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Life is full of questions, some more difficult to answer than others. Lately, with the economy sputtering and layoffs on the rise, people are typing a lot of tough questions into the Search box.

We took a look at the most popular “how to” questions in Search and found a list dominated by the nervous and budget conscious. Inquiries ranged from “how to survive a recession” to “how do I cut household expenses.” Job seekers typed in “how do i write a resume” and “how to make a successful career change,” while folks with money troubles looked up “how to consolidate debt” and “how to file for unemployment.” Those worried about paying off their mortgage searched on “how long does a forclosure take” and “how can I fight foreclosure.” Depressed yet?

While there were a lot of sobering entries on the “how to” list, several carefree inquries lightened the load. Gentlemen with formal occasions to attend searched on “how to tie a tie.” Folks looking to avoid buying a clunker dialed up “how to inspect a used car.” And the foolishly optimistic searched for “how to train a cat.” Good luck with that one, guys.

Below, we list the top 20 “how to” searches from the past week. Take a look, and remember—it’s never too late to learn something new.

Can you deal with the truth? Mebbe so: The Buzz Multiplex heads into a strong spring weekend, with one film based on a true story, a drama inspired by a military policy, and a fantasy spoof that nearly got a reality check in the form of a boycott.

1. “Superhero Movie” (PG-13). Its Tom Cruise scientology spoof has already attracted searches to the parody that stars Drake Bell as a dragonfly bite-induced superhero. But, a threatened boycott nearly made this movie an unlikely political pawn in a battle to get the Weinstein producers to release an unaltered version of “Fanboys,” a ”Star Wars”-inspired comedy. Now that the Weinsteins have buckled, pre-teens and teens won’t have to worry about crossing a picket line to see Pamela Anderson.

2. “Stop-Loss” (R). Although not based on a true story, the film takes a look at the real military policy which extends the service time of soldiers due to be discharged. The MySpace pages have already drawn comments from military rank-and-file and their families. Ryan Phillippe stars, but acting mate Channing Tatum pulls in nearly double the searches (largely fueled by female teens). The appealing cast may help the drama go against the trend of low-performing Iraqi war movies.

3. “21” (PG-13). MIT students making millions by counting cards at casino blackjack tables may have been a true story, but anytime you mix Hollywood with Las Vegas, all reality goes out the plate-glass windows. The film has drawn controversy for changing the group’s racial make-up (although the main inspiration doesn’t object). Still, the numbers game has drawn passing interest from ages 13-44, as have stars Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey and, most importantly, Kate Bosworth.

Can you deal with the truth? Mebbe so: The Buzz Multiplex heads into a strong spring weekend, with one film based on a true story, a drama inspired by a military policy, and a fantasy spoof that nearly got a reality check in the form of a boycott.

1. “Superhero Movie” (PG-13). Its Tom Cruise scientology spoof has already attracted searches to the parody that stars Drake Bell as a dragonfly bite-induced superhero. But, a threatened boycott nearly made this movie an unlikely political pawn in a battle to get the Weinstein producers to release an unaltered version of “Fanboys,” a ”Star Wars”-inspired comedy. Now that the Weinsteins have buckled, pre-teens and teens won’t have to worry about crossing a picket line to see Pamela Anderson.

2. “Stop-Loss” (R). Although not based on a true story, the film takes a look at the real military policy which extends the service time of soldiers due to be discharged. The MySpace pages have already drawn comments from military rank-and-file and their families. Ryan Phillippe stars, but acting mate Channing Tatum pulls in nearly double the searches (largely fueled by female teens). The appealing cast may help the drama go against the trend of low-performing Iraqi war movies.

3. “21” (PG-13). MIT students making millions by counting cards at casino blackjack tables may have been a true story, but anytime you mix Hollywood with Las Vegas, all reality goes out the plate-glass windows. The film has drawn controversy for changing the group’s racial make-up (although the main inspiration doesn’t object). Still, the numbers game has drawn passing interest from ages 13-44, as have stars Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey and, most importantly, Kate Bosworth.

Last week, the Los Angeles Times broke a provocative report from a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. The story linked rapper-actor-style-mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs to the 1994 shooting of Hip-Hop legend Tupac Shakur.

The response was immediate. Diddy issued a furious denial, and the paper’s website absorbed nearly 1 million hits—”more viewers than any other story on latimes.com this year.”

The only problem? The L.A. paper was duped. According to Smoking Gun, the report relied on FBI papers fabricated by a delusional, dumpy, and incarcerated con-man named James Sabatino. Whoops. The Southern California publication has since apologized.

In Buzz, readers have followed the swindle’s repercussions with interest. Reports from Rolling Stone and Reuters, via Yahoo! News, have posted triple-digit scores. The Y! News item is currently the third most popular entertainment story for the past 24 hours. More recently, a New York Magazine piece vaulted upwards. It connects the faulty journalism at The Times to the bad reporting portrayed on HBO’s “The Wire.” 

Hoaxes may come and go, but nothing dims the fascination searchers nurse for Tupac. In the last week alone, huge numbers of people turned to the Web for more on the slain musician’s lyrics, music, quotes, and poems. One of the most popular look-ups for the iconic rapper? “Proof tupac is still alive.” Maybe The L.A. Times should get on that.

Last week, the Los Angeles Times broke a provocative report from a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. The story linked rapper-actor-style-mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs to the 1994 shooting of Hip-Hop legend Tupac Shakur.

The response was immediate. Diddy issued a furious denial, and the paper’s website absorbed nearly 1 million hits—”more viewers than any other story on latimes.com this year.”

The only problem? The L.A. paper was duped. According to Smoking Gun, the report relied on FBI papers fabricated by a delusional, dumpy, and incarcerated con-man named James Sabatino. Whoops. The Southern California publication has since apologized.

In Buzz, readers have followed the swindle’s repercussions with interest. Reports from Rolling Stone and Reuters, via Yahoo! News, have posted triple-digit scores. The Y! News item is currently the third most popular entertainment story for the past 24 hours. More recently, a New York Magazine piece vaulted upwards. It connects the faulty journalism at The Times to the bad reporting portrayed on HBO’s “The Wire.” 

Hoaxes may come and go, but nothing dims the fascination searchers nurse for Tupac. In the last week alone, huge numbers of people turned to the Web for more on the slain musician’s lyrics, music, quotes, and poems. One of the most popular look-ups for the iconic rapper? “Proof tupac is still alive.” Maybe The L.A. Times should get on that.

Sports fans are always looking for ways to support their favorite players and teams. One method, albeit an expensive one, is to throw down some cash for an official jersey.

Jerseys are perpetually popular in the Buzz, and this past week was no exception. There were significant searches on all the usual suspects, including “nba jerseys,” “nba throwback jerseys,” “mlb jerseys,” and “nhl jerseys.” Manchester United and the Boston Celtics were the most popular teams, while lookups on jerseys for the defunct USFL also made a strong showing.

When it comes to individual athletes, we were a bit surprised to see a retired guy top the list. That’s right, kids—Michael Jordan’s #23 is still the most popular jersey in the land. The uniform once worn by his royal airness draws more buzz than LeBron’s, Shaq’s, and Ronaldo’s combined.

But even though Jordan dominates the Search box just like he did the court, his isn’t the only coveted jersey. Below, we rank the players whose duds are drawing the most buzz. Dress to impress.

Inflation really is everywhere. As if rising gas prices weren’t enough, we’re also seeing a decline in the power of the word “hot” at the Search box.

You see, oglers are no longer satisfied to search for a celeb’s name followed by one “hot.” Searchers are now typing “hot hot” or, in the case of Pamela Anderson, “super hot.” Clearly the single “hot” just ain’t what it used to be.

We first noticed this trend the other day when queries on “kate beckinsale hot hot” surged an astounding 2,971%. Yowzer! We looked into other celebs with two or more “hots” and found a surprisingly substantial list. Those making the cut include Sarah Michelle Gellar, Monica Bellucci, Cameron Diaz, and, strangely, Patrica Heaton. (Nothing against the star of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” but we wouldn’t put her in the same category as Ms. Diaz. Apparently, others disagree.)

There are signs this “hot inflation” is going to get worse before it gets better. During our research, we discovered that more than a few people searched on “alyssa milano hot hot hot hot” and “jessica alba hot hot hot hot.” Four hots?!? Like a gallon of gas, the price of hotness keeps going up.

Sports fans are always looking for ways to support their favorite players and teams. One method, albeit an expensive one, is to throw down some cash for an official jersey.

Jerseys are perpetually popular in the Buzz, and this past week was no exception. There were significant searches on all the usual suspects, including “nba jerseys,” “nba throwback jerseys,” “mlb jerseys,” and “nhl jerseys.” Manchester United and the Boston Celtics were the most popular teams, while lookups on jerseys for the defunct USFL also made a strong showing.

When it comes to individual athletes, we were a bit surprised to see a retired guy top the list. That’s right, kids—Michael Jordan’s #23 is still the most popular jersey in the land. The uniform once worn by his royal airness draws more buzz than LeBron’s, Shaq’s, and Ronaldo’s combined.

But even though Jordan dominates the Search box just like he did the court, his isn’t the only coveted jersey. Below, we rank the players whose duds are drawing the most buzz. Dress to impress.

There’s a man in Oregon who’s eating for two. Thomas Beattie, a transgender male, lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Nancy. When Beattie went through the process of becoming a man, he kept his female reproductive parts. Now, he’s pregnant with the couple’s baby—and Buzz is aglow with the news.

On Monday, a Boing Boing post on the story surfaced in Buzz. It quotes Beattie and offers a photo of him with what looks like an expectant (and hairy) belly. Today, The Huffington Post covered the fertile tale. The author, Verena von Pfetten, linked to other instances of male pregnancy. “Think this is strange?” she queried, “Think again.” It turns out seahorses do it all the time.

Finally, ABC emerged with an article. The piece investigates the story, interviews Thomas Beattie’s surprised neighbors, and confirms that, yes, Virginia, this is possible.

All this topsy turvy procreation has sparked the interest of searchers. Yesterday, we logged spikes in “pregnant man” and “oregon man pregnant.” Frankly, that’s enough for us. We don’t need to see “man morning sickness” or “oregon man stretch marks,” thank you for much. The baby is due in July. Congratultions, Thomas!

Inflation really is everywhere. As if rising gas prices weren’t enough, we’re also seeing a decline in the power of the word “hot” at the Search box.

You see, oglers are no longer satisfied to search for a celeb’s name followed by one “hot.” Searchers are now typing “hot hot” or, in the case of Pamela Anderson, “super hot.” Clearly the single “hot” just ain’t what it used to be.

We first noticed this trend the other day when queries on “kate beckinsale hot hot” surged an astounding 2,971%. Yowzer! We looked into other celebs with two or more “hots” and found a surprisingly substantial list. Those making the cut include Sarah Michelle Gellar, Monica Bellucci, Cameron Diaz, and, strangely, Patrica Heaton. (Nothing against the star of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” but we wouldn’t put her in the same category as Ms. Diaz. Apparently, others disagree.)

There are signs this “hot inflation” is going to get worse before it gets better. During our research, we discovered that more than a few people searched on “alyssa milano hot hot hot hot” and “jessica alba hot hot hot hot.” Four hots?!? Like a gallon of gas, the price of hotness keeps going up.