Geek Out

How To Prove That Winning Lotto Ticket Is Fake

You did not win the $US640 Mega Millions jackpot on Friday. But neither did all of the idiots out there who tried to fake it — some of them pretty darn convincingly. Dr Neal Krawetz over at the Hacker Factor blog went out and squashed one of the especially convincing fakes. Here’s how.


March 24, 2012
News

A Glitch Accidentally Told 300 People They Won The Lottery When They Really Didn’t

In what has to be one of the biggest Indian giver moves ever, Danish state-run lottery company Danske Spil notified 300 people via email that they just won billions in the lottery… only they really didn’t. They were only notified because of a glitch in the system, meaning for half an hour 300 people thought their lives had changed forever.


April 6, 2011
Geek Out

I’d Totally Have A Segway-Joust With Friends If I Won The Lottery

Sure, it’s an ad – an ad for Washington’s Lottery – but who wouldn’t want to joust with a friend on a pair of Segways? Or play polo? Just let me know when you win the lottery, and I’ll be there to help you spend it.


February 2, 2011
Geek Out

How A Statistician Beat Scratch Lottery Tickets

In North America, the lottery is a $US70 billion-a-year industry, bigger than movies, music and porn combined. But it’s not infallible. That’s what Mohan Srivastava, a geological statistician, found out when he took a closer look at scratch lottery cards.


August 7, 2010

This Is What $US39,000 Worth Of Recycled Lottery Tickets (And Dreams) Looks Like

The odd lottery ticket purchase when you’re feeling particularly lucky is fine, but when it becomes an addiction it’s time for an intervention. Two artists did just that, showing what could’ve been bought with the money spent on tickets.