycos users in America begin to contemplate their tax returns. The IRS (#14) rises significantly, and taxes (#15) arrive on the Lycos 50 earlier than ever.

Meanwhile, our European users are more concerned with their new currency, the euro (#25), which debuted on New Year's Day. Euro searches are up 375 percent this week.

As for Morpheus, the file-swapping software of the moment reaches its highest rank ever, one slot away from the top.

While everyone who sees Lord of the Rings seems to go to the Internet to search for the actors involved, everyone who sees A Beautiful Mind comes to Lycos to explore the film's subject, mathematician John Nash (#41). This week Nash searches outnumber the combined total for both the actual movie A Beautiful Mind and the actor who plays Nash, Russell Crowe.

DVD MOVES: DVD sales continue to drive the Lycos 50. The Fast and the Furious (#35) becomes one of the rare movies to re-enter the list thanks to a DVD release. Others included The Matrix and Blair Witch Project in 1999, and Pearl Harbor last month (though this was the week of Pearl Harbor Day, which always makes the list anyway).

Actors from recent DVDs are all the rage, like Pearl Harbor star Josh Hartnett (#32) and Swordfish top-doffer Halle Berry (#48).

BOARDS BORING: What a shocker, as skateboarding (#55) drops off the Lycos 50 after 94 straight weeks. In fact this week is the first time that snowboarding (#54) outdraws its less snowy cousin. We have no idea why this occurred; nor do we know whether this is a permanent drop or a one-week fluke.

WHAT A GIRL DOESN'T WANT: Although she doesn't make the Lycos 50, Christina Aguilera searches went up 50 percent this week after rumors of an explicit sex tape being circulated in Los Angeles by an ex-boyfriend. Unlike previous tapes of this sort, entertainment insiders seem to believe this one is actually real. I guess Christina is the one who's "not that innocent."

DEATH OF A TREND: The week before Survivor 2 chose a winner in May 2001, it was #6 on the Lycos 50. At the same point in Survivor 3, the show can't even make the Lycos 50 (it is #52). Not a single member of the Survivor 3 cast received a statistically significant number of searches last week.

SHORT SUBJECTS: Neo-soul singer India Arie didn't seem to get any search boost from her inexplicable sweep of the Grammy nominations... Future #1 alert: The Olympics make their 2002 debut at #46... Diets (#43) seem to be a less-popular New Year's resolution than last year, when they debuted for 2001 at #27.

NEW THIS WEEK: Taxes, the euro, The Fast and the Furious, video game Metal Gear Solid 2, John Nash, diets, Powerball, the Olympics, Halle Berry, Elijah Wood.

DROPOUTS: Skateboarding, Nintendo Gamecube, Victoria's Secret, Santa Claus, Christmas cards, NORAD Santa Tracker, Audiogalaxy, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Muhammad Ali Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3.

BEARDTRACKER: Osama 85%, Santa 13%, last-minute entry Ian McKellen (a.k.a. Gandalf) 2%.

ONE YEAR AGO: Dragonball ascended to the #1 spot for the first time ever. This week it is #1 for the 26th week, and the first since September 11.

HOUSEKEEPING: Regarding taxes, once again, we counted only terms related to tax filing time, such as tax preparation and tax returns, ignoring queries fortax policy, tax cuts and commercial products like TurboTax and Quicken.

TOMORROW: New Year searches revealed.