That night, however, he realized that the voice was right: The tic-tac-toe lottery was seriously flawed. It took a few hours of studying his tickets and some statistical sleuthing, but he discovered a defect in the game: The visible numbers turned out to reveal essential information about the digits hidden under the latex coating. Nothing needed to be scratched off—the ticket could be cracked if you knew the secret code.
Consequently a Canadian statistician informed the lottery companies, but they ignored him, even though he proved to them their games were seriously flawed. Read more at Wired.
Meanwhile a woman with a PhD in statistics seems to have been taking advantage of similar flaws in the USA (and good on her!):
Read MoreFirst, she won $5.4 million, then a decade later, she won $2million, then two years later $3million and in the summer of 2010, she hit a $10million jackpot.
The odds of this has been calculated at one in eighteen septillion and luck like this could only come once every quadrillion years.
Harper’s reporter Nathanial Rich recently wrote an article about Ms Ginther, which calls the the validity of her ‘luck’ into question.
First, he points out, Ms Ginther is a former math professor with a PhD from Stanford University specialising in statistics.
“If you were admitted to hospital tomorrow in any country… your chances of being subjected to an error in your care would be something like 1 in 10. Your chances of dying due to an error in health care would be 1 in 300,” Liam Donaldson, the WHO’s newly appointed envoy for patient safety, told a news briefing.
According to WHO, 1.7 million infections are acquired in hospital each year in the U.S., leading to 100,000 deaths.
Over 50 percent of acquired infections can be prevented if health care workers clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based handbag before treating patients.
So there you have it – as a global average, just being admitted to a hospital means your odds of dying due to an accidental infection is 0.3%. Maybe write in marker pen on your forehead “did you wash your hands?”
Read MoreI’ve been writing about this for 5 years now (see http://skelton.id.au/2006/10/sunscreen-causes-skin-cancer.html ), and the evidence is growing – sunscreen causes skin cancer.
A post at AlterNet covers some recent developments:
I saw a photo essay about this bold young climber in National Geographic. He climbs extremely difficult slopes without ropes:
Over the last three years, Honnold has proven to be one of the boldest rock climbers that has ever ascended stone. Like an invisible ninja Honnold burst on to the free-solo scene (climbing without ropes) with no prior notoriety and has systematically peeled back the eyelids of the climbing community.
I’m sure many in the climbing community are thinking the same as myself – it will surely end in tragedy. Either he will quit while he is ahead, or he’ll have an off-day or circumstances will conspire against him. Hopefully he retires ASAP.
Read MoreI had the privilege this evening to watch the 4th public appearance of Pajama Club, featuring Neil Finn and his wife Sharon Finn, Sean Donnelly and the constantly smiling Aussie drummer Alana Skyring. Corner Hotel, Melbourne, June 15 2011 (full lunar eclipse).
But first, the support act, Glass Towers, are excellent. Just teens, from Byron Bay, I got the impression they have a big of a future as Silverchair. To me they came across as a band on the 3rd or 4th album, in terms of polished performance, own personality and song construction. What I really loved was the closing song and the obvious (!) Trail of Dead influence.
I’m usually useless when it comes to hearing songs played live that I haven’t heard before. But of course most of the songs, being by Neil Finn, had an instant catchiness, so I feel I already know the yet-to-be-released first album. The quality is consistent with Neil’s last few albums, with Crowded House and Tim Finn. Neil was a little bit funny, a little bit self-absorbed. He reminded me a bit of the the introspective self-righteousness of Grant Lee Buffalo and Lloyd Cole live, but not nearly as bad. The rest of the band were cool. Cool.
I loved it when one of their original songs (?) merged into Are Friends Electric by Gary Numan. It was a brilliant cover, and with some positive criticism, has the potential to become a new Tom’s Diner.
Not that he is running out of steam, but I have noticed recently that the introduction of female backing vocals can really revive a singer-songwriter’s career. Recently I have noticed this with Ed Harcourt and Robert Plant, and years ago for me this improved the work of…. Gary Numan.
Read MoreI received a renewal form in the post, to fill out if I wish to remain a subscriber to Wired magazine. I’m happy with my subscription, $US70/yr delivered, way cheaper than buying locally. But I don’t like being lied to. When I go to resubscribe online, after logging in I learn that my subscription ends in May 2011. This is in stark contrast to the letter they sent, which says;
…your subscription to WIRED has expired. And, unless I hear from you immediately, you will no longer receive WIRED magazine each month.
Yep, except for the 3-5 months I have left, you wankers!
Still, I resubscribed. I have vented.
BTW, I am not the only one to tell this story online, for there is one other:
Come on Wired, get your act together. My subscription expires in March 2010 and I am TIRED or the threatening renewal notices. “However your subscription to WIRED has expired. And unless I hear from you immediately, you will no longer receive WIRED magazine each month.”
What??? It is November guys. I expect that given I have paid for the current subscription until March 2010 that I will continue to receive a magazine each month until that time.
Customer Service gives a convoluted explanation abut printing up mailing labels 3-5 months ahead … really???? Maybe some technology could help you manage your subscriptions more effectively. Do you have 1000 monkeys hidden away somewhere typing out address labels????
Wired’s subscription management system is TIRED!!!!!!
Yep, in between the two tents is a tent, which from a distance looks like a camper van. Firebox in the UK are selling the tents for £299.99 (approx $US500). What a great way to meet random strangers at camping grounds!
Officially licensed by Volkswagon the VW Camper Tent is a full size replica of the 1965 Camper Van. Available in yellow, red or blue, it is certain to stand out from all other tents. Like the VW camper van the VW tent is large enough to stand up in (5 feet and 11 inches), and internally is divided into two rooms, sleeping 2 people in each one.
Doubt the missus would approve – in fact I can’t imagine many gardens where it would be OK, but how amazing is this garden ornament? Perhaps it could sit atop my grave one day? Via GeekAlerts.
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