FukDatShhh.CoM

We, along with a number of other publications, just got tipped off to HP’s plans to launch a new desktop called the HP Blackbird 002 next week. (Sorry, no, we think it’s separate from the HP Virtus we already saw.) The email’s after the break, but the long and short of it is Voodoo seems to be marrying its high performance PC line with HP branding. The short list of what you need to know:

The female clerk told the customer he won $4 on his Mega Millions picks for Aug. 14, and then pocketed his winning ticket worth $555,000.
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A man who went to a 7-Eleven in Roseville, Calif., to check on his lottery tickets had picked the right numbers, but state officials said it was the clerk who almost hit the jackpot.

The female clerk told the customer he won $4 on his Mega Millions picks for Aug. 14, and then pocketed his winning ticket worth $555,000, California Lottery officials said.

However, the clerk’s alleged scheme fell apart after the unnamed victim became suspicious and called lottery officials.

Rajinder Kaur, 40, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of grand theft, and the ticket was recovered, officials said.

Donald Currier, the lottery’s chief legal counsel, said it was the second time in two years that a retail clerk had been arrested for allegedly stealing a winning ticket.

“To any clerks out there who think they can steal a winning ticket, we’ll get you,” Currier said. “Clerks just don’t get away with it.”

Kaur was booked into the Placer County jail in Auburn, Calif. on suspicion of grand theft. She was released on $50,000 bail.

Currier said the customer whose ticket was stolen was unaware he’d won more than half a million dollars when he went to the store Aug. 16.

The man, who officials said has a language barrier, purchased five sets of numbers at the 7-Eleven market two days earlier and had used his own numbers to play.

“He knew he had some winning numbers, but he didn’t know how much he had won,” Currier said.

The winning Mega Millions numbers that week were 5, 8, 9, 24 and 34, all of which the man had selected. Had he also hit the Meganumber of 17, he would have won $122 million.

He handed his winning ticket to the clerk to run through a validation machine to determine the amount won, Currier said.

However, after running the ticket, Kaur told the man, “You’ve won four dollars,” and paid him that amount, Currier said. The attorney said Kaur kept the winning ticket, apparently with designs to cash it later.

Currier said that in the ensuing days, the victim saw news reports about the prize money being unclaimed and that the winning ticket had been purchased at the 7-Eleven in Roseville.

He also kept looking with confusion at the winning numbers, knowing he had played them, the attorney said.

On Tuesday, the man called the lottery office, which referred his complaint to its security and law enforcement division.

Working with Roseville police, the lottery agents, who are sworn peace officers, went to the store to investigate, Currier said.

“They interviewed people, collected evidence, arrested the clerk and recovered the ticket,” he said.

If convicted of grand theft with an enhancement based on the high dollar amount, Kaur could face up to four years in state prison, Currier said.

Lottery officials are not yet releasing the name of the victim.

They said the investigation has not concluded and that lottery agents want to make sure the man is the rightful owner of the ticket.

“We believe that this is the guy,” Currier said. “But we want to make absolutely sure. Once we finish the investigation, we will release the money.”

Officials estimate the man will receive $416,000 after taxes.

Currier said the California Lottery encourages players to sign the backs of their tickets as soon as they purchase them.

“That would prevent fraud if they lose a winning ticket or if someone steals it,” Currier said. “The thief will have a much harder time cashing it.”

If the ticket is altered in any way after being signed, an investigation would be launched so that the rightful owner could be identified, he said.

Cathy Doyle Johnston, a spokeswoman for the lottery, said retail locations cannot redeem any cash prizes over $599.

If a lottery player believes he or she has won a prize of $600 or more, they are encouraged to contact the California Lottery or one of its district offices, she said.

CONCORD, N.H. – A man who said he had been harassed by police in Troy stole a bulldozer and rammed the town police station early Friday, heavily damaging the building, police said.

“He hit it three times,” State Police Sgt. David Griffin said. “He took out the whole front, which included the main entrance to the police department.”

Stanley Burt, 34, who has had numerous run-ins with the local police, is charged with criminal mischief and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, as well as driving and probation violations.

No one was inside the building at the time and no one was hurt.

In court Friday morning, Burt said the police drove him to it.

“I’ve been harassed to the point this has brought this to,” said Burt, wearing a t-shirt depicting a construction excavator. “I want an investigation started.”

Officials said Burt’s record includes 20 driving offenses. He recently was released after serving 12 months in the county jail after being convicted of being a habitual motor vehicle offender.

“He’s had a number of contacts with the Troy Police Department,” Griffin said, “non of them favorable to him.”

Griffin said as bad as the situation was, it could have been much worse.

Troy Officer Kevin Stone and two civilians were in the small building about a half hour earlier, he said.

“If this had happened when they were there, Officer Stone would have had to take some drastic measures,” Griffin said.

Stone pulled into the station parking lot just before 12:30 a.m. and saw the bulldozer repeatedly smashing into the front of the building.

Burt entered no plea in court Friday morning to the new charges. He was ordered held on $200,000 bail.

Investigators say Burt stole the bulldozer from a nearby construction site.

A structural engineer was inspecting the building Friday to evaluate the damage.

The incident brought to mind an incident three years ago where a man with a grudge and a fortified bulldozer went on a rampage in the mining town of Granby, Colo.

Marvin Heemeyer, a 52-year-old muffler-shop owner who had a dispute and zoning battles with the town, spent months fortifying a bulldozer with concrete and steel plates before going through a 90-minute rampage in June 2004. Six buildings were destroyed and seven were damaged.

Heemeyer killed himself inside the vehicle after it got stuck in the wreckage of a building.

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