CONTEST PAGES LET NET SURFERS PLAY FOR THE BIG PRIZES : TIP, PC, CASH SOME OF THE BOOTY.

Byline: Bill Husted Cox News Service

Sure, the Internet is useful. Just last week you were able to check the weather in Bangkok, drop in on an astrology page or two and exchange e-mail with your Aunt Sally.

Isn't it time you made some money from this Internet stuff?

That's the whole idea behind contest pages. Unlike buying a lottery ticket, it doesn't cost you a penny to play. And because many of the games are based on answering trivia questions, all that arcane knowledge you've gained on the Net can finally pay off.

But you may want to start with something even easier. If you can answer troubling questions such as your name, sex and how often you go to the movies, you'll be eligible to enter a sweepstakes called Anaconda. The Internet contest is designed to promote Sony's movie of the same name. You have until Friday to enter at http://www.spe.sony.com/Pictures/SonyMov ies/movies/Anaconda/nethighlights/sregistration.html.

The grand prize is a trip for two to the rain forest of the Amazon. Luckily, you'll be at a snake-free resort called the Ariau Jungle Tower Hotel, which was rated as one of the best places in the world to stay by Conde Nast.

There may be those among you who would rather not go to the Amazon. But almost everyone would like to have $25,000. That's the first prize in a contest designed to promote the 25th anniversary of the Ziploc-brand bag.

You have until June 8 to fill out the registration form, where you'll be asked all sorts of questions about your personal feelings about Ziploc bags. Just visit the Web site at http://www.ziploc.com/freebies.html. The rest is in the bag.

Even the rather staid National Geographic has a Web contest. To play, drop in on its site at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/hq/geobee/opener.html and answer five questions. There will be five new questions each day until May 23.

There are weekly prizes for winners, and all winners get a chance for the grand prize, a Toshiba Infinia home PC. The geography questions are pretty tough, by the way.

Now that cigars are trendy again - both with women and men - you may be interested in a contest sponsored by General Cigar that offers a free box of Macanudo Hampton Court, Portofino or Petit Coronas. You'll find the rules on the Cigar Smokers page at http://www.cigarworld.com/contest/smokers97.html.

You may not approve of cigars, but you probably wouldn't be offended if someone offered to pay off the balance on your credit cards. That's one of the prizes in a contest on a page sponsored by the RAM Research Group at http://www.cardgame.com/cardgame.html.

Finally, here's a contest you may already know you've won.

The contest has the rather grand name of Psychic Pathways Free Contest Intuitive Metaphysical Prediction Order Form. If you can say all that with one breath, I predict you have no lung problems whatsoever.

Go to the Web page at http://psychicpathways.com/predictf.htm. Then, you fill in a form by giving your birthday, age and sex. Then you type in the question that you'd like answered.

If you win, you get your question answered for free by one of those Intuitive Metaphysical Predictors you've read so much about. What a deal!