Be warned!

Today's topic is "Things which can bite you in the bum".

1. Offering to pay for a listing in ODP/DMOZ

There is never, ever any charge for a site to be listed in the Open Directory Project, but ignorant, deluded, or merely hopeful webmasters and SEO experts continue to think they can buy their way in.
Sometimes they are the victims of con artists who pretend to be able to list a site, but who just take their money and disappear.
Other times they think that by offering to pay, a corrupt editor will break the rules just for them.
Both actions are doomed to fail, and result in long-lasting consequences:

Any editor found to have asked for or accepted payment will instantly lose their account,

and

site(s) associated with the bribe are likely to be permanently banned from the directory.

This advice has been repeated many many times over the years, in all sorts of places, so it seems unbelievable that people are prepared to risk those consequences for something so completely unnecessary. But they do. I guess it's just true that "there's a fool born every minute".

2. Not looking where you are (ahem) going.

Back in the days when most Australian homes had a "backyard dunny", it was not uncommon to find spiders and lizards lurking there. Particularly feared was the Redback spider, which liked to live under the actual seat.

While not poisonous, its bite causes severe pain, and victims often need to be hospitalised. Embarrassment about the bite's location was almost as painful, as this famous song by Slim Dusty explains.

The fear of "The Redback on the Toilet Seat" is ingrained in every Australian, even though inside plumbing has made it more of an ancient legend. However, I was astonished to learn that similar dangers are still a threat in the modern American household, as demonstrated in this scary picture!

The message is clear: always look first.