In my wanderings, I recently came across two sites where you can ask all kinds of strange questions, with a reasonable ex­pec­ta­tion of getting an answer.

Little Details: "writers have questions, other writers have answers". A Live­Jour­nal community for writers seeking all kinds of background in­for­ma­tion for their plots. Some samples:

• 1920’s cold remedies
• Danish drinking songs
• Control parents have over their children testifying.

Ask MetaFilter is more general purpose. It’s a good place to go when your question can’t be reduced to a keyword search on Google. Sample questions:

• What’s the fastest and cheapest way to paint a red room white?

• Is there a program for the Mac that will scroll a window to capture a

  screenshot of its entire contents?

• I want to be my own YouTube/Google video. Is there an easy way to show

  videos on my own server embedded in a page?

• What’s the best vegan substitute for lard?