Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
$38.5 million lotto winner cheated co-workers out of jackpot, court rules
Americo Lopes leaves a New Jersey courtroom on Wednesday (AP)For most people, sharing a $38.5 million lottery jackpot with five co-workers is a deal they could live with. But it was apparently too much for Americo Lopes, who a jury found guilty of cheating his colleagues out of their rightful share of winnings.
Lopes and his co-workers at a New Jersey construction company took part in a lottery pool going back to 2007. But in 2009, when Lopes discovered he had the winning Mega Millions ticket, he claimed to have purchased the winning numbers on his own, rather than as part of the company pool.
After a unanimous jury decision on Wednesday, Lopes must now pay each co-worker a pretax $2 million from the jackpot, according to a spokeswoman for the Superior Court in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
The Star-Ledger reports that Lopes left the courtroom saying in Portuguese, "they robbed me."
The five former co-workers testified that they gave Lopes money to purchase lottery tickets on the day he purchased the winning ticket. A sixth construction worker who was not in the lottery pool also testified against Lopes. "I have a lot to do," Carlos Fernandez, one of the five plaintiffs, told the Star-Ledger after the verdict was announced.
Still, for all his complaining of being "robbed," it could have been worse for Lopes, who stood to lose up to $20 million of his after-tax $24 million in winnings.
Winning the lottery has been a mixed blessing for a number of past winners. Just last week, a Michigan lottery winner fell under intense scrutiny when it was revealed she was still accepting food stamps despite being a millionaire. The day after Yahoo! News reported on her story, the Michigan Bridge Card program stepped in and removed her from the welfare program.
On the other hand, a number of other lottery winners have voluntarily chosen to share their lottery winnings with family, friends and the less fortunate. Last month, we told you about several repeat Georgia lottery winners who have given away substantial portions of their jackpot winnings.
Winning the lottery can even be fatal in some extreme cases. In 1996, Jeffrey Dampier famously won $20 million in the Illinois state lottery, using some of his money to help family and friends. But when Dampier offered to help his sister-in-law and her boyfriend out financially, they rewarded his generosity by kidnapping and murdering him.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
New iPad unveiled! Details on Apple’s new tablet
By Oliver Libaw | Digital Crave
Wednesday, adding more power, an optional 4G Internet connection, and a supersharp HD display, but keeping the overall look and feel of the previous model.
 |
| Apple CEO Tim Cook at Apple iPad event. (Getty Images) |
High-Resolution Retina Display
As expected, the new iPad features a screen with roughly twice the resolution of the iPad 2. The Retina display, as Apple calls it, first debuted in the iPhone 4 and quickly drew raves for its crisp, detailed images. The iPad's 2048x1536 display makes it the first Apple tablet able to show movies in full HD.
 |
| Apple's Phil Schiller senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing speaks about the new iPad during an Apple event in San Francisco, California March 7, 2012. (REUTERS/Robert Galbraith) |
The new device also has an A5X processor with quad-core graphics.
Speedy 4G Internet Connection
Apple is offering a 4G connection through both AT&T and Verizon on its new iPad. It's the first Apple device to feature the fast wireless technology.
Battery Life, Size and Weight
The new device can run for 10 hours, said Apple Vice President Phil Schiller. It will last nine hours when on 4G. It weighs 1.4 pounds, and is 9.4 mm thick.
Pricing and Release Date
The new iPad is available in several models. A basic 16GB model costs $499. 32GB is $599 and 64GB is $699. Models with 4G connections cost $629, $729 and $829, respectively.
It will be available March 16, Cook said.
Apple TV Upgrade Also Unveiled
Apple also showed off a new version of its Apple TV device, which lets users stream audio and video from iTunes. The new gadget has an improved interface and supports 1080p resolution for full HD video. The price remains the same at $99.
Tablet Competition Heating up
The iPad dominates the hot tablet market, but it's facing increased competition. A report by Forrester Research estimated the iPad had 73 percent of the tablet market as of last September. But that was before Amazon's hot-selling $199 Kindle Fire debuted. The market research firm iSuppli estimates Amazon shipped 3.9 million Kindle Fires in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with 15.4 million iPads shipped by Apple.
There are other challengers, too. Microsoft is preparing a touchscreen-friendly new version of Windows that will further blur the lines between a tablet and traditional computer. And Samsung, Asus, Toshiba, and others continue to improve tablets running the Android operating system, though none of the devices has caught fire the way the iPad has.
With a gorgeous new display and other improvements, the new iPad may be enough to keep Apple's hot streak alive.
$336 Million Powerball Winner, Louise White, Rhode Island Woman, Claims Prize
- Louise White, right, 81 from Newport, R.I., is presented a check for $336 million …
- $336 Million Powerball Winner, Louise White, Rhode Island Woman, Claims Prize (ABC …
Louise White, a "vivacious" 81-year-old of Newport, R.I., stepped forward today as the winner of $336.4 million, the third largest Powerball lottery in the history of the game.
"I want to say that I'm very happy and I'm very proud. This will make my family very happy," she said. "We are truly blessed. Thank you."
White took her bonanza calmly, speaking briefly and then leaving the crowded news conference for her new team of attorneys to handle.
One of her attorneys, Jason Kurland, called her "vivacious as any octogenarian."
The funds will go to the Rainbow Sherbert Trust, named after the dessert that she purchased last month while buying the lottery ticket, although the correct spelling is sherbet.
A family spokesman said the winning ticket was kept in White's Bible -- which she then slept with -- until she could get to a bank and put it in a safe deposit box.
White chose to accept the lump sum payment of $210 million, rather than the 30 annuity payments paid out over 29 years. White will pay about $52.5 million in federal taxes and $14.7 million in state taxes.
White said in a statement that was handed out at the news conference that she was waiting that Saturday, Feb. 11, with a grocery list for someone to take her to the store. In her list was a Powerball ticket in time for the evening's drawing. She said she the person who was supposed to take her that morning "was working all day at home and couldn't get away."
"Then around [7 p.m.] a family member wanted some rainbow sherbert to eat later, so they decided to go to the Stop N Shop," White wrote in a statement.
"I had just finished making a sandwich and was asked if I wanted anything at the store and I said emphatically, 'I can't believe you asked me if I want you to get me something. NO, I don't want you to get me something,'" she wrote in the statement, "I want to go with you!" After buying the tickets, White said she was at home later that evening listening to the news "while the family enjoyed the rainbow sherbert."
She listened to news and copied down the winning numbers, but didn't check her tickets until later. When she realized she had the matching numbers, she yelled, "Is anybody awake? I want you to come look at something."
She said she and her family were in disbelief, checking the lottery website, then re-starting the computer and checking it again.
"We hugged each other and jumped up and down screaming!!," she wrote. "Then I was told to 'Sign it quick!!'"
"We're excited, very blessed and will determine in the coming months how we'll spend the money, but we know we'll always have rainbow sherbert," she wrote.
The sherbert and the ticket was sold from Stop & Shop at 250 Bellevue Ave. in Newport, R.I. for $3, among the three quickpick tickets she bought.
A spokeswoman for Stop & Shop had said before today's announcement that White's family are "frequent" and "valued" customers at the store. "We're very pleased to be part of the history," Suzi Robinson said before the announcement.
Powerball Winner Louise White Is 81
Robinson said White's son, LeRoy White, 63, of Newport is "well known in the community." LeRoy White, a musician, lives about a mile away from the grocery store. Her attorneys said she was from Newport though public records show she at one time lived in the town of Middletown, about five miles away.
In Louise White's Facebook profile page, she lists Verizon Wireless under the "Employers" category.
Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chaffee was present for the historic win and praised for waiting to claim her prize and getting professional help as well. "You were lucky and smart," Chaffee said.
The jackpot win is the first since the newly revamped $2 version of the PowerBall game debuted Jan. 15, according to lottery officials.
While the chances of winning the lottery are slim, there are ways to increase your chances, says Richard Lustig, a seven time lottery winner in Florida who has earned more than $1 million.
In "Learn How to Increase Your Chances of Winning the Lottery," Lustig shares the strategy he calls "the winning lottery method."
"[Playing the lotto is] like any investment. You have to invest money to get something out of it," says Lustig, 59, a former singer and drummer from Florida. "Most people buy a $1 ticket and win $10 and they put the $10 in their pocket," says Lustig. Those people are playing the game wrong. Instead, he says, if you win $10, then you should buy $11 worth of tickets because "if you lose, you only lost a $1."
The process earned him $98,000 after he played the Fantasy 5 game in Florida. The first prize he took home was in 1992, for $10,000.
"I use lottery money all the time to buy more tickets," Lustig said in 2010.
His biggest prize was more than $842,000 in 2002.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)