(Updated: See below.)
Date: 18 Aug 99 11:07:03 -0700
Subject: This is True testimonial
From: Steve Wozniak
To: Randy Cassingham
For as long as I can remember I’ve been attracted to unusual news items that are a bit weird and unbelievable. One of the biggest kicks for me is telling others these unbelievable stories and keep them guessing whether I’m making it up or not. So I don’t collect stories from the front page. Everyone has seen those. I look for good stories on the inner pages of newspapers.
“This is True” was meant for someone with my interests. When I was first presented with a gift subscription to “This is True” I didn’t expect much. I figured that it would be a rehash of news articles that I was already familiar with. But, lo and behold, I’ve rarely encountered the articles that I receive every few days from “This is True”. They are culled from news sources around the world and are often the great, unusual, articles that didn’t get picked up by the local newspapers.
I’ve almost never received “This is True” without laughing out loud at something within it. Each article has an brief appended comment that is dry enough to add a little humor. I think so highly of “This is True” that I even purchased many subscriptions for good friends. My friends generally like humorous stories also.
I’m in no way compensated by “This is True”. I never give testimonials for products that I don’t like or don’t use.
Steve Wozniak, http://woz.org
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Steve Wozniak is the co-founder, with Steve Jobs, of Apple Computer Corp. He was the design genius behind the Apple I and the Apple II, while Jobs concentrated on business development and marketing.
He has been a Premium subscriber since 1998, and later bought Premium subscriptions for dozens of his friends. The story of our meeting is also on this blog.
Update
It took a few years, but Woz was finally featured in True — in the 1 August 2004 issue:
Who’s Calling?
Law enforcement officials need to learn to differentiate between criminal hackers who cause damage to computer systems and benign hackers just trying to learn how things work, says industry pioneer Steve Wozniak. Addressing a conference of presumably the latter type of hackers in New York, Wozniak described how he learned to hack the long distance telephone network from another early hacker, John “Captain Crunch” Draper, named for using a whistle packed in Cap’n Crunch cereal in the early 1970s to control the phone network. As a teenage prank, Wozniak, now 53, says he used the techniques Draper taught him to call the pope. (RC/New York Times) …In response to his questions the pope replied yes, a pope could be Polish and no, never in the woods.
And yes, Woz is still a Premium subscriber — as is his long-time friend John “Captain Crunch” Draper.
I just upgraded to your Premium This is True newsletter. I hesitated for a few months because, Nov. 2013, the doctors wanted my family to consider putting me in Hospice because of my heart problems. I refused telling them that I wasn’t a carton of milk and the only “one” who knows my expiration date was my Lord. So far I’m still living alone and doing very well, thank you. I should be able to get back to driving soon because my strength has come back almost to where it was. Looking forward to reading ALL the articles now — my one eye is starting to lose some of its power but I’ll be fine!
Thanks for the interesting articles you place on my computer, I’m still finding it hard to believe how “stooped” humans can be!
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You picked an interesting place to post your note, but I don’t mind since no one else has bothered to christen this page in the years its been here.
Hospice is a great service for those who need it. It’s nice that you don’t, and can enjoy watching humans being silly and teaching us some lessons in the meantime. Enjoy! -rc
I will christen this page with another off the wall thought. Does the White House get This is True. If this site is for obliviouts and the White House is the house of obliviouts then it should be a perfect fit. Had to ask and also next month I “may” finally be able to afford the premium edition. Fingers crossed….
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Well, I don’t know about the White House specifically, but it has been going to the Executive Office of the President for over a decade. The EOP is the staff of employees and experts that support the President, many of which are non-partisan and stay on no matter who happens to be in office. Their main offices are not in the White House, but down the street in view of the executive mansion. -rc