snopes.com

Every once in a while, I get one of those emails.  You know the ones. Bill Gates will pay you for forwarding an email.  Robbers are using perfume to entice and knock out victims in parking lots.  Sign this petition or your children will be forced to pray to Paris Hilton in school. (okay, so I made that last one up, but you get the idea.)  So, is it true?  Will you actually get paid to click your mouse a couple times?  Is it safe to go to the mall again?  That’s where Snopes.com comes in.  It is a great resource to let you know if that dangerous computer virus actually exists, or if gang members really do shoot the people who flash their brights at them for not having headlights on.  When the people at Snopes learn about an urban legend, they research it until they can either confirm its authenticity (yes, burglars have been known to check obituaries so they can rob people who are away at funerals)  or debunk it (believe it or not, men don’t think about sex every seven seconds.)   It’s very useful, yes.  However, its also very entertaining.  for example, did you know there is an urban legend about someone taking a dress off a corpse just before burial, then returning it to the store.  Then, when it’s next owner wears it, the embalming fluids leach into her skin and kill her,  Obviously not true, but still- quite a story.
Navigating the site is quite easy.  You can search by keywords “hook,” “car,” and “door” gets you…well, I’m sure you’ve heard that particular urban legend before.  or, if you’re just looking for laughs, you can browse in one of their forty plus topic groups.  For example, under “Old wives’ tales,” you’ll learn that gum does not, in fact, take seven years to pass through your system. (and in case you’re wondering, your face will not stick like that.  And I didn’t even need Snopes for that one!)
They also have a newsletter that you can subscribe to, a community forum for talking about urban legends and more with other fans of the site, and a nifty randomizer.  You click on it, and they will randomly select an urban legend article for you to read.
The site is definitely worth a peek, particularly if you (like me) want those bulk emails to stop.  I have become synonymous with email debunking in my family, to the point that when my aunts hear rumors (“does Barack Obama really refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance?”)  they come to me for my Snopes-like wisdom. (“no, he doesn’t.  This rumor was based on…..”)

Happy rumor-hunting!

“It’s great to learn, ‘Cuz knowledge is power!” -Schoolhouse Rock