Anne Byrne on the bogus and the not so bogus

  www.ulc.net/
"Become ordained here today and begin your own ministry! As a legally ordained minister, you may perform weddings, funerals, baptisms and other functions of the clergy." There's no cost involved, and it's also "without question of faith". The site also offers online confession. There's a space to write your sins or if you don't feel comfortable with this, you may enter an "x" to signify you wish to seek forgiveness.
www.bandersnatch.com
This is a fun one-page website, that allows you to print out a generic degree from the General Delivery Univesity. "The Bored of Rejects of the General Delivery University by virtue of the power vested in themselves by themselves and upon full payment ha ving been received therefore do confer the upon (blank for name) the degree of (blank for preferred degree) with all rights, honors, privileges" http://henryheston.com/shelbourne/ Worth a visit  for the pleasure of reading its imaginative prose. A whole fictitious world has been created with "faculty members" called mentors because "their role is broader than that of instructors at most other colleges and universities". There are 134 full-time and 214 part-time faculty members. Readers are reassured that "approximately 87 per cent of the full-time faculty hold terminal degrees in their fields". http://henryheston.com/glencullen
This "university" offers a range of disciplines of which any college might be proud. Register here for aerospace engineering, studio-track art, criminal justice, statistics (actuarial science track) As for sports, there are 80 different clubs on offer, from American football to archery, to fencing, indoor cricket and canoe polo. Its extensive "facilities" (why stint?) include dance studios, as well as a swimming pool.
www.harvard.edu
This one is real. An impressive university with an impressive website. Take a virtual tour of the college, "visit" the controversial new president, Lawrence H Summers, or read about new research. It has  an annual operating budget of about $1.8 billion and more than 15,000 people work at Harvard.  If you simply want to buy the t-shirt, there are links to online catalogues of Harvard clothing and other gifts.