About Category Map Weirdest True Stories of 2009
This is True has been publishing since 1994, presenting odd news with off-the-wall commentary by Colorado humorist Randy Cassingham. Since its launch This is True has been the leading online "weird-but-true news" newsletter. This page is here to hold two stories from our weekly line-up of 7-9 new items -- the weirdest stories of the month. At the end of the year, the weirdest stories will be voted on by our Premium subscribers. Most Popular Pages on This Site
The 15 most-popular pages on this site over the past 24 hours:
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There are lots of links to further information below, from how to get a free e-mail subscription to True to info on True book collections with hundreds of stories to info on how you can help reduce the amount of spam clogging the net! We hope you'll take a moment to read through the categories below. Or, see a more comprehensive site map. Sponsors of our Past Mailings
Trying to find a previous sponsor? Readers often write to ask "what was the site that advertised _____ a few months ago? I didn't need it before, but I do now...." True-a-Day -- SSI/PHP Version
For more advanced webmasters, we also offer the True-a-Day feed in a format for servers set up for SSI and PHP. That way, the stories work even if your visitors don't have browsers capable of displaying javascript-generated content. SSI (Server-Side Include) allows your server to do the integration of the TAD feature with your page, rather than the end-user's browser. This is True's Issue from Last Week
To get these issues free by e-mail each week, just subscribe using the form above -- your privacy is Randy's policy. (Or cruise around the web site to see more samples, archive, and info on our terrific book collections of thousands of past stories.) This is True's Current Weekly Issue
To get these issues free by e-mail each week, just subscribe using the form above -- your privacy is Randy's policy. (Or cruise around the web site to see more samples, archive, and info on our terrific book collections of thousands of past stories.) Why Subscribe?
Indeed, why bother? Because it's interesting, it's fun and, best of all, it's free! But it has to be more than that. And it is. There has to be a reason that so many people read This is True.. With subscribers in more than 200 countries, there's got to be something here that makes people want to read it week after week. You've heard the phrase, "Truth is stranger than fiction"? The way Randy puts it is, "Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense." Every week there are stories in True that are just too strange to make up! The week this page was written, for example, True ran the stories below. One Week's Worth of True Stories
All of that was from just one issue! And we didn't go choose a particularly good issue to write about -- it was pretty much random, taken from the issue that was closest to the date this page was written. However, we openly admit that to have seen all of those stories that week, you would have had to be a "Premium" (paid) subscriber -- more on that below. We couldn't make up that much weird stuff every week if we tried -- we'd need a huge staff to write it all, and we don't have one -- nor do we want one, since true stories are infinitely better! All of those stories above came from real newspapers -- not junky tabloids like the "National Weekly Star Enquirer" (as we like to call them). And we have a fresh load of that many stories every week -- and we've been doing it every week, non-stop, since 1994! We don't have to make up the stories, because there are that many stories about real people doing outrageous things every week. Really! Is it Really Free?Yep. Zip. Nada. No charge. Nothing. While there is a paid subscription option, most people who subscribe to True don't pay a dime: the only thing they had to provide was their e-mail address so we can send it to them. What did they get for free? About half of an issue -- they saw half the stories detailed above. Not descriptions of the stories, the entire stories, four in all, plus the Featured Headline of the Week. (For the rest of the stories, they saw a quick summary so they could see what they missed.) It makes for a nice quick read over the weekend -- or on Monday morning when you get to the office so you can start your week off right. If you really must have all the stories, then we welcome you to pay for them. Meanwhile, you can subscribe for free and get new issues once per week (and no ad-only mailings!) There's a place below to put your e-mail address so you can get started. No Strings Attached Free Daily Content for Your Site
We're often asked by web site owners if they can put our stories on their site, but we've had to refuse such requests -- until now! We're very pleased to offer True-a-Day (TAD). (Advanced Webmasters:True-a-Day is also available in a SSI-PHP version) By adding a single line of code on any page on your site, you can automatically show your visitors a new story every day. What a great way to get return visitors! With the default settings (plus centering), it looks like this: This is True Subscription Basics
This is True is e-mailed to subscribers in more than 200 countries. If you aren't already subscribed, here is how you can have bizarre-but-true stories like these sent to your mailbox every week. There are two options. Either way, the text of This is True is for your personal use only -- it may not be reprinted, posted on the web, read over the air on radio or TV, etc., or posted to other mailing lists without prior, written permission. We protect your privacy: Our e-mail privacy statement explains it all. Option One, PremiumGet all the True stories every week for just $24/year with these features:
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So Fun You Have to ShareThere are certain stories that just beg to be told to others, especially when there's a photo involved. These stories were put here so you could send the URL to a friend.
Continue reading "Reader Favorites, Essays and Special Issues" » Sample This is True Stories
A regular issue of This is True is 7-9 stories plus the "headline of the week". Premium subscribers get all of the stories, while free edition subscribers get four stories (plus the headline), like this: Contacting Us
This is True author Randy Cassingham's e-mail address is included in every issue and below, but if you prefer you can also use this form to send comments: For article suggestions, we need the URL from a legitimate mainstream news site! Changing Your Existing True Subscription
For info on upgrading your subscription to Premium, Click Here. (Premium Subscribers: See the very end of any Premium issue for address change info -- please don't e-mail Randy. If you're still on the Free Feed and want to unsubscribe that or change its address, use the directions below -- following them will not affect your Premium subscription.) Current subscribers must do their own address changes per our Terms of Service. If you need to change your address or wish to "unsubscribe", here's what to do. Continue reading "Changing Your Existing True Subscription" » Links to True are Greatly Appreciated
I'm constantly asked if it's OK to put a link in to the This is True site. But of course! We greatly appreciate your links; word of mouth is the primary way we have reached new readers. This is True's Book Collections
More than 4,000 True Stories and Headlines!Our massive archive uses time-proven wireless technology! Needs no AC power or batteries! Completely portable! High-contrast display is easy on the eyes! Yes, they're our high-quality trade paperback books. True's Forum the Victim of Online Hacker Criminals
The "This is True" and "Stella Awards" Forum is offline forever.It was hacked twice: the first time, the Forum itself was defaced to stop you from being able to post your thoughts. That was a challenge I wouldn't back away from: I reinforced the security, recovered all the previous posts, and went on. The second time, however, was much more serious: an exploit in one of the Forum's programming modules was used to exploit the server itself, and it was literally taken over by a spammer to send junk mail. Ironic, considering the same server hosts the Spam Primer, which warns about spammers' scams and helps you learn how to protect yourself from their schemes. Continue reading "True's Forum the Victim of Online Hacker Criminals" » Why Publish Letters from "Idiots"?
Now and then there's a story or item that brings a nearly violent response from a small subset of readers. Even though they are usually represent a very small minority of my readers, I'll often publish such letters. Why? About This is True and Randy Cassingham
Randy Cassingham created This is True in 1994, while working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (Details) Educated as a journalist, Randy was not interested in a career as a reporter: he wanted to skip directly to syndicated columnist. But syndicates aren't interested in untested talent, and newspapers had already started their downhill slide, so he instead became a technical publisher at JPL in Pasadena, Calif. -- "a great place to work," Randy says, "if you have to work for someone else." Continue reading "About This is True and Randy Cassingham" » This is True Sources
This is True stories come from "legitimate" mainstream news sources (never "tabloid" newspapers). The facts from these articles are the basis of True's stories, which are written in their entirety by Randy Cassingham or the identified contributor. Each story ends in a credit to the source, such as the Los Angeles Times or the Denver Post.
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Premium Tagline Challenge
Every month, the Premium subscribers get a "Tagline Challenge", one of the several "extra" features that are found only in the Premium issues. And every month, even though I note you just have to "reply with your best effort", I get people sending in their entries with a note saying "I wasn't sure where to send this, but...." Giving True Gifts
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The Briefest of BackgroundsFor those coming in from other links, This is True is a pioneer in online publishing. Since 1994, it has been the online leader of "weird news". Subscribers get stories every week by e-mail for free with true tales of human stupidity, all tagged with humorous, opinionated or ironic commentary by Randy Cassingham. This winning combination of well-written human interest material and humor has brought us more than 100,000 weekly online readers in more than 200 countries, plus it runs in newspapers in three countries as a feature column. (For more details on any of this, surf this site via the navigation bar to the left. To subscribe online, see below.) Upgrading Your Subscription
Did you know there are two online editions of This is True?
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