Megatrends author John Naisbitt coined the phrase "Global Paradox", which he says is, "The bigger the world economy, the more powerful its smallest players". In Online Media, the Global Paradox becomes what I call the "Internet Paradox": "The bigger the competitor, the easier it is for small players to compete." I'm here today to give you a real world example.

The Wall Street Journal is one of the top 10 news destinations online. It has attracted a huge clientele to its paid online offering. A six-figure audience paying a minimum of $29 per year to read perhaps one of the best offerings in online news at the moment. But the bottom line of the news business is business: how much money are they making? Not a penny.

Continue reading "Panel: "Niche Masters Who Can Kill You"" »

Before we begin, I'd like everyone to raise their right hands. ( Everyone does. About 300 people are in attendance.)

You look a bit lop-sided; raise your left hands too. (Everyone does. )

On the count of three, I want all of you to say "Save Me!"; say "Save Me!" on the count of three, 1-2-3. (Everyone yells "Save Me!")

You now know why religion flourishes in this country: Americans will do anything that someone with a microphone tells them to do. ...And you're the smart ones!

But I'm here tonight to talk about the dumb ones. Who is eligible for the Dumbth award? It seems like half the population, and even computers are eligible! For instance, American Family Publishers, the people that send out sweepstakes mailings disguised as ads for magazine subscriptions. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, they sent out a computer-generated sweepstakes letter to the Assembly of God Church in Bushnell, Florida. The letter read, "God, we've been searching for you. You've been positively identified as our $11 million mystery millionaire from Florida. God, come forward now and claim your prize!" Sadly, God did not step forward. Anyone who has felt the heat of Florida knows that He is not there.

Continue reading "The Skeptic Society's 1997 "Dumbth Awards"" »

If you made it to this page after reading about This is True in Playboy, you've at least proven that you do read the articles! This is True is the thinking person's humor publication, just as Playboy might be considered the thinking person's men's magazine. We humbly believe Playboy agrees, since we've now been featured in their pages four times (no pictures, thankfully).

Continue reading "Featured in Playboy Again?" »

When one of Randy's readers condemned him to hell for one of his True stories, it occurred to him that if she could send him to hell with the snap of her mind, why shouldn't he have the power to counteract her evil intentions? He should indeed, and the reaction from readers has been incredible: thousands and thousands and thousands of the cards have gone out, and they're being passed around in every U.S. state, most Canadian provinces, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Croatia, England, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, South Korea and Taiwan. You can get some for your family and friends too!

You Can Get This Incredible Protection Too! The ultimate in indulgences! Don't worry about hell when you can keep these up your sleeve! We carry them wherever we go, and you should see people get fired up when we hand them some. If you want this incredible protection too, see ordering info below. Don't leave Earth without it! (Note: This product is not affiliated with, nor authorized, endorsed or licensed in any way, by Hasbro Corp, its affiliates or subsidiaries. It is a parody.) Update! See below for new GOOHF products! Another Update! Hasbro objects to the GOOHF cards! (Not a parody?!!? Hah!)

Continue reading "Sin All You Want, We'll Print More" »

I had noticed that orders for my "Get Out of Hell Free" cards had picked up a bit, and I'd soon need to print some more. So in the issue dated 5 August 2001 (released online on 10 August), I talked about them briefly and gave the link to the GOOHF info and order pages (see bottom of this page for links). In one week, readers ordered 4,000 cards.

In With the New, Out With the Old Click the graphic for a closer look. I suppose my lawyer would be pleased if even here I made the mention of this disclaimer: "This product is not affiliated with, nor authorized, endorsed or licensed in any way, by Hasbro Corp, its affiliates or subsidiaries. It is a parody."

Continue reading "It's a GOOHFy World" »

Yes, True is about weird news. More importantly, it's about thinking, which implies a quest for knowledge and understanding. That's most evident in Randy's editorials; here are two of them on the same subject, starting with an editorial in May 2002:

Continue reading "We're Off to Pluto!" »

Any long-time reader of This is True has heard of our (in)famous "Get Out of Hell Free" cards, stickers, and t-shirts. They're Randy's reaction to people telling him to go to (or that he is going to) hell. They have been wildly popular with readers who enjoy being able to finally have a good response to those who tell them the same thing.

Continue reading "Aid and Comfort" »

Is our "Get Out of Hell Free" card an infringement of the copyright held by Hasbro, which owns the "MONOPOLY®" board game? Several people have asked. Our answer: No.

Let's start with the copyright law -- Title 17, United States Code, Chapter 1, Section 107: "Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use", which reads:

• Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use [several factors must be considered.]

The several "factors" courts are required to consider to determine whether a use of a copyrighted work is "fair use" or infringement are:

Continue reading "The GOOHF Card is an Obvious Parody" »

Odds are, you found out about This is True when a friend forwarded a copy to you with a suggestion that you subscribe. That is the main way we grew to a six-figure readership in over 200 countries. Like many small e-mail publications, our growth is down now that "the big guys" have discovered -- thanks to the very success of us "little guys" -- just how powerful e-mailed publications can be. They have huge ad budgets (provided by venture capital, not profits) to make them grow.

Continue reading "Other Independent E-Publications" »

The Briefest of Backgrounds

For 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 150,000 weekly online readers in more than 180 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.)

Continue reading "What the HELL?!!?" »