by Claudine Zap Brace yourselves: Prep is back . Prepare to put on that frayed Polo shirt, don the duck boots and grab your L.L. Bean tote. But instead of " The Official Preppy Handbook " to guide you, there's the new, updated version: " True Prep: It's a Whole New Old World ." The author, Lisa Birnbach , has waited 30 years since her last publication on prepdom to teach the latest generation about the ways of the preppie. This time around,

by Mike Krumboltz Hurricane Earl and Tropical Storm Fiona have some people worried. Web searches on " hurricane earl tracker " have soared an astounding 1,505% in the past 24 hours. Related lookups on " hurricane earl path " are up 408% and " hurricane earl forecast " searches have spiked 725%. Clearly, people are concerned that they might be in the storm's path. Fortunately, there are a variety of online resources to help folks follow the hurricane, monitor its strength,

by Mike Krumboltz The Chilean miners have been trapped 2,300 feet underground for nearly four weeks. The specific cause of the collapse isn't yet clear.. According to estimates, the 33 miners won't be rescued until sometime near Christmas, four months from now. The drilling is now underway, but many Web searchers are wondering why the process takes so long. Here's the layman's explanation.

by Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Emmy winners 2010 )Searches increased by 2,937%(. Let's be honest. All we really care about is ogling the Emmy outfits. Meatball recipes )+674%(. Here are some great preparation ideas from Shine. Oxford English Dictionary )+427%(. The ginormous print edition may go all-digital for its next update. Weekend box office )+384%(. "The Last Exorcism" demonized its competitors to win the box office.

by Mike Krumboltz Over the past several weeks, well over half a billion eggs have been recalled due to salmonella worries. The "bad eggs" )pun not intended( were either "destroyed," according to various news reports, or returned to the two big farms from which they came. But what happens to the eggs that these farm hens keep laying? Do those get tossed, too? The answer might surprise you: According to the Washington Post ,

by Claudine Zap Dire economic news. Mid-term elections. We're sure that President Obama has plenty of serious issues on his mind. But once in a while, the commander-in-chief does show a comic side. Captured on the White House Flickr page : POTUS playing a practical joke. While the presidential entourage passed through a locker room at the University of Texas at Austin ,

by Mike Krumboltz There's an email making the rounds that claims that on the night of August 27 )that's tonight(, the planet Mars will appear as large as the moon. Sounds sweet, but hold up. Before you invite your friends over for a rooftop viewing, we have some bad news: It's just a hoax. Web searches on " mars moon ," " two moons ," and " huge mars " have all been off the charts over the past several days due to the email. And that's understandable,

by Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Garmin recall )Searches increased by 675%(. The GPS company is voluntarily recalling 1.25 million Nuvi devices for being possible fire hazards . Two moons august 27th )+468%(. Sounds too cool to be true? It is . Gwyneth Paltrow )+459%(. The actress and her family have decamped to the Hamptons for a month . "Jurassic Park 4" )+394%(. All we know is it will be nothing like the first three dino movies.

by Vera H-C Chan 2007 was dubbed the year of the recall " but that dubious honor may have been premature. Three years ago, news of melamine-tainted dog food, salmonella-harboring peanut butter, and lead-painted toys all spurred a constant and at times frantic stream of online interest . A record-setting 472 products had to be sent back to companies.

by Claudine Zap It wasn't the sexual harassment lawsuits that did it. )Settled before going to trial.( Or CEO Dov Charney walking American Apparel 's factory floors dressed in his skivvies, and nothing more. )But sometimes less.( The LA-based company that peddles cotton basics and sexually suggestive ad campaigns has gone, as the Guardian notes, from being "the coolest company on the block" to basically bankrupt. The fall was fast.

by Vera H-C Chan Still making the rounds: Notwithstanding all the attention on JetBlue stewards gone wild , a joyous little incident aboard a June 28 Lufthansa flight LH687 has so far pulled in a million or so viewers. Just in the past 7 days, searches for " airline pillow fight " lofted up another 723% on Yahoo!. Who says you don't get anything in coach? Lufthansa spokesperson Christina Semmel says airline policy is to keep the flight attendant's identity secret,

by Mike Krumboltz You've probably never heard of Gwilym Hughes, but he held one of the coolest, most enviable records of all time. The Welshman, who recently died at age 65, had watched over 28,000 movies )a world record, according to Guinness( during the course of his life. The BBC hosts a buzzy article on the world's ultimate movie buff. The first film he ever watched was "King Solomon's Mines" in 1953, but his all-time number-one flick was "Lawrence of Arabia,

by Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Mark Zuckerberg )Searches increased by 933%(. The CEO of Facebook must feel good about the most recent valuation of his company at $33.7 billion . Ansel Adams )+887%(. Representatives of the photographer are suing a California man over what they're calling a $200 million scam. Jimmy Carter )+828%(.

by Vera H-C Chan Ah, that flighty winged lady known as Emmy. Every year, she acknowledges some absolute musts )outgoing "Lost" and Tony Shalhoub of "Monk"(, and then blithely ignores others. Does Emmy hold some kind of grudge against David Simon " no nod for "Treme," following years of injustice against "The Wire"? Does she disapprove of Katey Sagal as the "Sons of Anarchy" biker mom " and most of the FX playhouse , for that matter? Or,

by Mike Krumboltz The Toyota Prius is making some noise, literally. The hybrid car that's eerily silent at slow speeds is adding a bizarre option: A noise-making gadget that will sound like a motor. A reasonable person might ask why would anyone want to pay $149 for something that just makes noise. According to a buzzy article from CNN Money , the main point is to alert pedestrians when the car is nearby. Oh, and also, it's the law in Japan,

by Claudine Zap Maybe the microblogging site Twitter should be renamed "Trouble." From Twitter addicted football players to merry pranksters misrepresenting companies or countries, what happens on Twitter is making its way into the real world " and causing a mess. Here, your social media mistake roundup. Spoiler alert: Chad's in trouble Football star Chad Ochocinco has serious foot-in-mouth disease when it comes to Twitter.

by Mike Krumboltz Martin Short 's wife, Nancy Dolman , has died at the age of 58. The pair had been married for 30 years. News of Dolman's passing sent Web searches soaring for her biography , photos , and cause of death. E! Online reports that Dolman had been battling cancer for three years. RadarOnline.com reports that "there will be no funeral service for the actor's wife per her own wishes.

by Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Miss Mexico )Searches increased by 2,044%(. Meet Jimena Navarrete, the new Miss Universe . Miu Miu )+1,751%(. Madonna directed the fashion line's new video . Check out the signature Madge moves. Tropical Storm Danielle 2010 )+422%(. The storm, which looked like it had the force of a hurricane, lost strength as it hit the Atlantic Ocean. But watch out for Tropical Storm Frank . Sarah Palin )+684%(.

by Claudine Zap It's an alarming statistic: Thousands of teddy bears are left behind in hotels each year by travelers. And that's only at one hotel chain. Travelodge actually keeps track: 75,000 bears lost " and reuinted with frantic owners every year. While the return rate is amazingly high, the hotelier decided it was dealing with an epidemic of forgetfulness and needed to get the "bear" facts. After surveying 6,000 adults, the results are in: Turns out in Britain,

by Mike Krumboltz On Saturday, a $50 million painting disappeared from a Cairo museum. The Van Gogh masterpiece ' Poppy Flowers ' was cut out of its frame. Nobody saw what happened, and one person is taking the brunt of the blame: Muhsin Sha'lan. Sha'lan isn't the thief, but he is the first under-secretary at the culture ministry. According to a buzzy article from the BBC , he has been accused of "negligence" in the theft. Currently, he is being held in custody.