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The curious, the bizarre, the offbeat, the quirky...
Reference librarians answer a lot of questions.
That's what we do for a living. We put no value
judgments on the questions. Each one is as important
to us as the next and each question is taken
seriously. Helping you find the answer as to why
there is an expiration date on sour cream is as
important to us as helping you find an unemployment
form. Does your hair continue to grow after you die
is as important as the address and phone number of
the CEO of IBM. How do they get the stripes into
toothpaste, whatever happened to channel one, why
are barns frequently painted red...these are the
curious, slightly bizarre and somewhat quirky kinds
of questions librarians deal with. Books have held a
lot of the answers in the past and now the Internet
is fast becoming THE source for the answers.
To help you find the answers to these sorts of
questions The Library staff suggests the following
websites:
All Around
Useful Knowledge
The Straight Dope
Fighting ignorance since 1973 (it's taking longer
than we thought) THE source for hip, witty, straight answers to the
questions that torment everyone. Hoaxes, urban legends, rumors...topics
ranging from history to rock and roll, from consumer products to
science, Cecil Adams answers knowledgeably and irreverently.
http://www.straightdope.com
Amusing Facts
Quick facts about food and drink, sports, history,
religion, people, business. statistics, and more
http://www.amusingfacts.com/
Useless Information
Stuff you never needed to know but your life would
be incomplete without.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/
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Hoaxes
Museum of Hoaxes
Hoax...to trick into believing as genuine something false and often
preposterous. Take their gullibility test and then take a look at the
list of prank websites, tall-tale creatures, and famous hoaxes through
the ages.
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/
Health related hoaxes and rumors
Have you heard that underarm deodorants cause
breast cancer or that someone is sending poisonous
perfume samples through the mail? Check here for the
truth concerning health rumors.
http://www.cdc.gov/doc.do/id/0900f3ec80226b9c
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Urban Legends
Snopes
Have you heard that your friend of a friend heard
about a girl who received a gift of a plant that one day started
wiggling? And the next day the plant gave birth to hundreds of tiny
spiders? Or how about the threatening phone call to the babysitter who
then got the warning from the police to get out as the call was being
made from inside the house? We've all heard them...it actually happened
to my aunt's neighbor's cousin's best friend. Well, no, chances are it's
an urban legend, a story that scares you but has a moral. Check out this
site for the truth or fiction behind the legends.
http://www.snopes.com/
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Unusual
News
Stories
The Smoking Gun
Go behind the scenes of the latest quirky news story
by viewing the actual primary source documents on the case. Celebrity
mug shots too!
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/
The Darwin Awards
Honoring those who seek to improve our gene pool
by removing themselves from it. Please do not
attempt these stunts at home.
http://www.darwinawards.com/
News of the Weird
Are the stories for real? The author can't say for
sure but all the stories come from reputable daily
newspapers.
http://www.newsoftheweird.com/
The Bondage File
It's not what you think. More news stories with
a quirky bent.
http://www.sfgate.com/examiner/bondage/
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Dumb Laws
Dumb Laws
State by
state and country by country, laws still on the books that will leave
you scratching your head. (We don't think full service gas stations are
so dumb!)
http://www.dumblaws.com/
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Nearby And
Offbeat
WEIRD NJ!
UFOs, unexplained
phenomena, strange animals, and weird roadside attractions all with a
New Jersey bent.
http://www.weirdnj.com/
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