I’m new to straight dope, so please forgive me if this has already been asked. I’m curious how other straight dopers found out about straight dope? I found it from a link at neilgaiman.com, and I think it’s the most enjoyable site on the internet. Also, anyone have any suggestions for any other cool sites to visit?
This is more in the nature of a survey, so off to the forum called “In My Humble Opinion” (IMHO) … welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards!
Welcome, it’sjustme!
I honestly can’t remember how I found the SDMB. I was just surfing one day, and came across it. My life has been enlightened with knowledge ever since!
Incidently, there was a recent thread about cool web sites, seeing as you asked:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=158841
I think I read about it in one of the Straight Dope books. I lurked for about a year, then signed on.
You find this link useful:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=30949
It has explanations for the common abbreviations used here.
I started reading the column in The Reader back in the mid 80s, after my sister gave me one of the books. A few years ago, I typed “www.straightdope.com” into my browser and found the columns on-line. Some time later, something in thread-spotting caught my eye. I lurked for a while, then finally registered and started posting about 2 1/2 years ago.
Welcome to the boards, it’sjustme!
Thanks samarm for the links; they should keep me busy and out of trouble for a while! And thanks guys, for the warm welcome. Until now, I’d always subscribed to Groucho Marx’s maxim, “I’d never belong to a club that would have me as a member.” >:)
hi it’sjustme, and welcome! i actually found this site from neilgaiman.com too, a link to the ‘what if lotr was written by someone else’ thread, even though it was the only time i ever went to that site…funny how these things happen i guess. welcome! sd rocks my socks!
I honetly don’t remember. I think I stumbled upon Cecil’s columns via a search, and ended up reading them for a while. Then I probably ventured into the Boards just out of curiosity.
For the longest time, I never strayed beyond GQ, simply because I only came here for general knowledge and trivial facts.
I also remember thinking the Pit was dangerous, scarey and dirty-- a place to be avoided at all costs. I think I remember reading somewhere that if a person posted there before a certain point (50 posts, one year, or something like that), they’d be automatically banned. Obviously and/or unfortunately, that’s not the case. 
But regardless, I didn’t go near there for several months.
Happy
I’ve always been an avid information seeker. I own the entire reference section of Barnes & Noble, which includes all the Straight Dope books. about a year and a half ago I went to see if straight dope had a site…which they did. And someone I stumbled into the message board and discovered that it didn’t just deal with Cecil. I lurked for over a year…mainly because I felt REALLY intimidated by those who had thousands of posts, and I didn’t know how I was going to catch up and gain respect. Finally I just decided to dive in.
Mrrrrr…I THINK it was through www.bored.com. Maybe. It’s never served me very well in my other boredom needs, though.
“i actually found this site from neilgaiman.com too, a link to the ‘what if lotr was written by someone else’ thread, even though it was the only time i ever went to that site…”
that’s the same way I found it, aaaaaarrgg–“what if lotr was written…” and it was the first time I went to the neil gaiman site also.
It’s easy. Just type www.straightdope.com and hit the send button.
You have a “send” button? What kind of crazy browser do you use? I.E. sucks… I want one with a “send” button!
Bored.com. Strange but true.
Welcome it’sjustme. I married Rico. He’s been a doper for eons. He didn’t introduce me right away. In fact, the first I heard about the boards was 6 months…almost 7 months later when he drug me off to a dopefest for our first Easter together. :wally
I’m not sure; I think it was through a link to a Cecil column from Fark.com.
I read Cecil’s columns in Hawaii and I missed them when I moved back to Pittsburgh, so I bought my brother one of the books as a Christmas present. I read them myself, of course, and the excerpts from the SDMB at the end of the chapters made this look like a really interesting community. I went to the website, found the message board, and got my socks knocked off.
I was amazed to find civilized discussions about religion, politics, abortion, and morality (yes, I’m a GD junkie)! There were new ideas and new information rocketing around the room. There were people who were experts on things I’d barely even heard of, or who did a good job of looking like experts. I run with fast intellectual company, and as I told a date once, “Good conversation is like meat and drink to me.” Here, I’ve got a banquet available any time I choose to log on. I even got the courage to venture into the BBQ Pit and found out that around here, flames can turn into lively, though provoking, informative discussions – see the “I’m Sick of Saudi” thread for an example.
Then you guys put the final nail in the common or gave me the final hit of “cybercrack” as I’ve heard this board called. I was down, depressed, and a bit bruised, so I went to the Pit to rant. I got hit with sympathy, compassion, and understanding. I knew this place has some of the most intelligent people on the planet. That taught me that we also have some of the finest people on the planet. Out of electrons shifting in plastic boxes, we’ve formed a community, and something so insubstantial has become incredibly real.
it’sjustme, aaaaaarrgg, welcome to the SDMB! One word of caution – this place will have you laughing out loud and any pockets of ignorance you have won’t last long around here.
CJ
My story is similar to porcupine’s but more recent. I had been reading Cecil’s column in the Reader for years, but in late 2001 due to a change in how I went home from work I wasn’t picking up the Reader on a regular basis. I was going into withdrawal and one day it occurred to me (duh!) that it was probably available online. I started reading Threadspotting also, which led me to the SDMB. I lurked for a while (going into withdrawal during the Winter of Our Missed Content) and shortly after the restoration decided to join.