News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
This German man has discovered a way to actually make money from farming. He covered his fields with solar panels and sells the energy to the utility company. Reminds me of the old joke where a farmer won the lottery. When asked what he’d do with the money, he replied that he’d keep on farming till he lost it all.
This man received some junk mail that included a non-negotiable sample check for $95,093.35 (along the lines of “you could make this much money if you use our get-rich-quick system”). Just for kicks he deposited the check, and it cleared. Fully expecting it to bounce at a later date, he didn’t withdraw the money. But after several weeks with no bounce and repeated reassurances by the bank, he decided to do some research. Turns out the check was indeed negotiable, even though it said “non-negotiable for cash.” So he got to keep the money. Note to self: Do not use real bank account information on fake checks…
This reminds me of my days in college, where a credit card insurance company sent me real checks. I was supposed to fill out my credit card info on the back but never did. I got several pizzas from that deal.
When the American Basketball Association (ABA) was folded into the NBA, the co-owners of one team opted to take a portion of the NBA’s television income, which at the time wasn’t that much. They are still receiving monthly payments, even though they haven’t owned a team since 1976, and it’s been worth about $168 million so far.
I had a friend, back in the pre-email days, who actually got a letter in the mail proposing a 419 scam. It’s amazing how well it works, even after all this time. And it hooks people who should know better.
What a month for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. First, Bill Gates announces he will step down from day-to-day operations at Microsoft in order to spend more time on foundation-related work. Then, out of the blue, Warren Buffet announces he will donate $31 billion (yes, billion with a ‘b’) to the foundation, doubling its assets. Let’s hope all this money does some real good in the world.
In an update to this post, the professional video gaming association, Major League Gaming, has signed a Halo 2 team for $1 million and a top gaming individual for $250,000. Obviously, getting a computer degree was a bad move on my part—I should’ve been playing games all those years.
This is not completely unexpected. Tivo rocked the television world when it introduced the DVR.
