Looking for something but you aren’t sure just what it is? Sometimes a search engine just isn’t enough if you have no real idea of what you’re searching for. With that in mind, here are 93 233 great sites for finding all kinds of things online from the useful and unusual to the bizarre and obscure.

Since this is OddOrama after all let’s start with the weird (and somewhat more obvious) ones and work from there. These sites are all worth seeing if you haven’t already: Cracked, Dark Roasted Blend, Deputy Dog, Digg’s Offbeat News Section, Grow a Brain, Miss Cellania, Neatorama, The Presurfer, WebUrbanist, National Geographic’s Weird News Section. Know a few of these? That’s alright, these lists get more obscure as you go – with many that may be less entertaining but make up for it by being strangely useful!

MakeUseOf likewise has a two-part series with 40 usual websites you should know and 40 more. Many of these are far more useful if also more obscure. Some of them serve a single function you might never have thought you needed but that could prove useful once you know it exists. These are perhaps more geeky and functional in general, but haven’t you always wanted fast-and-easy disposable logins for popular websites or even free disposable phone numbers?

WebUpon has a two-part series featuring 9 websites you should know and 9 more along the same lines. The emphasis here is on semi-useful niche sites you may not have heard of. Some choice ones from the second (and arguably more interesting) list include a textbook rental site, local venue reviews and a bizarre community-based lending program.

ACleverCookie’s list of 7 clever websites you should know about truly does have strange and unheard of sites, including ones that help you find older versions of programs you use, discover local happenings in your area or even find out who is sick in your area. Some are more useful than others but they’re all pretty interesting and even more obscure than those on some of these other lists.

DailyBits has a more targeted list of 18 undiscovered gaming websites you should know that serve a variety of functions from highly specific game-related sites to more general resources. If you’re a gamer this is a must-bookmark article. The list includes all kinds of freeware, cheat, gaming trivia and history for pretty much every kind of game geek.

And to top it off, here are 100 more useful ones from LifeHacker.biz. Know of more? That’s what comments are for!

Still drive drunk? These mobile liquor stores may be the answer.

Why on Earth would anyone want an eyeball tattoo?

Want to study abroad? Be careful what you wish for.

Commit a crime? You might not want to confess to your cat.

Strange hiker deaths in Russia.

Russians rate Putin an awesome leader … possibly out of fear of their “awesome leader.”

An 11 year old girl started a website for unwanted pets … how cool is that?

Just to one-up the girl above, though, this 12 year old girl rescued her siblings from a fire.

Still, this 7 year old proves one is never too young to be audited.

Of all places would you have guessed Los Angeles to have the tastiest tap water in the world?

Will Ralph Nader just never leave things alone?

Countless people are victimized every year around the world by international scammers claiming to have access to fortunes through banks, royal families, business partners, deceased loved ones and more. Some clever crusaders, however, are fighting back in kind and hilariousy scamming the scammers. In some cases this ties up the scammers’ time with useless tasks and in other cases the result are downright hilarious, like a scammer baited into carving a Commodore 64 keyboard replica from wood. This sampling of scambusts is just a starting point and these are often quite involved and long, going back and forth for weeks, so read the descriptions and click the links if you want to read more!

Scammer Shoots for MacBook, Gets Nightmare Computer

The nutshell: what started as a genuine attempt to sell a laptop resulted in a buyer (scammer) trying to get a free laptop and paying hundreds for a joke/junk one. The original laptop buyer realized right after his purchase he didn’t need the computer and attempted to resell it on eBay. The first responder was someone from the UK who asked about international shipping and the use of a seemingly sketchy Escrow service. The seller realized a scam may be in the works and kept the scammer on the hook. Eventually the scammer ended up paying fees in order to receive a package containing the hilariously junked “computer” shown above. He proceeded to send viruses and otherwise attack the seller but it didn’t stop his humiliating story from going public!

Scammer Shoots for $150,000, Gets Scambait Tattoo

The nutshell: a fake pastor from Nigeria tries to con a stranger out of money only to end up with a horrific tattoo instead. In a supposed bid for financial assistance to help Pakistani earthquake survivors this scammer tried to trick the wrong individual. The scambusters write back that he could have up to $150,000 if only he were a member of the church. The scammer bites, of course, and is told that he’ll simply have to get a tattoo showing his devotion to the church. Sure enough, he gets the tattoo and sends pictures! At this point things get strange: the scambusters fake being another scammer who has hacked into the good church’s email system. They finally get the scammer to “work for them” and admit what he is doing. Before it is finished, the scambusters have the name and address of the scammer and leave him waiting (forever) for his funds).

Scammer Shoots for Political Funds, Gets H.P. Lovecraft

The nutshell: a Nigerian scammer poses as a political candidate seeking funds toward his election, while the scambuster’s responses grow ever more creepy, surreal and insane. The scammer and scambuster begin discussing a transfer of money when the scambuster begins unraveling a tale that includes the discovery of a secret, ancient and still-active cult. While the scammer is asking him to send his passport, the scambuster continues with his story and cites furtive cult meetings and raises the possibility he is being followed. While the scammer pushes him to send some money via Western Union, he replies that a friend has died in mysterious circumstances while researching the cult. Eventually the scammer starts warning him to be careful, and even gets into the game: warning him what to do to play it safe and what to do with secret society objects he has accumulated. Then the hammer drops and the scambuster goes crazy before switching emails and sending the scammer information about the mysterious disappearance of the scambuster. The final response? The tables have turn and the insanity has spread as the scammer flips his lid and types – all typos and caps – a deranged warning to leave him alone.

Scammer Wants Help Recovering Fortune, Gets Murder Plot

Nutshell: Mrs Marie Jeanne Keita, formerly of Saudi Arabia, now in Cote D’Ivoire, is supposedly dying of cancer and wants assistance in getting her late husband’s fortune – and winds up in a conversation with multiple personalities and faux-deadly consequences. The supposed money is secured in a “matalic” box at a security company, out of Africa and use it to fund orphanages and such. She also wants help taking care of and raising her son. New York ad executive Pete Moss has no time for Mrs. Keita’s problems unless of course she can help him solve some of his own – which she does. Adult movie producer, Dick Wadd and his sales manager, Hugh Jass, eventually get in on the act and when Mr. Moss is brutally murdered by British hit-men, Mike Rotch steps in, but only to try to steer him back to Mr. Wadd. In the end? The nice old lady sends photos of potential male models to be part of his non-existent pornographic films.

Scammer Wants to Transfer Funds, Gets Hilarious Web of Lies

Nutshell: This one is too funny to even try to explain. In short: you should read it. This scammer stays on the line despite the scambusters repeated requests for him to use absurd code names, repeated abuse, bizarre requests for photographs, strange attached photographs sent to him and so on. Biblical quotes, sex references and nonsensical truisms are only the beginning. The Ebola Monkey Man starts out slow but once he takes the gloves off this is a no-holds-barred death match well worth checking out. Check here more scambaiting links and resources and this book if you are worried about getting scammed.

World News: The second-to-last remaining World War One veteran in the United States has passed away. The very last veteran is currently 107 years old.

Political News: This might be the most awkward hug ever.

Almost News: A Francis Bacon painting just sold for 26 million pounds at auction, though it failed to break the world record as expected for the most expensive painting ever sold by 150 thousand pounds.

Scary News: Imagine living so far out of the way that it would take a chartered plane for police to reach you. A many brutally assaulted his wife and children and couldn’t be stopped for four hours.

Super Bowl Robbery Still a Mystery One Year Later: Over $150,000 was stolen from the winners of a Super Bowl betting crew last year. The co-owner of Mike’s Place was stabbed by one of two masked thieves who ran off with the collective winnings. Ouch!

Bank Manager Foiled Stealing From the Elderly: A branch manager of a bank stole thousands of dollars from an 86-year-old man, apparently hoping the individual would not notice the missing funds. He used a combination of credit and ATM cards to do so.

New Nigerian Scam Targets Dateless Australians: The latest victim, a woman named Patricia, lost nearly $10,000 when she fell for a man over the course of six months. When he left for Nigeria, supposedly to secure land, he claimed to have been mugged and requested she send him money. She got off lucky, though, according to authorities who say the typical scam of this kind ends up costing someone $35,000 dollars.

A hacking group calling itself “Anonymous” has posted a chilling video on the internet, announcing that it plans to “dismantle” the Church of Scientology.

Wired.com reports that Anonymous has flooded Scientology servers with a distributed denial of service attack, is choking the Church’s phone lines with prank calls and sending looped faxes of solid black pages.

“Over the years, we have been watching you — your campaigns, your suppression of dissent, your litigious nature. All of these things have caught our eye,” a synthesized voice on the video tells “leaders of Scientology”.-= Anonymous

And from Gawker Media:

Tom Cruise has personally, PERSONALLY, been pwned. This weekend, an anonymous Internet group (named Anonymous

]]> http://oddorama.com/2008/01/24/the-ongoing-internet-war-on-scientology/feed/ 3 http://oddorama.com/2008/01/03/unusual-equivalents-weirdest-news-of-the-week/ http://oddorama.com/2008/01/03/unusual-equivalents-weirdest-news-of-the-week/#comments Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:32:30 +0000 OddO http://oddorama.com/?p=22 Christmas Power Tools = New Years Hospitalizations: Wellington – Christmas gifts of things like power tools to New Zealanders, who are dedicated do-it-yourself home handymen, lead thousands of them to hospital, a newspaper reported on Friday. The Accident Compensation Corporation received about 10,000 claims for DIY injuries last year, of which about 2,000 were classified as moderate to serious, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Pig + Space Heater = House Fire ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A man’s effort to keep his pig warm during Wednesday night’s freeze ended up starting a fire that caused about $50,000 in damages to his St. Johns County home. Firefighters were called about 10:20 p.m. when a home on Frances Avenue caught on fire. They later learned the homeowner brought his pig onto the porch and put out a space heater to keep it warm.

Unlikely= Not Impossible: It is a tale some would say smells a bit fishy, but Kristy Brittain swears it is true. Last Friday she was kneeboarding behind a boat off Slopen Main on the Tasman Peninsula, east of Hobart, when she was tossed from her board in rough conditions. In the fall she lost a nose stud from a piercing she had done only a week before Christmas. Miss Brittain, 25, of Magra, never expected to see the tiny stud again. Enter a hungry flathead.

]]> http://oddorama.com/2008/01/03/unusual-equivalents-weirdest-news-of-the-week/feed/ 0 http://oddorama.com/2007/12/21/some-seasonal-odds-for-the-end-of-the-week/ http://oddorama.com/2007/12/21/some-seasonal-odds-for-the-end-of-the-week/#comments Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:00:13 +0000 OddO http://oddorama.com/?p=19

To close out the week here are some wonderful oddities you might have missed surfing the interwebs. Take the image above to start with. There are a lot of creative Advent Calenders out there with things much more interesting than candy, but a digital version? Better yet: it is interactive! Each day you can open up a new random game. Neat stuff.

Ever want to know the juicy stuff about this strange upcoming holiday, the things they don’t teach you as a kid? Here are some of the strange origins of Christmas in pagan rituals and other odd happenings. Perhaps you’re just sick of the holiday and its really bizarre trees altogether, and tired of hearing the 15 worst Christmas songs of all time or worrying if you’re going to get one of these frighteningly Christian White House holiday cards. Still stuck for presents? How about this alternative geeky electronics gift guide. Finally, SeeHere has collected a fantastic series of more than 120 holiday themed links as well as a few humorous, bizarre and offbeat images.

]]> http://oddorama.com/2007/12/21/some-seasonal-odds-for-the-end-of-the-week/feed/ 0 http://oddorama.com/2007/12/11/the-worlds-strangest-reason-to-lose-a-job/ http://oddorama.com/2007/12/11/the-worlds-strangest-reason-to-lose-a-job/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2007 03:18:20 +0000 OddO http://oddorama.com/?p=13 There is something about the end of the year that brings out the Top 10 lists all over the interwebs. Instead of trying to come up with one here, how about a compilation of some of the good ones that are floating around right now? Always better to start with an exception rather than the rule, so here are the Top 15 Winners of an awesome photoshop contest. We’ve all seen these way too many times, but here they are all in one place: the Top 10 cliche dorm room posters. There is some serious wow to be found in these Top 10 astronomy posters of 2007. The Top 10 hottest women in tech can only really be followed by the sequel. A much more soothing compilation, here are the Top 10 sites for colo(u)r lovers. And to round it all out, a few videos:

Top 10 unsportsmanlike plays – some seriously dirty stuff.

Top 10 Tetris-related TV skits – some hilarity to balance out the pain

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