Winning a lottery sure is a matter of luck! But this unlucky winner might not get his winning amount all because he was a convicted bank robber who wasn’t supposed to be gambling.

Decision on weather Timothy Elliott, 55, violated his probation when he bought the $10 ticket for the “$800 Million Spectacular” game at a Hyannis supermarket or not will be made on a hearing on Dec. 7 in Barnstable Superior Court.

Elliott already has collected the first of 20 annual $50,000 checks from Massachusetts’ lottery commission. A picture of Elliott, holding his first check, was even posted on the lottery’s Web site Monday, though it was removed by Wednesday.

Elliott was placed on five years probation after pleading guilty in October 2006 to unarmed robbery for a January 2006 heist at a bank on Cape Cod. (CBC)

The terms of his probation states that he “may not gamble, purchase lottery tickets or visit an establishment where gaming is conducted, including restaurants where Keno may be played.” It is told that he was also put under the care of the state Department of Mental Health and sent to Taunton State Hospital for treatment.

Lottery spokesman Dan Rosenfeld said the lottery routinely cross references the names of winners with the state Revenue Department to see if they owe back taxes or child support. In those cases, winnings go straight to the Revenue Department.

But in this case, it will be up to the court to determine what will happen with Elliott’s winnings.

Do you get woken-up early in the morning by a cock crowing in your neighbor’s house? If that is the case, you might also be able to impose a fine to the owner, as it was done in Italy.

Funny laws and funny complaints! A rooster crowing at the break of dawn has earned his owner a 200 euro ($295) fine in an Italian court after neighbors complained it was waking them up too early.

It is another story though the rooster’s owner in Bolzano province would appeal the sentence, supported by the local Farmers’ Association, on the grounds that he needs at least one rooster to breed chickens. (Reuters)

Rome’s mayor sacked the city’s traffic and parking chief on Sunday after a newspaper reported he parked his car in a no parking zone. That’s not all, he is also accused of displayed a handicapped permit that belonged to an 86-year old woman.

Giovanni Catanzaro parked his red Alfa Romeo Brera in a tow away zone near the Spanish Steps in central Rome before heading off to a restaurant on Friday night, Roman daily Il Messaggero reported on Sunday, complete with pictures from the scene.

I can’t read Italian, but this news article mentions the name Giobanni and also features a photo of a car, so I suppose this must be the news about the parking chief and his car.

His car displayed a permit for disabled drivers that was no longer valid and initially issued to a senior citizen, the paper said, noting that officials almost never tow away a disabled person’s vehicle no matter where it is parked.

A spokesman for Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni said Catanzaro had been removed from his post as head of the city’s municipal police force that oversees traffic and parking violations after the newspaper report.

Rome has a series of restrictions on driving and parking along many of its narrow, cobblestoned streets, though parking illegally — often on sidewalks and crosswalks — is a common sight across the city. (Reuters)

Well, does the tattoo in left sound familiar ?

What do you think: Is he obsessed with tattoos or web designing!

Computer language and computer are the fastest changing subjects in the world. It still feel like yesterday that I was amazed on learning what an internet was. HTML is computer language to talk between client’s computer and internet server. Who knows , HTML might be replaced by some other language and won’t be there tomorrow. But tattoo in other hand is engraved forever. (I wish the photo in left side is not real tattoo but a photoshoped photograph!)

Let’s expect tattoo removal thing will be even more easier thing by then.

Well, here are other funny tattoos… I can go on posting huge number of tattoo symbols on different parts of body and different subjects. But let me post some I like. Here are some bar codes on head and hand.

One more geek tattoo to finish with …

Link | Via

What would happen if you fall 20 feets, out of a third-floow window?

Well, this toddler who crawled out a third-floor window during his family’s Thanksgiving festivities and fell onto a store roof not only survived _ he didn’t even break a bone.

Brandon Priebe said his 14-month-old son, Bradley, tumbled from a bedroom window in his aunt’s Brooklyn apartment on Thursday. His relatives said they thought the window was closed. (CBS)

Bradley fell about 20 feet onto the roof of a music store next door, police said. Priebe told police that his son wasn’t seriously injured in the fall. The boy was in stable condition later Thursday at a local hospital, where no update on his condition was available early Friday.

Anna Priebe the boy’s mother believes it is a miracle!

I talked about some strange and funny American laws, one reader commented with some stupid laws from Canada. I am yet get comment with stupid British laws! I sure believe every country have their own share of stupidity in creating laws.

Well, UKTV Gold thought of testing what people think about the stupid law in UK. Their survey gave the following Top Ten stupid Laws in UK:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27 percent)
2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside-down (seven percent)
3. In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (six percent)
4. Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day (five percent)
5. In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter (four percent)
6. A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman’s helmet (four percent)
7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail of the queen (3.5 percent)
8. It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (three percent)
9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour (three percent)
10. In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (two percent)

If you come across similar stupid laws from other countries please share them in the comment section.

Thanks.

A former employee, Scott Schmitz, is accused of stealing stealing 5,619 quarters worth $1,400 and $1,000 worth in bills from cash machines of a local car wash.

Well, that was more than 71 pounds of quarters!

In searching Schmitz’s home and car, police confiscated two containers filled with quarters, totaling over $100; several clear plastic bags; twist ties; and a broken lock, according the report. In investigating the crime, police learned Schmitz was drinking at a home near the area of the burglary that night. A beer can — the same brand he was drinking that night — was found at the scene, according to the report. (fldreporter)

It is also mentioned in the news that in the week following the burglary, Schmitz, who didn’t have a job, bought a car and was seen purchasing items using only quarters.

Porsche is going show off an electric car from 1900 designed by founder Ferdinand Porsche at the 2007 Los Angles Auto Show later this month. The car will be positioned next to its new Porsche Cayenne Hybrid SUV. This is the predecessor of what Porsche Cars claims was the world’s first hybrid car, which followed this one by just a few years.

Even Porsche’s initial all-electric design was revolutionary, despite the fact that electric cars were fairly common (insofar as any automobile was common) at the turn of the last century. Porsche’s electric car was named “most innovative invention” at the Paris World’s fair in 1900, notoriety that resulted in the sale of over 300 of the cars. (cnn)

All of the five hybrid cars produced in 1901 were equipped with Mercedes-Benz engines and were bought by Emil Jellinek. It is told that after further development, the Porsche-Lohner hybrids reached top speeds of 56 miles per hour. Visit the above link for more details.

In north India, monkeys are creating havocs and forced the state government to form a panel to study the problem according to Assam’s wildlife minister, Rockybul Hussain.

“Monkeys are wreaking havoc in my constituency by taking away mobile phones, toothpastes, sipping coke after opening the refrigerators,” Hiren Das told Assam state’s assembly. He said the primates were “even slapping women who try to chase them.”

“It is a cause of serious concern in my area, with more than 1,000 such simians turning aggressive by the day,” fumed Goneswar Das, another legislator representing Raha in eastern Assam. (Yahoo news)

In the news report it is told that the deputy mayor of Delhi died when he fell from his balcony after being attacked by monkeys last month. In another incident last week, around two dozen people were hurt after monkeys rampaged through a New Delhi neighbourhood.

Efforts to drive out the animals is complicated by the fact that devout Hindus view them as an incarnation of Hanuman, the monkey god who symbolises strength.

The photo shows monkeys cross the road in front of the Presidential Palace and government buildings in New Delhi, India (Phot0 - Times). Read more here.

Google is hitting hard on blogs posting paid posts. As you might have noticed the Google ranking for this blog - PR3 has dropped to PR0 and it should be because I am posting paid-posts. It is not a secret and I guess I am not cheating anybody by posting paid-posts. It seems bloggers with PayPerPost and Text-Link-Ads were targeted by Google.

Well, I don’t blog for Google and Pagerank is their tool and they can manipulate in whatever manner they like. I have no complaints! But still, don’t you think Google is living in a glass house and throwing stones in other’s window panes? If they weren’t placing paid listing in their search result I would have agreed they are genuinely concerned about the paid-post.

With 0 pagerank I sure will get less opportunities to write paid-post. But I am still looking other ways to pay my hosting cost. I wish I could get more opportunities in bloggerwave. But it is targeted to European bloggers and it is aiming to be a biggest advertising media on blogs in Europe. I hope they go more global in future.