Irish Moss

Irish moss is not actually a moss but a seaweed. Irish moss is used in the brew to remove haze causing proteins in the beer. Obviously, there is a lot of contradicting info online. One website states that you should add a tablespoon at the beginning of the boil because longer is better. Other people say it won't work if you add it earlier than 20 minutes before end of boil. On a homebrew forum, one guy claimed that you should hydrate the Irish Moss 15 minutes before you put it in the boil.
Some other info regarding clarity of the beer (culled from online sources): make sure you chill the wort as quick as possible, crash cool the beer after the fermentation process is complete, and strain your beer before fermentation. A lot of these steps could be very well undone by the phenomenon of 'chill haze' which occurs when you put your beer into the fridge to chill. When you remove and pour the beer, the refreshing liquid has become hazy. Apparently, if you leave the beer in the fridge for over a month, the haze causing proteins eventually settle out leaving the brew with a nice clarity.
The important thing to realize is that haze DOES NOT affect the taste of the beer just the appearance. Also, if you are entering it in a competition, you will lose one point overall for clarity.