Category Archives: Uncategorized

That is the title of this 2001 paper by mathematician W. D. Kaigh, who revisits the “Arizona Pick 3 incident” in which a flawed random digit generator severely compromised the Arizona Lottery Pick 3 in the summer of 1998. (I … Continue reading →

Chess prodigy Hans Niemann (pictured below, right) has just sued grandmaster Magnus Carlsen in Missouri for defamation. Here is a copy of the 44-page complaint, and here is the first paragraph: “Niemann is a 19-year-old, self-taught chess prodigy. He brings … Continue reading →

Originally posted on prior probability:
On this day (July 4) in 1803, the terms of the treaty between the United States and France for the purchase and sale of Louisiana — the Vente de la Louisiane or “Louisiana Purchase“, a…

Put another way, now that the Twitter deal is apparently back on (see here, for example), is Elon Musk about to make the biggest and costliest mistake of his storied business career? According to this Hudson Institute report, Twitter’s total … Continue reading →

Below are the L.A. Lakers’ stats from last night’s NBA season opener against the Golden State Warriors. I readily concede that this is a small sample size (one game), but combined with last year’s statistics, maybe it’s Anthony Davis–and not … Continue reading →

According to this recent report (hat tip: Drudge), Birds Aren’t Real is a “parody movement” that claims all birds in the US have been replaced by lookalike drones, which are used by the government to spy on citizens. Most (some?) … Continue reading →

Originally posted on prior probability:
The answer is here (image credit: TDE-AC).

One of my favorite reggeaton songs of all time! On another note (sorry!), today (17 October 2022) is Ziggy Marley 54th birthday.

On this day (16 October) in 1793, Marie Antoinette was sentenced to death by a French revolutionary tribunal after a one-day sham trial. She was beheaded at 12:15 PM, and her last words were: “Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l’ai pas … Continue reading →