Speaking of old standbys, everything Americans asked about 40 years ago, they're still asking about today: questions dealing with penis size, premature ejaculation, inability to reach orgasm, losing one's virginity, abortion, contraception, the G spot. Is it OK to masturbate? How can I meet someone? Why does he watch so much porn? How can I get my partner to try something new in bed? And any number of fantasies or experiences that end with "So, what do you think, am I normal?"

Playboy Advisor's Rowe says, "The word 'normal' can be tricky. In a sexual context, it has several meanings: popular, safe, nothing to feel ashamed of. Plenty of things are safe and nothing to feel ashamed of, even if they're not all that popular. Instead of 'normal,' I try to go with 'safe' or 'unhealthy,' 'common' or 'uncommon.' So much of what I do is give people permission to be themselves, to enjoy who they are."

The Web has also enabled people around the world to ask more questions. The vast majority still come from Americans, but Alman has received quite a few from abroad: "Most come from the U.K., presumably because my site is in English, but I've had questions from Europe, Asia and South America," she says. She thought Europeans would be more sexually sophisticated than Americans are, but she says that has not been the case. "It's the same old stuff, especially questions from men about coming too soon."

Gardos also receives questions from abroad. The only difference he's noticed is that foreign women are more likely to ask a question like "How can I be sure I bleed on my wedding night?" (This question reflects ignorance about the hymen, the membrane that supposedly covers a virgin's vagina.) "In many countries around the world," he explains, "sex information is more suppressed than it is here, so you'd expect more people to have more basic questions."

The columnists estimate that 80 to 90 percent of the questions they receive are ones they've seen before. They live for the 10 to 20 percent of questions that are new and different. "Just when I think I've seen it all," Gardos says, "I get a question that makes me say, 'Wow, I've never heard of that.'" Recently, a man asked whether it was safe to scuba dive with a hydraulic penile implant, whether the extra pressure underwater might cause his implant to malfunction. "I had no idea," Gardos admits. "None of my books had anything on it. So I called all over the place -- sex people, dive shops, and finally wound up talking to people at the company that had manufactured the guy's implant. They'd never considered the scuba question either. But based on other tests they'd run, they guessed that their implant would work fine down to about 100 feet. I wrote him back saying that no one really knew the answer, but I told him what the manufacturer had said."

"In the 17 years I've been doing my column," Alman says, "I've never been bored. Amused, amazed, saddened, distressed, fascinated and titillated, but never bored."

"My fondest wish is to work myself out of a job," Gardos says. "But until that happens -- and I don't think there's any chance it ever will -- I have fun giving sex advice. It's a service many people clearly need."

"Sometimes I laugh out loud at amazing or witty stories," says OnHealth sex advisor Louanne Weston. "And I really love getting thank-you notes. That happens fairly frequently. Recently, I wrote a piece on the fact that some blood pressure medications cause erection impairment. I got a note from a woman saying that because of my column, her impotent husband asked his doctor to change his blood pressure medication, and now they're enjoying sex again. That kind of feedback makes my day."

"I can't think of a better job than being the Playboy Advisor," Rowe says. "I have an office full of sex books and porn. I'm always learning new things about sex. And maybe something I write helps someone become more self-accepting, or have a better relationship, or more fun in bed. What else do you need?"

Private Life Romance, relationships, and the personal side of Table Talk