# How did you find the SDMB? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 26, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865 "2002-05-26T02:16:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/1 "2002-05-26T02:16:21Z")
(I know it’s been done, but just not recently) I found it through a search engine while looking for lyrics for American Pie By Don Mclean. I ran into an archived article which had some history on it. After a couple weeks of searching the archives I came to the SDMB. On Jan 1, 2000 I became CLAYTON\_e. How about you? ---
**Author:** ![heptapod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@heptapod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heptapod)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/2 "2002-05-26T02:51:45Z")
I found this board back when I used to check the main page about once a month. I was bored and clicked on the link for the boards. That’s when I realized that every answer was “The Master already covered this”, “Google is your friend”, “Drop AOL and get a real ISP” and “Did you check Snopes?” I realized, “Hey, I could do this.” ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/3 "2002-05-26T02:53:49Z")
I love A&E and bumped into the TV show one night. I didn’t have a computer for a long while after that, but once I did…and here I am. ---
**Author:** ![Com2Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Com2Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Com2Kid)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/5 "2002-05-26T02:59:52Z")
The thread in, err, 1999 I think it was, about the farmer who couldn’t get rid of, lets see, was it Hedgehogs, Groundhogs, moles, err, anyways, one of those peskt rodent things. Read through the entire thread, kept on coming back, lurked on and off for three(!) years, signed up, here I am. ---
**Author:** ![Ripple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@Ripple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ripple)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/6 "2002-05-26T03:05:10Z")
I found the SDMB through a Snopes link. I think I got to Snopes from a link in The Simpsons Archive. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/7 "2002-05-26T03:13:32Z")
I was looking for some information about the rate of expansion of the universe, and must have plugged something _right_ into Google, because I found this strange place. Google is not ALWAYS your friend. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![blur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dbc845/32.png) [@blur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blur)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/8 "2002-05-26T03:13:50Z")
A friend at work showed me the Straight Dope archives, and I found the message board from there. I lurked for about a year before I finally signed up. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_The\_Bold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dale\_The\_Bold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_The_Bold)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/9 "2002-05-26T03:16:04Z")
I found it when I stumbled upon someone’s site claiming that the “balancing eggs on the equinox” thing we all learned in school was false. I did a search through Google and found this site claiming you can balance eggs any day of the year. I tried it, balanced three eggs, and have been hooked ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Wearia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Wearia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wearia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/10 "2002-05-26T03:30:23Z")
[http://www.bored.com](http://www.bored.com) The Straight Dope - Find out true answers to many of life’s most interesting questions. I couldn’t resist that description. Wearia ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/11 "2002-05-26T03:39:14Z")
Considering that I never knew the SDMB originated on AOL until I bought _Triumpth of the Straight Dope_… Actually, I think I Google’d it… …and _voila_, here I am! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/12 "2002-05-26T03:40:17Z")
…um, make that _ **Triumph** of the Straight Dope_… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/13 "2002-05-26T03:57:21Z")
I’m the dinosaur of the crew. I became a Dope addict through the books in my first pro library job. (Working the Reference Desk; and yes, people really do ask questions that weird, and yes, it’s a pure killer finding credible, authoritative answers.) I read the site for ages for Cece’s columns, hooked on the general quirkiness and attitude but it took me years to finally, tenatively edge my way onto the board. Had I But Known it would morph into an addiction that would suck away precious free time that I’m _sure_ otherwise would have been spent maintaining a spotless household, a rigorous exercise regimene and growing organic vegetables. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Veb ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/14 "2002-05-26T04:07:48Z")
Found it through [bored.com](http://bored.com). Spent months reading the archives. When I finished there I figured I’d find out what the MB was like. I’ve been hooked ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/15 "2002-05-26T04:09:06Z")
Bought the first book in '88 or '89 when I was a new mother staying home and going crazy. Bought every book after that as soon as I found it in the bookstores. I knew there was an internet site. The Straight Dope was very first place I came to the very first time I had unfettered access to the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/16 "2002-05-26T04:29:35Z")
\*\*It’s all Mr. Ujests fault \*\* When we were dating, he had this book sitting amongst other books and magazines on the floor of his bathroom. \*I cannot tell you how many times I looked at that book - More of the Straight Dope - but never touched it. Had to be at least two years or longer. \* Then one day, lacking anything interesting to read on the commode because his mom had cleaned the bathroom, there all by its lonesome was this thick volumed book. \*The Straight Dope \*…it couldn’t be about pot, the man abhorrs cigerettes. I cracked it open, and, the rest they say, is history. When I read about the message board comments in one of the books, I thought _Hmmm, these smartasses are right up my ally._ and…I was right. I would die a happy death of any of my brainfart questions made it to the \*Master \* himself. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/17 "2002-05-26T04:31:56Z")
Oh, FTR, Mr. Ujest has never even read any of the books. He doesn’t quite ‘get’ this online community, but knows it keeps me from going postal. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/18 "2002-05-26T04:32:51Z")
I don’t remember exactly, but I believe a link from Snopes led me here. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/19 "2002-05-26T04:42:34Z")
I picked up a copy of _The Straight Dope_ from the display at a bookstore, and found it interesting. I noted that it had an online presence. However, I knew from past experience that I could not be trusted on a metered internet service (I was an old QuantumLinker, and ran up quite a bill). When AOL went “all you can surf for $20 a month”, I signed up and checked out the Straight Dope forum on AOL. Back then, TubaDiva was just a chat host. Shortly thereafter, she became a message board moderator for the Straight Dope on AOL. Later still, I became one, too, and then Euty signed on as well. I’ve been buying the _Straight Dope_ books as they come out, and give them as presents as well. ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/20 "2002-05-26T04:59:14Z")
A friend sent me a link to one of Scylla’s more memorable posts, actually. It intrigued me so much that I decided the SDMB was worth checking out. I’d actually been following the Straight Dope column for quite some time (the City Paper in DC carries it), at least the early eighties, and had seen the Straight Dope home page, but never checked the boards before. Might I just say that this is a wonderful and funny community that has grown up around the SDMB; I find myself checking here several times a day, and when the boards were down, I was definitely in withdrawal. 🙂 I don’t post much, but have asked some really obscure questions from time to time and found the answers from other posters! 🙂 ~~tarragon~~ ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865/21 "2002-05-26T06:21:37Z")
Count me in with **Ripple** and **5 time champ**. Someone referenced a link here from Snopes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-you-find-the-sdmb/110865.md?page=2)