Welcome to Part One of our Special Year-End Selection of Weekly Picks, a look at some of the sites we featured in 1997. Indeed, it certainly was an eventful year. Among other things, we discovered the lost journals of Lewis & Clark, tried to write the Greatest Tale Ever Told, lent a hand at uncovering the truth behind the Roswell and Bible Code controversies, and even allowed a chess-playing-Kasparov-beating computer to write Picks for us. Where did all the time go? And yet, at the heart of all of this we've had fun bringing you the latest and greatest sites. Let's hope for more of the same in 1998. Until then, see you here next week for "Part Two" of our year-end feature and, as always, take your pick(s).

• Absolutely Positively Useless Trivia - trifles, trivialities, and unimportant details, such as "Uranus is visible to the naked eye." Better put some pants on. (Featured May 26.)
• Andes Expedition: Searching for Inca Secrets - view a virtual autopsy of a 500-year-old Incan teenage girl, complete with 3D x-rays and CT scans. (Featured October 13.)
• Ask Jeeves - ask a plain English question and Jeeves serves up web pages where the answer might lie. Good show! (Featured April 20.)
• Bell Labs Text-to-Speech Synthesis - hear a computer-synthesized voice say the words you type. Oh-so-much fun for the bored worker. (Featured March 24.)
• The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest - where the objective is to write a truly bad opening sentence for a truly bad novel. (Featured February 3.)
• Columbia Journalism Review - the nation's oldest journalism publication, with twice weekly updates and a searchable archive dating back to 1992. (Featured December 15.)
• Driveways of the Rich & Famous - doormen, chauffeurs, and pizza deliverymen recount their experiences with celebrities such as Woody Allen, Regis Philbin, and Elizabeth Taylor. (Featured January 20.)
• Executive Paywatch - compare your salary to those of America's biggest corporate bigwigs. From the AFL-CIO. (Featured April 20.)
• Fresh Air with Terry Gross - find out who's on the popular NPR interview program, and listen to past shows with RealAudio. (Featured May 12.)
• The Gallery of Regrettable Food - a simple introduction to questionable foodstuffs and horrid recipes of the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Includes the delectable "Frosty Prune Pie." (Featured August 4.)
• Winnie, Her Life in Kenya - a loving look at a British woman who spent two decades in Africa, put together by her family. (Featured May 26.)
• It Crawled From the Bins - a glimpse into one man's stash of "oddball records." Includes cover art and commentary on such notable fiascos as Charlie the Hampster Sings the Ten Commandments. (Featured August 11.)
• The Middle Ages - an exploration of feudal life, religion, health, arts and entertainment, and much more. (Featured September 15.)
• NASA's Observatorium - a multimedia exploration of Earth and space from everyone's favorite rocket scientists. (Featured July 28.)
• New York Times Books - popular literary criticism, with current articles and archives going back to 1980. (Featured March 31.)
• Outhouses of America - everything you ever dared to wonder about external lavatories, including photos, humor, and the infamous "exploding outhouse." (Featured March 10.)
• Purina Dog Breed Selector - from Dachshunds to Dalmations, find the perfect pet by using Purina's interactive Personality Test. (Featured April 7.)
• The Pursuit of Happiness - several photo-essays on those supercool inalienable rights that Mr. Jefferson wrote about so eloquently. (Featured September 22.)
• The Smoking Gun - see the documents behind the news, from parking tickets to police reports. (Featured April 20.)
• Space Station Mir - witness the triumphs and tribulations of the Russian orbital platform. (Featured July 21.)
• SurferGirl Magazine - follow the world of women's surfing with news, columns, and chat. (Featured March 31.)
• ThinkQuest Internet Contest - hundreds of amazing sites created by students from around the world, ages 12 to 19. (Featured August 18.)
• Understanding Earthquakes - your guide to global hiccups, with history, science, famous accounts, and even a quiz. (Featured May 26.)
• Voice Literary Supplement - the online literary supplement of the Village Voice, the Los Angeles Weekly, and the Seattle Weekly/EastsideWeek. (Featured May 5.)
• Funster's What's In a Name - compete against other online players in a real-time Scrabble-like, Jumble-ish kinda game. (Featured July 14.)
• You Don't Know Jack - but thanks to the folks at Bezerk, you can always pretend you do right here... (Featured June 30.)

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