The Onion

With giddy and subversive glee, the wisenheimers at the Onion have transplanted their hilarious — though sometimes uneven — satirical newspaper onto the Web. While the print version of this eight-year-old Madison, Wis.-based tabloid has the look and feel of your average college rag, its online companion benefits from an elegant, easy-to-read interface that offers the weekly's best bits (''Nursing Home Hosts '96 Die-off,'' ''Clinton Forgets to Hit Save on Federal Budget,'' and ''Mulatto Arrested in Own Hate Crime''). Think of it as a goofball rendition of Slate as uploaded by Michael Kinsley's obnoxious-but-brilliant younger brother. Though the humor often exceeds the limits of good taste, when these jokesters hit their mark, this Onion smells almost sublime. A-