Seeing the positive in everything and everyone can have its limitations. Here are the best websites which allow you to nurture your inner sceptic. It’s not about being negative, it’s about wising up to the truth. These websites will allow you to avoid scams and spot the patterns in urban myths.
www.snopes.com
This website was founded in 1995, and has been operating for over 15 years. It was founded by a couple based on their love of researching urban legends, and allowed others to find out what is true and what isn’t. It has since grown much bigger website, and has categories from love to politics and from music to pregnancies – there is no rumour too big or too small for this website.
Around 300,000 per day use the site, and its creators have even been approached regarding book deals due to its popularity.
www.thatsnonsense.com
That’s Nonsense is another great website that sets out to ‘debunk’ the internet and ensure people aren’t scammed online. It has tips on how you can protect your computer from viruses, tell-tale signs of e-mail scams, details of Facebook scams, and a regular blog to keep visitors up to date with the latest trends in internet scamming. It has everything you need to make sure you’re kept safe online, and helps demystify a wide range of other urban legends too.
www.urbanlegends/about.com
This website takes you through a wide range of urban legends, rumours, odd stories and random folk tales, from the old classics to the current favourites, clarifying what is true and what is not. It also offers various urban legend IQ tests to users can improve their knowledge!
www.trendmicro.com
Trend Micro offers online protection and security for websites as well as individuals. It also offers free and impartial advice regarding things like online gaming scans and mobile phone threats, which are rapidly increasing in popularity. The website has been running for over 20 years, and prides itself on delivering top standard results.
www.sophos.com
Sophos is a general IT security site, and works to provide its customers with in-depth, comprehensive safety online. It keeps up to date with the latest technologies which often fall subject to new scams, and works to prevent security breaches, as well as offering advice and services if you should be unlucky enough to become a victim of online fraud.
As much as we love urban legends and myths (cryptozoology, especially) at Thorpe Breaks, we hate having the wool pulled over our eyes. Which websites have helped you ‘get wise’?
