# Non U.S. Dopers: How'd ya get here? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691 "2003-08-30T21:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/21 "2003-08-31T10:09:25Z")
I floated here from another MB that I visited on occasion. Decided I liked this one better and hung around a bit, I only started reading the columns a few months into my time here on the boards. (Cecil Adams? Who’s that guy?) > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Einmon \* > \*\*Neil Gaiman. He liked the **Lord of the Rings** thread and wrote about it in his blog. \*\* Neil Gaiman’s blog? Seriously Neil Gaiman? Where is it?! LINK LINK!! ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/22 "2003-08-31T10:28:15Z")
A Google search that found a Cecil column on some now forgotten question. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tom\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_P)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/23 "2003-08-31T10:41:38Z")
The same as **woolly** , I did a Google search on something that Cecil had answered. I checked out the message board a couple of weeks later, and lurked for a long time before registration. Still lurk, only now with a username. **Obsidian Flutterby** : Check out [http://www.neilgaiman.com/index.asp](http://www.neilgaiman.com/index.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/24 "2003-08-31T12:50:36Z")
Via [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com). Several of my friends considered it the fount of all knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/25 "2003-08-31T13:40:32Z")
Wanted a funny birthday present for a girl I know \, so naturally I think a hello kitty vibrator would fill the spot nicely 😛 . An innocent google brought me to a pretty funny SDMB tread about some guy with a truck who picked up a girl with hello kitty panties or something. I’d been googled to SDMB before though, so I already knew it existed. Oh yeah here it is: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=134750&highlight=hello+kitty+panties](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=134750&highlight=hello+kitty+panties) - Rune ---
**Author:** ![Zcrysis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zcrysis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zcrysis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/26 "2003-08-31T14:25:06Z")
Found it off the second font of all information Google. Cecil delivered the goods on something i was looking for [the exact question escapes me]. from Hong Kong ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/27 "2003-08-31T14:37:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Obsidian Flutterby \* > \*\*Neil Gaiman’s blog? Seriously Neil Gaiman? Where is it?! LINK LINK!! \*\* The actual location is: [http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal\_archives/2002\_12\_01\_archive.asp](http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal_archives/2002_12_01_archive.asp) ---
**Author:** ![electrozion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85f322/32.png) [@electrozion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/electrozion)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/28 "2003-08-31T15:51:52Z")
Looked up something obscure with google. I don’t remember what, though. Read the columns like a mad man, and then went on lurking here. Had to give my 2cents at a “great debate”, so I registered. electrozion, Hamburg, Germany ---
**Author:** ![mrsam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5ac83/32.png) [@mrsam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrsam)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/29 "2003-08-31T15:55:07Z")
A friend of mine mentioned the boards during an IM conversation. Oddly enough, I didn’t start reading the columns until very recently. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/30 "2003-08-31T16:21:52Z")
Cool, so we have: US Canada UK Australia Germany Norway Netherlands Spain New Zealand Mexico Hong Kong India Denmark And I know we have folks from Ireland Saudi Arabia Israel Chile (pretty sure) Brazil Only 174 countries to go. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/31 "2003-08-31T16:40:48Z")
My other half (who, ironicaly, only has about 150 posts) introduced me. I’m pretty sure he found this place via [bored.com](http://bored.com). ---
**Author:** ![Reuben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Reuben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reuben)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/32 "2003-08-31T16:41:08Z")
Like many others, for me it was a web-search (pre-Google) for something _impossibly_ obscure, something I remember being near certain that no-one else in all the world would ever have stopped to wonder about. Despite zero expectation of finding any pages at all, that search turned up Cecil’s in-depth, definitive answer to whatever it was. (Unfortunately I too have forgotten what the subject was). Then I found the columns archive and with it the answers to dozens of the other things I thought no-one else ever thought about. I didn’t get a whole lot of work done that day, and have been hooked ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Eirik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b19c9b/32.png) [@Eirik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eirik)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/33 "2003-08-31T16:43:56Z")
Originally read the column in a free San Luis Opispo weekly when I was in college, but forgot about it totally when I graduated. After I settled several years later in Seattle, took a road trip with a local freind who started talking about the Straight Dope books, and then found one or two in a bookstore stop. After reading them, realized that I’d read some of the articles before (the “poisioned” aluminum foil article was the clincher). Later found this sight by way of the Jame Randi forum. ---
**Author:** ![flonks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@flonks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flonks)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/34 "2003-08-31T17:27:44Z")
Austria … Googling. ---
**Author:** ![jtull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@jtull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtull)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/35 "2003-09-01T10:08:07Z")
Believe it or not, the SD was pre-bookmarked in my Opera browser, one boring day I was checking the default bookmarks, and here I am. ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/36 "2003-09-01T10:44:20Z")
Dutch expat, found SDMB in Singapore on the advice of an internet friend, presently living in France. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/37 "2003-09-01T10:57:53Z")
I knew of the straightdope site via my boss at a previous job in Ireland - it was on the “favourite links” of the corporate site, and I read a few columns. However, it was **yojimbo** who told me about the message board. Incessantly for months. Then I registered. The rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/38 "2003-09-01T13:01:08Z")
I first heard about it from discussion on a puzzle site called [The Grey Labyrinth](http://www.greylabyrinth.com/index.htm) which I used to frequent. I then came here to post a question and have hung about ever since. ---
**Author:** ![mrsface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@mrsface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrsface)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/39 "2003-09-01T13:20:06Z")
My husband said it was a good boredom-cure. Oddly enough though, he just lurked and never registered. I’d never heard of the Chicago Reader, Cecil, death-rays of any style or vintage, etc before. I went straight to the forums, got hooked straight away, and made some (probably fatuous) first post within minutes. Oh, UK. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691/40 "2003-09-01T13:21:56Z")
Believe it or not, but years ago [yeah, lurking a _lot_ I was looking for photos of ordinary people [no offence]. I found this: [which doesn’t excist anymore.](http://www.geocities.com/sdpeoplepages/) From there on to this board. _[Lots of Amsterdammers here…]_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-howd-ya-get-here/198691.md?page=3)