ONE of the biggest downsides to the internet is its anonymous nature. Millions of users log on every day and interact with faceless strangers for endless reasons. Of course, given the content of some of these endless reasons, an anonymous nature is also one of the net's upsides.

People talk online everyday, safe in the knowledge that who they really are remains offline. For the shy at heart, the internet is a gift from above. For those a little more secure, however, anonymity just doesn't quite cut it.

Enter www.hotornot.com - a site that lets users present themselves to the world for fun, enjoyment, and cold, hard evaluation. Anyone and everyone is invited to submit a picture of themselves and these offerings are then rated on a scale from one to 10. Jim and James, the site owners, came up with the concept of Hot or Not two years ago while sitting around drinking. Within an hour of its launch, photos began pouring in and the site soon garnered the attention of Playboy, Maxim and People magazines.

Hot or Not now even doubles as a dating service, allowing users to get in touch with the people they vote for, effectively reducing the web's anonymity even further. It's also spawned a legion of imitators.

The frontrunner in this department can be found at www.amiannoyingornot.com, a site that will make you wish others had kept their anonymity. Blatantly admitting they stole the idea from Hot or Not, the site asks the public whether certain celebrities, television shows, movies and the like are annoying. In a dastardly move, they even submitted Hot or Not for voting. Fortunately, justice prevailed, and Hot or Not was found annoying by only 33 per cent of voters (a considerably low percentage for the site).

On their 100 Most Annoying list, you'll find such fan favourites as Saddam Hussein, Martha Stewart and Jennifer Lopez. On the Least Annoying side are Winona Ryder, Drew Barrymore and, surprisingly, Britney Spears. One really has to question, however, how big of an honour it is to be called "Least Annoying." If someone told you that you were the least stupid person in the room, would you be proud?

Once the site has you wondering where you rank on the annoyance spectrum, you can check out their "annoying or not" quizzes. My score on the first quiz was 23. I must say at this point that what I found annoying was that there was no real explanation of how their rating system works, or even how large the scale was. Simply 23. Twenty-three out of what? I was informed, however, that "You are tolerable, if not pleasant. You should be proud of your annoyance rating (unless you lied on your quiz, then you're a complete bastard!)"

And, finally, a third site of interest, which only vaguely relates to where we started when this column began, can be found at www.whatsbetter.com. Here you'll be continually presented with two pictures, which could be seemingly anything, and prompted to pick the one you like better. Pretty simple concept. Currently at the bottom of their list, which recently hit 100,000 items, are Osama bin Laden, terrorism and AIDS. For most hated, bin Laden only narrowly beat out the eternally despised Adolf Hitler, the KKK, and white supremacy. Talk about bad company.

Topping the list? Homer Simpson, Elizabeth Hurley and Milla Jovovich. Interestingly, eight out of the top 10 most popular were extremely attractive women - one of whom was referred to only as "Victoria's Secret Model." The other two spots were related to the Simpson's television show.

Also good for a laugh is the site's "Highlighted Pairings" section, where you can look at some of the more interesting items that went head to head. Kool-Aid was judged to be better than Tang (65 per cent to 35 per cent), "a bird in the hand" won out over "two in the bush" (61-39 per cent) and a pile of garbage was preferred to the Middle East (78-22 per cent). And, although you can never have both, "having your cake" lost out to "eating it" (16-84 per cent).

There's plenty more of interest here, but, unfortunately, I've learned that "wanting to write more" loses out to "there's no room left" every time. Now that's annoying.