Today is Friday the 13th. And whether or not you make a point of avoiding black cats during this 24-hour period, most everyone notices when the 13th day of the month collides with the end of the work week. Lookups for " friday the 13 " and " friday the 13 history " have been spiking in Search all morning, while articles about the fateful day are picking up votes in Buzz. Among the more popular posts is " How Friday the 13th Works ," from How Stuff Works .

In politics, there may be no high road on the Internet superhighway. The Web has been the way to galvanize the populace. However, that same strength and speed have been co-opted by strategists in order to hijack the political conversation. Celebrities have long had to deal with the stubborn stain of rumors, but innuendo about presidential candidates has a far more corrosive effect. So it seemed inevitable that Democratic contender Barack Obama would use the Internet again ,

There's a growing trend in Search: Looking up pictures of older )but not necessarily "old"( celebrities from when they had a few less wrinkles. Leading the charge is legendary model and actress Brigitte Bardot . After her recent controversial remarks on Muslims, folks were reminded of her younger days as a sex symbol. Lookups on " brigitte bardot young " scorched the Search box this past week.

Searchers clearly want to embrace a monster with rage issues and a director with raging ego issues, but some may find that love doesn't conquer all plot holes. 1. " The Incredible Hulk " )PG-13(. The perplexingly numb failure that distinguished Ang Lee's project did director Louise Leterrier good. Relief has made comic-book fanboys ecstatic )IGN says " Hulk smash "(, dismissive reviewers concede yeah-it's-better )New York Daily News, " not so smashing "(,

Motivated by mounting supermarket bills , folks across the U.S. have turned to the spade and shovel for help. Backyard food gardening is on the rise. According to The New York Times , "seed companies and garden shops say that not since the rampant inflation of the 1970s has there been such an uptick in interest in growing food at home." The Huffington Post , ABC , and NBC have all surfaced in Buzz with reports about the surging interest in growing-your-own. In Search,

Transparencies about salaries and job satisfaction? Sounds like a communist plot brewing. Only a few days old on the Web, Glassdoor is already blanketed in buzz . The site allows working Joes and Janes to dish on their corporate life, from salary to CEO )dis(satisfaction. While built on the same free concept as travel site TripAdvisor or real estate tell-all Zillow )whose CEO happens to be a Glassdoor founder (,

Cone bras, songs about virgins, dating a wrinkly Warren Beatty â€" Madonna has made a career out of shocking her fans. One has to wonder if there's anything about the material girl they don't already know. A new biography written by Madonna's brother, Christopher Ciccone , aims to answer the question. Focusing on Madonna's younger days, the memoir is set to hit book shelves in mid-July. News of the upcoming book, entitled " Life With My Sister ,

In an early scene of the " Sex and the City " movie, Carrie snuggles up under the covers with Mr. Big and recites from a musty library book called "Love Letters of Great Men." For fans of the beleaugered pair, the moment reads like a triumphant example of love conquering all. In bed! Reading! Together! Later, the book surfaces again when its letters play a critical role in what happens between the two characters.

In this time of a weakened economy, increased layoffs, and soaring gas prices, concerned folks are looking for new ways to cut costs. Ironically, one of the "new" methods is actually one of the oldest tricks in the bookâ€" coupons . Searches for coupons spiked an astounding 1,840% this past Sunday, far above the typical weekend surge. Clearly folks want to save money on anything and everything. A look at the top coupon searches reveals that restaurants draw the most lookups,

Steve Jobs knows a thing or two about marketing. The man could stand next to a rack of invisible clothes, and people would still ohh and ahh. Fortunately, Apple's founder and CEO skipped the iPantsuit and announced a new iPhone instead. For techies, the big news is that this version will have 3G support , which allows for faster web surfing and downloads. For those who don't know a 3G from a TV, the new price was the main attraction.

When Steve Jobs took to the stage at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday, he triggered a rush of buzz about the new iPhone . But that's not the only notice he stirred up online. The Apple CEO looks thin . Very thin . And searchers didn't let it slip by. Alongside a 679% jump in queries for Jobs' name, we also logged spikes in " steve jobs appearance ," " steve jobs health ," and " steve jobs cancer ." That last one, though speculative,

Searches for " gas prices ," " cheap gas ," and " local gas prices " are charting record-breaking ascents in the Buzz. That's no big surprise. But those queries aren't the only ways folks are using the Internet to outsmart )or understand( exorbitant prices at the pump. Here's a rundown of some of the fastest-moving and most notable " gas " queries we've seen lately... • " Gas scooters "â€"rather than filling the tank of a four-door sedan,

There's nothing like a petty squabble between celebrities to send folks searching. Ideally, the tiff involves vapid starlets arguing over who started the purse-dog trend, but Clint Eastwood telling Spike Lee to "shut his face" makes for a perfectly acceptable substitute. The spat began when Lee questioned Eastwood for not casting African-American actors in his two World War II films, " Letters from Iwo Jima " and " Flags of Our Fathers ." Mr.

A Bond reborn , a White House exposé , and rhymes about eating bugs . The next best thing to reading good books is recommending them. Outlets like NPR have posted their summer literary shopping lists, and USA Today provides a helpful guide , noting new titles' release dates. While the Washington Post released its mix of critical and readers' favorites after Memorial Day, Salon drags out the pleasure with a weekly dip into the juiciest summer passages.

It looks like a bowling ball. It weighs about as much as a six-month-old child. And it tastes delectable. But it will cost you. A black 17-pound watermelon sold today in Japan for $6,100 . Though the Densuke fruit is prized for its taste, this price tag shattered all records. It could go down as the most expensive watermelon in the world . Snack on that in your backyard tonight. Already, Salon , Huffington Post , the Wall Street Journal ,

Every writer wants to be in The New Yorker. Now, Patrick House reveals how you can do it . Granted, House's recipe for success applies solely to the magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest , but who's picky? Writing for Slate magazine, the )one-time( challenge champ offers such guidelines as aim for the "mild chuckle," "keep it lower case," and know your audience )in this case, the cartoon editor's assistant(. Follow these prescripts for winning,

Hillary Clinton is bowing out of the presidential race. John McCain and Barack Obama are pondering vice presidential running mates. But it's a magazine article about Bill Clinton that has Buzz in a tizzy. The July issue of Vanity Fair features a profile of the ex-president by journalist Todd Purdum . Titled " Bubba Trouble: The Comeback Id ," the report delves into Bill Clinton's social life, explores his "post-presidential rat pack,

Dearly beloved. We gather here today to mourn the demise of the sport utility vehicle , or " SUV " as its friends like to call it. The gas-guzzler lived a full life, driving in the fast lane from the 1990s to the mid-2000s. Alas, the vehicle fell ill a few years ago and was never able to recover. Though the cause of death has yet to be officially determined,

As soon as audiences see the words""Based on a true story""they sprint to the Search box for confirmation. It's the one disclaimer no moviegoer can resist. " The Strangers " is the latest flick to spark a run on " true story " lookups. The horror film opens with an ominious voiceover stating that the carnage you are about to witness is based on actual events. Filmgoers, perhaps wise to Hollywood's tendency to stretch the truth like taffy,

Sunday night, New York City police officers arrested actress Tatum O'Neal on a charge of possession of crack cocaine. Now, the actress would like to say thanks. Since emerging from a Manhattan jail, the beleaguered star has gushed to a reporter about how grateful she is that the boys in blue kept her sober. In an exclusive interview with New York Post writer Andrea Peyser, O'Neal said, "Just when I was about to... wreck my life, the cops came and saved me!