I just found a new internet toy, it's called Google Trends. Just search for it and you'll find it. What it does is compare search inquiries for any two (or presumably more, I haven't tried yet) items you type in (separated by a comma).

So if you're curious about which of two things people search the internet for more often, you can use this program and find out pretty definitively. I think it might only relate to Google searches, but that's probably the majority of internet searches anyway, right?

So I'll share some of my more interesting findings. Apparently "Jesus" and "World of Warcraft" are pretty neck-and-neck in terms of search popularity. Also, WOW is generally more popular than Grand Theft Auto, although GTA has occasional big spikes during big release dates.

I compared search results for "penis" and "vagina," because I'm a scientist and must know these things. I was startled to find that penis totally trounced vagina in terms of search inquiries. But then I remembered that people are dumb, and changed the focus of my search from "vagina" to "pussy." Sure enough, the results flipped pretty dramatically. The trend stayed the same when I changed "penis" to "dick."

Pussy is also more popular than either Jesus or World of Warcraft, but by a lesser percentage than penis. I tried comparing my name to things, but apparently my name doesn't generate enough search inquiries to have a graph. And except for one big spike in mid 2005, Naruto totally kicks Batman's ass on the internet, however much you love or hate that idea.

Underneath the internet search results graph there's a graph comparing media coverage during the same point in time, and this can sometimes look different than the search results. But anyway, I just wanted to point that nifty site out to you so now you can have gobs of time-wasting fun. Let me know what weird things you discover!

Deric

EDIT: Seal caught on tape molesting penguin:

[link]