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In an episode of This American Life there was a story of a guy who bought lottery jackpots. (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/329/Nice-Wor

by ulvund 16y ago

In an episode of This American Life there was a story of a guy who bought lottery jackpots. (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/329/Nice-Work-If-You-Can-Get-It http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/329/N... 20 minutes in) This was during a time where you could not receive the full amount of the jackpot immediately -- regulation dictated that you had to get it in monthly instalments. This guy would offer a lump sum here and now in exchange for the monthly instalments. The winners were overspending because they started 'acting like millionaires' without having enough money from the monthly payments, so he would get them out of trouble and make a profit at the same time. While signing a deal with one lottery winner, the lottery winner promptly bought 1000 scratch tickets without even bothering reading the contract he signed.

patio11 16y ago
get them out of trouble This is, unfortunately, against all evidence of what lottery winners actually do with lump-sum payments. Poor people have a lot of problems. Poor people with five million dollars in their hand have more problems. (Non-poor people generally do not play, and consequently do not win, the lottery.)
pavel_lishin 16y ago
I'm sure you have no idea, but maybe someone else will read this: I grabbed the mp3 for that story, and would like to listen to it on my iPod as a podcast - meaning that when I pause, and listen to something else, resuming the podcast will resume from the point where I stopped. Is there a way of doing this in iTunes? I tried creating an RSS feed, and iTunes added it to my podcast list, but it won't grab the damned file - and of course, doesn't tell me why.
- weaksauce 16y ago
  Right click on the file in iTunes and go to get info. Then go to options remember playback position. This will work for any audio file that you have in iTunes. Edit: Also, just add the file to your library the normal way(No RSS) and do the above.
gojomo 16y ago
This company specializes in same (including people who win the 'lottery' of a large legal settlement): http://www.peachtreefinancial.com/ http://www.peachtreefinancial.com/ They seem to advertise during trashy TV shows in hours when the gainfully-employed are usually at work or asleep.
- philwelch 16y ago
  So does JG Wentworth, with their memorable slogan, "It's my money and I need it now!"

by ulvund 16y ago

patio11 16y ago

get them out of trouble This is, unfortunately, against all evidence of what lottery winners actually do with lump-sum payments. Poor people have a lot of problems. Poor people with five million dollars in their hand have more problems. (Non-poor people generally do not play, and consequently do not win, the lottery.)

pavel_lishin 16y ago

I'm sure you have no idea, but maybe someone else will read this: I grabbed the mp3 for that story, and would like to listen to it on my iPod as a podcast - meaning that when I pause, and listen to something else, resuming the podcast will resume from the point where I stopped. Is there a way of doing this in iTunes? I tried creating an RSS feed, and iTunes added it to my podcast list, but it won't grab the damned file - and of course, doesn't tell me why.

weaksauce 16y ago
Right click on the file in iTunes and go to get info. Then go to options remember playback position. This will work for any audio file that you have in iTunes. Edit: Also, just add the file to your library the normal way(No RSS) and do the above.

gojomo 16y ago

This company specializes in same (including people who win the 'lottery' of a large legal settlement): http://www.peachtreefinancial.com/ http://www.peachtreefinancial.com/ They seem to advertise during trashy TV shows in hours when the gainfully-employed are usually at work or asleep.

philwelch 16y ago
So does JG Wentworth, with their memorable slogan, "It's my money and I need it now!"