I wrote last week that I'm holding my semi-annual readers' poll. This poll relates to the scores, shown below, of the links that have been clicked the most often by a representative sampling of readers during the first half of 2002. This week I report my most popular News Picks and Wacky Web Week items. Last week I reported on my Lead Stories and Tech Reviews.

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TO ENTER THE POLL, HERE'S THE QUESTION: What would you like to see in E-Business Secrets each week that you're not already seeing?

HERE'S THE PRIZE: The three readers who submit the most interesting suggestions will receive gift certificates for any book, CD, or DVD of their choice.

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO: Simply read which links have been the most popular, think about why those links scored so well, and then e-mail me your comments.

HERE'S THE SPECIAL ADDRESS TO SEND YOUR COMMENTS: mailto:WhatNow@SecretsPro.com

Your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose whatsoever. It will be permanently deleted from my records as soon as the winners are notified.

DEADLINE: All comments sent by the end of Sunday, Aug. 4, 2002, will be considered. I'll print excerpts from selected comments in E-Business Secrets on Aug. 8. (If you want your name or company to remain anonymous, simply say so in your message.)

In the tables below, I use the same scoring as last week. A link that was clicked the average number of times gets a score of 10. A link with twice the average number of clicks gets a score of 20, and so forth.

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THE TOP 10 NEWS PICKS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2002

Score - Title

43 Apple releases the iToilet (a hilarious parody)

http://www.raytracer25.btinternet.co.uk http://bri.li/?eaa5

43 Departing CEO of RealNames reveals juicy details

http://scriptingnews.userland.com http://bri.li/?f275

36 New type of Web spy beacon is virtually undetectable

http://www.news.com http://bri.li/?fe2d

36 eBay stops 24-year-old woman from auctioning herself

http://www.it-director.com http://bri.li/?105fd

33 Here are the week's best April Fool's Web jokes ...

http://www.bayarea.com http://bri.li/?111b5

32 World's best joke declared via 3-month Internet vote

http://www.laughlab.co.uk http://bri.li/?11985

30 ... and the top 10 April Fool's hoaxes of all time

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com http://bri.li/?1253d

29 Microsoft axes RealNames; keywords will stop working

http://www.sfgate.com http://bri.li/?130f5

29 Darwin Award candidate reveals risks of online games

http://www.ohio.com http://bri.li/?138c5

29 You'll like this: Dave Barry reviews Windows XP

(Registration required)

http://www.miami.com http://bri.li/?14095

THE BOTTOM 3 LEAST-CLICKED NEWS PICKS

0.1 Buyers say timely delivery, ease of return are key

http://www.eurekalert.org http://bri.li/?ee8d

1.0 Study: Online ads slumping no more than offline ads

http://www.electricnews.net http://bri.li/?f65d

1.1 Red Hat releases secure Stronghold Enterprise Server

http://www.internetnews.com http://bri.li/?10215

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THE TOP 10 WACKY WEB WEEK STORIES

Score - Title

120 VW Bug transforms itself from parked car into robot

http://members.cox.net http://bri.li/?fa45

112 Mini-putt game simulates golf course using Flash

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu http://bri.li/?109e5

053 Antcity's unfortunate inhabitants feel a "flash"

http://www.bossmonster.com http://bri.li/?12155

052 This page cannot be f---ing displayed

http://www.clint.ca http://bri.li/?134dd

052 NASA videotapes its weightless liquid experiments

http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov http://bri.li/?1447d

043 The deadly follies of Stick-Figure Warning Man

http://www.capnwacky.com http://bri.li/?1541d

035 The Industorious Clock Flash animation

http://www.yugop.com http://bri.li/?163bd

033 Panasonic's comical Flash animations for Net access

http://newtown.hi-ho.ne.jp http://bri.li/?17745

030 "Pedestrian killer" Flash animation

http://killer.flaboratorium.org http://bri.li/?17b2d

029 Microsoft and its new spinoff, Patchsoft

http://www.satirewire.com http://bri.li/?182fd

THE BOTTOM 3 LEAST-CLICKED WACKY WEB WEEK STORIES

3.32 Harris Poll labels Web surfers as cyberchrondriacs

http://cyberatlas.internet.com http://bri.li/?10dcd

4.30 Popjustice's spurious band-split Web engine

http://www.popjustice.com http://bri.li/?12d0d

4.86 Transparent aluminum is a reality! Says sci-fi site

http://www.sci-fighter.com http://bri.li/?17f15

COMMENTARY: The most popular item published in Wacky Web Week was clicked 12 times more than the average link. This far outstrips the most popular links in any other section. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this.

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REMEMBER: You have until Sunday, Aug. 4, 2002, to send your comments and be entered to win one of the prizes.

HERE'S THE SPECIAL ADDRESS TO SEND YOUR COMMENTS: mailto:WhatNow@SecretsPro.com

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E-BUSINESS SECRETS: Our mission is to bring you such useful and thought-provoking information about the Web that you actually look forward to reading your e-mail.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: E-Business Secrets is written by InfoWorld contributing editor Brian Livingston (http://SecretsPro.com). Research director is Vickie Stevens. Brian has published 10 books, including:

Windows Me Secrets: http://www.amazon.com http://bri.li/?0764534939

Windows 2000 Secrets: http://www.amazon.com http://bri.li/?0764534130

Win a gift certificate good for a book, CD, or DVD of your choice if you're the first to send a tip Brian prints. mailto:Brian@SecretsPro.com