In Part 1 of my more-personal-than-usual style of Honorary Unsubscribe for my friend (and long-time reader) David J. Farber, I ended by saying that next, I’d talk about how his own email “newsletter” of sorts, Interesting People, commonly referred to as IP, started. Also, what is the future of news delivery? Let’s jump right in.
Explainer
Dave Farber, Grandfather of the Internet
This is a very unusual Honorary Unsubscribe as it’s going to be quite long (several parts), and in a different, and personal, format: I knew Dave Farber, and spoke with him at length over the course of several years about his legacy.
Why Mention the Country?
This started as a “letter to the editor” in the newsletter, but there was enough reaction that I thought I’d move it to my blog as an “explainer” that readers can find later, too.
Ask Me Anything 012 …Let’s Talk About Florida!
Why the heck do so many weird news stories come out of Florida?!
Plus a Cameo by Kit!
Ask Me Anything 011 …Will I Get an Honorary Unsubscribe?
And also, will I use “horrible” stories?
If Gmail Picks Up Your Domain’s Mail, Read This
Back when I wrote Spam Primer book (2012!), I recommended a powerful way to cut down on spam if you have your own domain: let Gmail retrieve your mail by POP, filter it, and then you pick up the cleaned messages from Gmail. It was elegant, reliable, and — importantly — free.
Irony? Not So Much
A story in Issue #1633 brought several comments from readers. Let’s start with the story:
Google’s Ads Banned from Honorary Unsubscribe Site
I’ve “Had It” with Google Ads! Again.
I ripped the ads out of the True site many years ago. Now I’ve also banned them from the Honorary Unsubscribe site. Here’s why.
NCL’s Shame
We were quite aware of the earthquake and tsunami last week, and naturally a related story made it into True. Let’s start with that.
Hands Off My Work, NYT!
I use ChatGPT for some of my research and brainstorming, to find interesting obituaries for the Honorary Unsubscribe, and more. And the New York Times is demanding to know what it is I ask ChatGPT, and how.
Tagline Inspiration
So Often My Taglines are simply what went through my head while reading a news story. Let me give you an example.
Uh Oh, J.Lo
A story in this week’s issue brings up an important legal issue. Let’s start with the story, by True contributor Alexander Cohen:
Nominative Determinism
A phrase in a tagline in this week’s issue stumped several readers — who had enough curiosity to (gasp!) look it up! So let’s talk about it. First, the story.
A Gift to Women
A Couple of Editors asked me about what “incel” means, from the story about the 24-year-old college dropout who wants to be the governor of California.
Easy as ABC?
A Good Sleep Saturday night, as we were headed to Bonaire for a two-day stay, was great since I do most of my writing and editing of the stories on Sunday; other parts of the newsletter are done Monday, such as the Honorary Unsubscribe, and I send the newsletter late in the day Mondays as soon as it’s done.
Why You Don’t Want to Use Email Forwarding
This is complicated and geeky, but I’ll try to explain this in a way most of you can “get” it. You already have a problem if you automatically “forward” your email from an address like Newsletters [at] YourOwnDomain.com to, say, GMail.
Dan Sokol 3: Pranking Woz
Dan Sokol 2: Behind the Scenes of Personal Computing History
In Part 1 of my interview with Premium True reader Dan Sokol, I told you of Steve Wozniak’s long-time friend, how they met back in the earliest days of personal computing, and how he was the “World’s First Software Pirate”. This is the long-delayed Part 2.
Dan Sokol: a Barely Known Computer Pioneer
Dan Sokol has been a This is True reader for more than 25 years. He’s a friend of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. (Woz, as of this month, is a 26-year True reader.)
Why Why Why Florida?!
Is Everyone in Florida Crazy?! The short answer: no, even if this week’s issue is all-Florida-based stories. The longer answer: read on.