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Randy Cassingham's BlogHistorical Details and Author's Notes from This is True®
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Online Life Archives
No Looking Back
My business plan for True predicted I'd be able to quit my Day Job two years after launch and work online full time.
Sure enough, almost to the day, I did that -- no more Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Fork U!
I was apparently the first "Guest Columnist" on the interesting web-site-quality-really-needs-improvement site, "Fork in the Head" ("Because flawed web sites deserve a fork in the head"), which offers lessons in improvement called, yep, "Fork University". I (let's hope) supplied some words of wisdom about appealing to a wide audience.
The site, ForkInTheHead.com, is now defunct. Thanks to the miracle of good hard disk storage, I can still present what I wrote:
Virtual Friends
I was chuffed (as one of my Australian subscribers would put it) this weekend to meet Cathie Walker, formerly the Head Honcho of the Centre for the Easily Amused web site (later SillyBuddiess.com), who was in Denver briefly on business. I met her at the airport, and there was an "incident" that kind of sets the tone for my life.
We were standing there waiting for her bag to drop onto the carousel and, when it did, she stepped up to grab it. I watched as she stepped in front of a man in his 50s who was in her blind spot. He had a terribly bothered look on his face, rolling his eyes, sighing disgustedly, etc. As he went around her, he walked right in front of me (cutting me off, of course!)
Speaking of People Doing Dumb Things
I absolutely cannot believe how fast the "sircam" virus is spreading. Why is that dumb? Let's put it this way: people still run MS LookOut! (er... I guess it's called "Outlook", isn't it?) as their mail program despite that it again and again and again proves to be too week to avoid trojan horses like sircam (and "I love you" and "Snow White" And... AND...!! How many more until people dump it?!)
A Truly Heartwarming Story
In doing my research every week, I've been noticing more and more stories about spammers. They're lately trying to come "out of the closet" to defend what they're doing (you know: pump incredible amounts of vile garbage into your e-mail inbox). They go to huge efforts to mask the true source of their mail and do everything possible to get past filters set up to stop them. Meaning, of course, that they absolutely disregard your clear desire to not get their junk mail. How disgustingly arrogant!
No Really: I Want the Leather
In 1999, after I had been working full-time on True for awhile, I found I really missed having peers to chat with, as I did when I had a Day Job. So I started a little group of online entrepreneurs to network with. One of them, Anne Holland, the publisher of MarketingSherpa, which issues interesting marketing and advertising case studies to more than 147,000 readers (more than True? Hey!), shared a story with the group which she has graciously allowed me to repeat here:
Hit Squad on Spammers?
I've been clamoring for action on the spam front since 1996. I've even dedicated a web site to a primer on what spam is, how spammers get your address, and other topics (which recently got some minor updates).
It's a GOOHFy World
"You've caused a notable effect on cultural consciousness." -- that's what one of True's readers said, one of hundreds and hundreds of you who wrote to say that Mike Peters' popular Mother Goose & Grimm comic strip featured a "Get Out of Hell Free" card.
Bonzer Debut
I've added a new weekly feature to True: the "Bonzer Web Site of the Week" has been added just above the Honorary Unsubscribe. I accept site suggestions for this feature only from Premium subscribers (yes, I'll be checking).
How to Deal With Spammers
Less spam? For the first time ever (in my experience, at least), I'm getting noticeably less spam. My spam load -- the vast majority of which my server catches for me and reports in a nightly e-mail -- is down to a "mere" 350 to 450/day.
That sounds like a lot (and it is), but it's about half of what was coming in just weeks ago. What do I attribute this to? Well, last month police in Spain raided a spam scam operation in Malaga ...and arrested 310 people in the operation!
Are You Responsible for Spam?
So if True's readers are the "Cream of the Crop" (as I have said many times), what does that make the rest of the online population? About as scary as the Waterbury School Board. This week the online security firm Sophos threw up its corporate arms in disgust over the continued proliferation of viruses and "worms" online.
Story Subject Demands Deletion
For the first time in years, someone featured in a This is True story has complained about it
It took Samuel Saraiva nine years(!) to learn about the story where he's featured and call me on the phone with the complaint; he demanded I remove the story from the archive. I told him no; he threatened to sue. I offered to publish any reply he'd like to make without me editing it in any way. He again demanded I remove the story from my site. I told him no again, so he cursed me and slammed the phone down.
Identity Theft: Protect Yourself
They Really Are Out To Get You
I've been warning about spam in True since 1996 -- ten long years. My warnings have been summarized in my Spam Primer, which is now on its own site. As I predicted more than 10 years ago, it's gotten worse -- much worse. And the stakes are much higher than just clogging your inbox: your life savings are at risk.
The NFL's Copyright: Round Two
The NFL Gives In! -- see Update Below
There's an interesting update on the story and discussion last week about the NFL's fight against churches -- the NFL warned churches not to show the Super Bowl game to parishioners due to copyright restrictions. Wendy Seltzer is a visiting assistant professor at Brooklyn Law School, where she teaches Internet Law, Information Privacy, and Copyright. She's also a fellow with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, and was previously an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She also founded the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, which studies and combats the unwarranted legal threats that "chill" free speech online. "Chilling Effects offers resources for Internet users who face legal threats, and, through its collection of data, we hope to analyze the out-of-court effects of those threats to chill legitimate activity, or, conversely, the extent to which unlawful activity on the Net proves resistant to legal action." In short, she knows copyright law very well.
Internet Security: Have you Checked Your System Lately?
Last week I was chatting with a friend about online security. Not just dealing with spam, but just basic online security: can your computer be hacked? Is there really anyone interested in hacking your computer? The answer might surprise you.
Continue reading "Internet Security: Have you Checked Your System Lately?" »
Public Humiliation vs. Real Punishment
Well of course I have the photos of the bikini-clad fireman. But first things first -- here's the story:
Shift Happens
There's a group of friends I hang out with online, all of us online entrepreneurs. One sent a URL around urging us all to "take 8 minutes to watch the video," adding "if you care about such things, please consider blogging about it and/or passing it on." What things? Our kids. Or, more accurately, the education of our kids. The world is a very, very different place than it was when we were kids.
Verizon: We Know Better than You
Verizon subscribers have had quite the go of it the past few weeks. Three weeks ago their spam filter tripped on a single word in the issue, so the Premium edition was blocked from everyone at Verizon (and their subsidiaries, like GTE.net) -- even if you had followed my recommendation and put thisistrue.com and lyris.net in your personal "whitelist".
Verizon decided that one word was "bad" and bounced every issue. Since there are quite a few Premium subscribers at Verizon, that meant quite a few bounces. That, in turn, "proved" the issues you paid to get are spam, and thus the next week, they bounced it again. And then the third week, last week, again. So many of you complained to them that they called me that second week, and promised they'd fix it. (You saw how well they did!) Last week, I jumped through their stupid "Please unblock me, I'm not a spammer" hoop, and this week's issue will supposedly get through; they insist they're no longer blocking. We'll see.
Yahoo Alert: True's Biggest Crisis Ever
I've given up trying to work with Yahoo, which represents the largest domain subscribed to True. There are more than 20,000 addresses within simple Yahoo.com domain on True's distribution (plus a couple thousand more on variants such as yahoo.co.uk, yahoo.ca, etc.)
Continue reading "Yahoo Alert: True's Biggest Crisis Ever" »
Funny YouTube Irony
Something fairly funny happened with my latest video, which was about a homophobe politician running for re-election while under the cloud of felony indictments over his first election.
Yahoo Debacle Update
Last week I announced a major disaster, and asked for your help in getting the word out about True to help reverse the problem. A good number of you listened, and helped. Thank you. While the threat isn't gone, this newsletter will be able to continue.
What's Your I.Q.?
I got a note from a Premium subscriber saying he had clicked on an ad on my Jumbo Joke site. He noted, "I used a throwaway email address to access the site and now get between 100 and 300 spam messages per day (my 'real' email gets 5-10 spam messages per day). I'm so glad it's not my primary email address, but how many of your readers don't know any better?"
Another Independent Content Site: RIP?
When I talk about how independent sites like True need your direct and ongoing support, I'll often emphasize that all independent sites need such support; if you like "them" (whoever "they" might be), you need to support them so they can continue. And indeed one of the oldest, most venerable content sites has stopped publishing and is in very real danger of failing completely.
SearchStatus: Helping Determine Site Legitimacy
Premium subscriber Edward in Arkansas asks, "Have you ever been hoaxed? I know you only use 'mainstream, legitimate newspapers' as sources (as you've said from time to time), but you can't possibly know all the newspapers in the world. How do you evaluate a new online source so that you're comfortably sure when you see a story that 'this is true'?"
Continue reading "SearchStatus: Helping Determine Site Legitimacy" »
Twitter: Why You Should Care
Chris in Washington asks:
Randy: you've mentioned Twitter a couple of times, and I see you have a link on TRUE's home page to your Twitter page. I've looked at Twitter a couple of times, and I just don't get it. Do people really care that their friends (or favorite celebrities) are "Waking up to face the day." or "Eating a bologna sandwich for lunch."? Why?
Laugh, or the World Laughs At You
It's so sad to see how people just can't take an obvious joke. (Say, like on a site called Jumbo Joke!) There was a political item today, and it resulted in a lot of whining -- and protest unsubscribes.
TANSTAAFL, Baby
Very often readers ask me for advice about starting an online business -- when I started in 1994, there wasn't anyone to ask, and I've learned a lot in the nearly 15 years since. Obviously one can learn some things by watching what I do, but there are others who are in the business of teaching such things, and that's faster (and more generic). The problem is, a lot of those in the business are fly-by-night know-nothings who will gladly take a lot of money from you, and may or may not deliver actual value for your investment.
Duhism
There's something True's fans have in common: a profound appreciation for the absurdities of everyday life. You read a story in True and slap your forehead, thinking "Duh! How stupid can a guy get?!" The amusement is tempered by knowing that we've all done stupid things -- but luckily not that stupid.
Crash Boom Bang
I've been using computers for many, many years now, and finally had something happen to me that has never happened before: a disk crash. It happened yesterday. "But you have backups, right?" you might wonder. But of course! I back up to a network disk system every night. And that's what crashed: my backup disk!
My Social Media Strategy
I'm a busy guy, but I've decided to make time for "social media" -- in my case, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. For your interest, especially for those who don't quite "get" why I'd bother, I thought I'd outline how I use the services I've chosen to pay attention to.
The Future of Newspapers
When I started True back in 1994, there weren't too many people online -- especially compared to now. Once I quit my Day Job to pursue online publishing full time, I was constantly looking for peers -- people to talk with that would understand what it was I was doing. It was hard going at first, but I eventually found several communities of people using e-mail discussion lists to communicate. I joined several, and was able to find a number of interesting people to help keep me stimulated and learning new things.
How I Beat Spam
...Without Having to Change My E-mail Address
My e-mail address has been around online for many, many years, and it gets a lot of spam -- many hundreds per day. For most users, spam far outstrips legitimate mail. It was 1996 that I realized that spam would become a huge problem, which is why I wrote my Spam Primer to educate my readers about it. And sadly I was right: it's estimated that more than 90 percent of all e-mail transmitted is spam. And how many of them get to my inbox? Lately, I'm averaging less than one a day.
Dell Hell and Dumb People
I know This is True is about people doing dumb things, but it still amazes me when people do dumb things to me. (But no, this is not about a dumb reader.)
A Picture Worth 1,000 Anytime Minutes
Update:This page expanded into an Entire Web Site |
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
A few weeks ago I grumbled in a newsletter about the lousy ads I was getting on one of my sites, which were bringing a whopping 4.8 cents per click. I said "I may try Bing ads instead if Google doesn't get me better [ads] soon."
