NASCAR, Survivor, and the WWF: All of these things received more searches last week than the shooting at Santana High School in Santee, California, which came in at #19 on the Lycos 50.
There's no doubt that placement is much, much lower than we expected for such a pivotal news event. The Lycos 50 didn't exist yet in April 1999, so we can't tell you how much search interest the Columbine High shootings had right after they took place, but the Santana High shooting ranks lower than the one-year anniversary of Columbine ranked last year.
Have we become so used to school shootings that they spark less online interest than wrestling and "reality" television?
NAPSTER PANIC: Napster is back to #2, as the controversial music-swapping service began filtering out copyrighted material this week. Searches for Napster alternatives and programs like Napster rose sharply once more, and Gnutella (#7) searches are up 67 percent over last week.
WEEK 3 FOR #3: Interest in NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt (#5) is still exceedingly high, and the autopsy controversy is even hotter this week. The Orlando Sentinel seeks to publish the photos; widow Teresa seeks to keep them private. As far as we know, the photos are not available online, but enough Lycos users wanted to see them that the Dale Earnhardt autopsy stands at #31 on the Lycos 50.
IT'S BACK: Is the third time the charm for Ginger (#41)? The mystery invention is back on the Lycos 50 for a third time, as Inside magazine claims to have the definitive story on what IT actually is. The answer: a two-wheeled scooter powered by hydrogen, which could provide a cheap and pollution-free form of transportation.
XFL HELL: They seem to have stopped the hemorrhaging television ratings, but the XFL (#48) continues to fall on the Lycos 50. This week it gets only two percent more searches than the NFL, which almost makes the Lycos 50 thanks to interest in the April draft (it's #52).
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS: We've long known that an appearance on Howard Stern's radio show can really drive up searches; for example, this week actress/model Kylie Bax saw searches triple.
Now we known an appearance on Art Bell's radio program can have the same effect. Kathleen Keating, author of the apocalyptic Christian tome The Final Warning, went from nearly zero searches to as many as Rush Limbaugh in one week thanks to an interview with Bell on March 5.
According to Keating, the Antichrist is alive right now and is one of three people: a cult leader in Rome named Maitreya, another mystic in New Mexico known as Emmanuel, or New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens.
SHORT SUBJECTS: Absurdity update: All Your Base Are Belong to Us maintains its spot at #36? It must be war-studying time in American schools, as World War II moves to #34 and World War I makes its first-ever appearance at #42? The soon-to-be-released expansion pack House Party sends computer game The Sims up to #38? Harry Potter (#11) has now moved up for four straight weeks, thanks to excitement over this summer's movie (and the recent online debut of the trailer)? The Seattle earthquake drops off the Lycos 50, but we saw a number of requests for earthquake predictions, up 440 percent this week? Fantasy baseball searches have gone up 36 percent per week for the past five weeks? Why the sudden burst of interest in Oprah Winfrey (#37)?
NEW THIS WEEK: Santana High School shooting, Dale Earnhardt autopsy, Oprah Winfrey, IT/Ginger, World War I, plus a number of dropouts make room for the return of such Lycos 50 regulars as Carmen Electra, Limp Bizkit, The Beatles, and Metallica.
DROPOUTS: Seattle earthquake, Dr. Seuss, Temptation Island, Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, Grammy Awards, The Mole, Martin Luther King, Jr. , Digimon, Madonna.
BIGGEST RISE: St. Patrick's Day, up 22 places to #22.
BIGGEST DROP: Mardi Gras, down 45 places to #48.
ONE YEAR AGO: Alaskan dog sled race The Iditarod debuts at #37 on the Lycos 50. This year, the race just misses the Lycos 50, finishing #53.
