# Alternatives to the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2001, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608 "2001-06-12T23:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/1 "2001-06-12T23:01:17Z")
Not that I don’t love SDMB and won’t come here every day, but it is a little slow, _a lot slow_. I was wondering if there are any other interesting MB’s out there that I could peruse while the SDMB’s load? ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/2 "2001-06-12T23:42:52Z")
This was asked not that long ago… here are a few of the best I found from that and other searching… The fabulous forums of [FATHOM](http://fff.fathom.org/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro&BypassCookie=true) seem to be generally perceived as the unofficial official alternative. there’s even a special forum for exiled or moonlighting Dopers: you can find **satan** and others there, if y’like. I couldn’t get it to work. [UserFriendly](http://www.userfriendly.org/discus/messages/board-topics.html) is an amusing online strip and worthwhile computer resource. There’s a funny and friendly forum, but if you think this place is slow, wait till it takes you two weeks to get a reply! The place isn’t that busy: it’s that simple. [Self-Service Science](http://www2.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/) is very interesting. Someone recommended it. Can’t remember who… sorry! 😉 [Socks](http://www.coolboard.com/myboards.cfm?oid=94003094186507) is socks. [The Star Trek Boards](http://www.trekbbs.com/) love it when you ask if they think Star Wars was better. Somewhere at [Snopes](http://www.snopes2.com/), there’s a very busy forum discussing urban legends and such stories. Great fun. I doubt the effectiveness of my link. If it doesn’t work just use “Urban Legends Reference Pages” in a search engine. [RebelAct](http://www.rebelact.net/cgi-bin/forums/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro)’s boards are now almost certainly all about their games. There was a time when I hung out there, and very funny it all was too, in the early days. Tell them a smartypants old adventurer says hello. Last I looked the regulars were still keeping it pretty interesting but you’ll have to wade through mountains of cheat questions… there’s usually no objection to questions about local fish pricings, though. The closest to the spirit (the original intention, I mean) of the Dope may well be at Guardian Unlimited’s [Notes & Queries](http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/notesandqueries/category/0,5753,-24,00.html) section, but it’s hardly a message board. It is viciously edited, to the extent that only those trivia questions regarded as sufficiently interesting will even make it to the screen - the same is true of the replies. But it doesn’t _claim_ to be a message board. It’s about trivial and useless information. And it’s quite funny if, like me, you are well aware that newspapers are always soaked in _someone’s_ politics… and if, like me, you don’t much mind. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/3 "2001-06-13T00:13:05Z")
Hey! **Wishbone**. You lucky dog. Since you live three hours behind most of us normal people, you should just be content to access this board about 9-11 pm **Pacific Time**. You will have loading at light-speed. Assuming your computer is up to it. Don’t even **try** to access from the time you wake up until about 9pm your time. Hope you have a home computer. Good luck. P.S. From your title of this thread, I was gonna suggest celibacy or suicide, but thought better of it. ---
**Author:** ![Amedeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Amedeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amedeus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/4 "2001-06-13T00:56:02Z")
[Space.com](http://uplink.space.com/2/OpenTopic/a/cfrm) has a nice message board. [sparknotes.com](http://sparknotes.com/) also has a message board, though limited. ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/5 "2001-06-13T01:25:38Z")
morphine ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/6 "2001-06-13T01:49:32Z")
Huh, I’ve seen this one before. Off to IMHO… it’s not a General Question. Jill ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/7 "2001-06-13T11:11:13Z")
Can anyone put up the link to the Unaboard? I registered there but have since changed jobs and lost the address! TIA pan ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/8 "2001-06-13T11:47:20Z")
[The UnaBoard -](http://65.69.77.33/forums/index.php) a tiny, sad little Board openly mocked by the Administration of the two big Boards! You can remember the URL easily by thinking of the [Geocities UnaBoard Page - http://www.geocities.com/unaboard](http://www.geocities.com/unaboard). I recommend linking to this page, if you plan on visiting the sad little UnaBoard often, because this way when SW Bell decides to screw with my DSL connection, or I go on another bender, or have to travel for work (Oh no! There’s that “real-life excuse” again!) and the Board goes down, you can at least get updates on Geocities of when the Board will be back up. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/9 "2001-06-13T11:50:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > **[The UnaBoard -](http://65.69.77.33/forums/index.php) a tiny, sad little Board openly mocked by the Administration of the two big Boards!** Errrr… which two big boards? Certainly not _our_ Administration that’s mocking it, right? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/10 "2001-06-13T12:27:08Z")
I believe it was our beloved **coalwoman** ’s self-deprecating humor in action again. Fathom and the UnaBoard are lovely places that have joined the SDMB in the continuing effort to get me fired for spending too long on the boards. The nice thing about both, especially the UnaBoard, is the reduced tolerance for jerky behaviour without completely losing the SDMB’s edge. Even people who are jerky here are less jerky there. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/11 "2001-06-13T12:28:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > **I believe it was our beloved coalwoman’s self-deprecating humor in action again.** Yup, you got it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/12 "2001-06-13T12:39:57Z")
Dammit, Una. Stop teasing the foreigner! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/13 "2001-06-13T14:08:24Z")
There are some pretty cool people at the Top Secret Recipes boards, several forums where secret fast food recipes and the like are discussed, as well as mundane chit-chat. Here’s the [link.](http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi) ---
**Author:** ![McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/14 "2001-06-14T01:23:55Z")
[http://www.greylabyrinth.com](http://www.greylabyrinth.com) - Good to pass the time ---
**Author:** ![PolarField](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@PolarField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PolarField)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/15 "2001-06-14T16:56:34Z")
My girlfriend seriously digs [www.bust.com](http://www.bust.com). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/16 "2001-06-16T09:03:09Z")
[Salon Table Talk](http://tabletalk.salon.com/webx?) is where I hang out when I’m not here. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/17 "2001-06-16T09:08:24Z")
I can’t believe no-one’s mentioned [h2g2](http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2) yet. It’s a community founded by Douglas Adams and hosted on the BBC’s servers. You’ll never run out of forums to check out, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alternatives-to-the-sdmb/68608/18 "2001-06-16T09:43:58Z")
[Apolyton](http://apolyton.net/forums) forums are where I usually am. Good place to be, especially if you are player of that great computer game, Civilization.