We’re continuing our discussion of things Dr. Su’s visit made us think about.

In our previous post, we learned that if you do the Riffle Shuffle, then you should do it 7+ times to get close to perfectly mixing the deck.  Remember, by perfectly mixed we said that all 52! configurations are equally likely.   We’d like to revisit that statement.  First, let us remind you that

Why is that the number of configurations?  Well, for each configuration there is 52 possibilities for the first card, and once that’s been chosen, there is 51 possible cards for the second card, and so on.  To get the total possible number of configurations you have to multiply all these possibilities together.

Okay, but how big of a number is 52!?  Pretty big, you say.   For this and all other calculations in this post we’ll use Wolfram Alpha.  That’s a search engine recently released by the makers of Mathematica which is especially good at working with numbers.  In particular, it can do most of the things Mathematica can do (like integrals! Try typing “integrate sin(x)” into Alpha.).

Using Alpha, we get that 52! is (after rounding down) around .  That is, 8 with 67 zeros after it.  Okay, that sounds pretty big.  To give you some idea, there is an estimated atoms in the universe.  So it’s up in that range.

Here is the amazing thing.   Let’s estimate (actually we’ll way overestimate) how many different configurations of the standard 52 card deck have occurred since shuffling was invented.   Here is the numbers we will use (hopefully you’ll agree that they are all reasonable or, more likely, overestimates):

• Let’s say playing cards have been around for 10,000 years (actually, it’s more like 1,500 years).
• Let’s say each of those years has had  100,000,000 seconds (actually 365*24*60*60 = 31,536,000, but there was leap days, etc., so we’ll round way up).
• Let’s say during each of those seconds there was 10,000,000,000 people living on the Earth (actually right now there is around 6,800,000,000, and that’s the most it’s ever been).
• Let’s say that for every second of every one of those 10,000 years all those people were doing one riffle shuffle a second.
• Let’s also assume that every single shuffle resulted in a brand new configuration that never occurred before.

Hopefully you agree that every assumption is a ridiculous overestimate.  Multiplying it all together we see that there has been a total of

That’s a huge number!  Or is it?  In scientific notation, that is different configurations which have happend.  Said a different way, as a fraction of the total possible only

of the total number of configurations have occurred.

Said a different way, if you have shuffled your deck a good 10+ times so that is well mixed, then the configuration your deck is in has a one in chance that it has occurred before.  In comparison, if you buy one Powerball lottery ticket, your odds of winning is one in 195,249,054.

That is, you are more likely to win the next 5 Powerball drawings then to have a configuration which has occurred before!

The odds are staggeringly high that your well mixed deck of cards are in a configuration which has never, ever occurred before in the history of cards!

If that doesn’t blow your mind, then you are probably better off playing cards with these guys:

16    24    26    28    52    PB23
15    39    46    52    59    PB11
23    24    46    51    53    PB37
14    16    27    47    51    PB06
16    22    46    49    50    PB27
12    47    48    52    53    PB09
22    24    27    39    48    PB20
13    16    26    39    53    PB16
12    13    27    38    46    PB39
13    14    23    50    52    PB30
13    15    40    47    53    PB22
14    26    40    46    48    PB25
12    22    23    26    59    PB29
13    28    48    51    59    PB33
12    39    40    50    51    PB12
15    26    27    28    50    PB05
12    14    15    24    49    PB08
14    22    28    38    53    PB02
23    28    39    47    49    PB15
15    16    23    38    48    PB21
24    38    47    50    59    PB04
16    27    40    49    59    PB19
26    38    49    51    52    PB36
14    38    39    40    59    PB14
12    16    28    46    59    PB17
22    23    27    40    47    PB07
13    24    26    47    49    PB38
27    28    49    50    53    PB18
15    22    46    47    51    PB13
12    13    16    22    24    PB01
24    28    38    40    50    PB03
22    27    52    53    59    PB10
13    15    22    39    49    PB24
15    24    51    53    59    PB26
26    38    39    46    47    PB28
12    23    40    49    53    PB31
12    14    28    39    51    PB32
16    47    48    50    52    PB34
13    28    40    46    52    PB34
14    15    26    50    53    PB35
15    22    40    51    52    PB23
23    24    27    39    52    PB11
14    46    48    49    59    PB37
12    15    26    27    48    PB06
13    23    48    50    51    PB27
16    38    39    48    53    PB09
22    28    38    48    52    PB20
14    23    24    27    46    PB16

Not a day goes by that I don’t fantasize about creating an endowment for the library.  Dressed to the nines, with winning PowerBall ticket in hand, I will call a press conference in the Reference Department.  There, in a speech designed to make the angels weep,  I will finish the job Andrew Carnegie began by declaring my intention to fund the Carnegie Library in perpetuity.  Banners will wave.  People will cheer.  Brian O’Neill will write a wryly laudatory column about the whole affair, and we’ll all live happily ever after.

It’s a lovely daydream.  Of course, for any of that to happen, I would have to start actually buying tickets.  And I totally would, except that, while the deus ex machina approach satisfies my flair for the dramatic, the odds are against my being able to pull that particular rabbit out of my hat.

Luckily, none of us has to save the library all alone.  Everything goes better when we all work together, and some wonderful folks at The Pittsburgh Foundation have created an opportunity for smaller-scale philanthropists like you and me, so we can do just that. 

Tomorrow, October 28, 2009, is the day you can do your part for library funding.  Click here for details, or click on the stunning black-and-gold ”PittsburghGives.org” icon in the right-hand sidebar of our blog, to learn more about this special opportunity to help the library.

Think a smaller donation can’t make a difference?  Courtesy of the fine people in the CLP Development Office, here are some examples of the kind of  impact your donation can have:

$25 buys two children’s picture books, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Goodnight Moon. It’s also enough purchasing power for one graphic novel.

$50 allows the library to purchase one non-fiction audio book.

$75 buys three titles for the Bestsellers collection, which includes popular works by authors such as Dan Brown, Patricia Cornwell, and James Patterson.

If you’re in a position to give a little bit more, your dollars can go even further.  Observe:

$100 supplies a puppeteer or storyteller during summer reading.

$150 covers guest speaking fees for a program on job seeking or tax law.

$250 pays for a one-year subscription to The Wall Street Journal, one of our many periodicals.

Now, let’s say you and your friends threw a house party, or had a bake sale, and you’ve pooled a larger amount of resources for the library.  How far will your contribution go?

$500 provides professional staff and literacy materials for a community outreach visit to a local school or child care center.

$1,000 allows the library to hold four multi-session workshops for parents, so they can assist  their children’s early literacy development.

$2,000 pays for approximately one month of access to one of the library’s research databases.

Even if you’re not quite ready to fund the burning need for full-text journal articles just yet, it’s okay:  every little bit helps.  Please consider taking advantage of this special opportunity to help the library on Pittsburgh’s day of giving.  And after you donate, you can give yourself a pat on the back for being part of the team effort to save Pittsburgh’s libraries.

Everyday philanthropy, woo hoo!  Tune in next time when I’ll tell you all about why I have a Donor Plus Card (no, it’s not a job requirement!).

Leigh Anne
aspiring fairy goth-mother

Must be a sign of the times with so many people taking shots at Daniel Snyder. Now the DC Lottery is getting in on the Burgundy Revolution fun with this awesome commercial.

This commercial should begin airing next week according to The Big Lead.

[via The Big Lead]

Nieuwe rage uit amerika: de Powerball, met dit apparaat traint u waar dan ook zonder gewichten uw pols, hand, onderarm en bovenarm.
Door met je pols bewegingen te blijven maken gaat de middenkern van de bal draaien, hierdoor ontstaat er “middelpunt vliegende kracht” al met al; De kern van de bal vliegt naar buiten waardoor  er kracht onstaat, deze kracht staan bijna gelijk aan kilo’s bijvoorbeeld: 15.000 toeren staat gelijk aan ongeveer 18 kg, dit is voor de meeste mensen niet haalbaar, maar probeer het te redden en schaf er een aan met de toerenteller, houd wedstrijden met je vrienden en kijk wie de meeste toeren kan halen, verbeter je eigen record en krijg meer kracht en grip in je handen.

Ideaal voor mensen die met bijvoorbeeld gitaar bezig zijn en hun grip willen verbeteren of hun uithoudingsvermogen.
De powerball is te verkrijgen in verschillende kleuren en met verschillende functies zoals; licht en een snelheid/toeren meter.
Je zult versteld staan van de vooruitgang van kracht in je polsen en je handen, houd dus grip op de zaak met de powerball.

verkrijgbaar in;

• Regular zonder snelheidsmeter
• Regular MET snelheidsmeter
• Powerball Amberlight zonder snelheidsmeter
• Powerball Amberlight met snelheidsmeter
• Powerball Blue Light zonder snelheidsmeter
• Powerball Blue Light met snelheidsmeter
• Powerball Greenlight zonder snelheidsmeter
• Powerball Greenlight met snelheidsmeter
• Powerball techno
• Super Powerball (+metallic kistje)

Wees wel oplettend want  teveel gebruik van de Powerball in het begin kan ervoor zorgen dat uw spieren overbelast raken en u kunt de volgende dag niet eens meer uw computermuis bewegen.
Begin rustig en bouw langzaam op en u zult zien dat uw grip per dag zal toenemen.

bestel nu de Powerball op bestelkado ( accessoires ook te verkrijgen op bestelkado )

You may ask that what the heck is a powerball but i will leave it to another post or many other resources on the web. This article is to people who know the fundamentals of Powerball and tried the technology at least once. Powerballs seem to be known by just an elite academic group whose expertise areas are already related to Powerballs, but the area is continuously improving and we will be able to welcome this next-gen technology into our houses in no time, thanks to many Barzos who are making many sacrifices to make Powerballs available to us. Just like planes, cell phones, TV and Whiskey were once utopic fantasies of ours, Powerballs will also be applicable soon.

Who are these Barzos, and why are they so into these Powerballs, what good do these mysterious devices bring to society, these questions remain unknown but our team was able to contact one barzo to tell us few things about Powerballs.

( T stands for the Team, and B of course stands for the Barzo)

T : Hello sir, how are you today? Isn’t it too early to drink Whiskey?

B : Pass that (Onu Geccen), every moment is good for Whiskey.

T: Okay, so why Powerball?

B: You be raad

T : What is raad?

B : It stands for Relaxation And Anxiety Discharge.

Bu yazi cok boktan oldugu icin devam edemiycem.

So amuirin over at Stop and Wander decided to tag/nominate me for the Honest Scrap award. What’s that you say? Well it’s basically a hey I just listed 10 honest things about myself and I want to see what 10 things you can come up with, however if your being hit by someone of Am’s caliber then she must think that you show a “remarkable honesty” in your blog. (she certainly shows such in hers) Once you finish your list you are supposed to pass the award off onto your blog friends, while they in turn must do the same. So this brings me to Number 10

10. I don’t have enough contacts or readers or blog friends on here to pass this off too. I’m selective with friends in real life and the same goes for the blogs I check out.

9. I wish to win the big Powerball lottery so I can do nothing but what I feel like doing for the rest of my days. I don’t want a butler or servants but it would be nice to have someone clean the house, mow the lawn, cook regular meals, be my driver (because quite frankly I don’t really like driving more than 10 minutes.)
After paying off families mortgages and bills and donating some to certain causes I really have no big plans for the rest of the cash I guess I’d build a new house. Something that looked castlesque on the outside but all the newest modern conveniences on the inside. Go suba diving in the Caribbean. (shrug)

8. I have a thing for Red Heads and nice breasts. While the last part is not a huge surprise the red head thing is to most people I know. If I’m cruising the interwebs for pron or whatever and see a Red head of hair I will check it out a lot quicker than just about anything else. If I see a Red Head on the streets or in a store I will take a second and third look. While I’m not too creepy normally Red Heads do it for me. Jean Grey is my favorite female X-man. I use to read Spiderman comics not for spidey so much but for Mary Jane.

7. I use to read comics, but like so much of my geekhood I gave them up when I got married. Not because she said I couldn’t (that wouldn’t have gone over well) but because I figured I needed to grow up since I was married.

6. It takes approximately 20 minutes for me to take a dump. I read, play with the features on my phone, Grunt and push, then wipe until the TP comes up clean.

5. I like coffee. But that’s not it really. I like coffee with cream and lots of sugar. So much sugar that I don’t have a beer belly I have a coffee, cream and sugar belly. If I need to loose weight for the military I switch to diet creamer and I can loose about 10 to 15 lbs in a month. If it’s not cream and sugar I use vanilla creamer. I really should get the diet kind but it’s not the same. So I like Foo foo coffee. Well not all foo foo coffee. I hate Starbucks. All their coffee tastes burnt to me. (well except for the canned Starbucks Double shots they sell in the stores near the energy drinks….I love those)

4. I SIT DOWN TO PEE. If you haven’t figured it out yet I am a guy but yes alot of the time I do sit down to just take a wiz. The thing is I have two female children ages 11 and 6…….they will just walk into the bathroom no matter if their mother is in there or I am. Doesn’t matter what we are doing either. Instead of locking the door I just decided it would be easier to cop a squat than keep them from the mirrors and hair doo dads and whatever secret lotions and crap women keep in the bathroom. This all started when my oldest was younger and asked her mother why daddy had a tail.

3. Talking to my oldest daughter (11) after watching watchmen and discussing Sex wasn’t nearly as hard as you would think.

2. Sex on the beach isn’t one of my fantasies….It’s pretty and all but you accidentally get a few grains of sand in there and the romance is gone. On the other hand if you have nice beach house with a nice view of the beach, ocean and setting sun and I’m there. I prefer the comfort of a bed, couch, kitchen table, washing machine…..The same goes for sex in the woods. It sounds romantic but I’d rather have the comforts of a tent at the least. (with a large air mattress because nothing ruins the moment like a large stick or rock digging into your backside.) However after saying all this and I just happen to be in one of these situations and the moment is right………..

1. Just went to the Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire and found out that the ladies with tails hanging off the sides of there belts (like scalps) denoted how many times they have shagged at faire. Now these were all single females ( I am assuming ) I have to admit that there were a few that I wouldn’t have minded giving a new tail to. There were also some that I shuddered to think who would actually do them….( Please wax that upper lip ) Then I see some of the other faire goers and how much home brewed drinks get passed around and I understand. What’s worse is the kids seeing the adults wearing them wanted one as well so the clueless parents got them for their children. So now you have ages 8 and up wearing these tails. It was hard to tell where the Kids tails stopped and the shag tails started. At least most of the kids wore theirs like an actual tail instead of the spoils of war.

Lots of people like to gamble every now and then, but Black People prefer to game when they know they have absolutely no chance of wining. A great example is the money-wasting scheme  known as playing the lottery.

The lottery is purposefully rigged to prevent Black People from winning with any frequency. Everyone knows this, except Black People. Only accidentally are Black People allowed to win large amounts of money such as when South Carolina resident Solomon Jackson Jr, Black Person, won the $260 million dollar Powerball in August 2009.

Unfortunately, this will only fuel even more Black People to spend their hard earned money on worthless lottery tickets and will offset Mr. Jackson’s winnings ten fold. Lottery tickets and scratch & win cards have been siphoning money from the Black Community with (mostly) false hopes of hitting it big. This is yet another cruel invention designed to take money from the Black People that’s almost as bad as buying rims.

Often referred to as the exclamation mark at the end of a sentence! A woman in red doesn’t question whether she’s got it. She knows the answer. *wink wink*

Beyonce, Gwen & Rhi rhi got it right!

I can’t stress enough just how much I LOVE red lipstick! Red pouty lips are considered to be the sign of the seductress. Sure I love pink shades, and sometimes I’ll do nude shades *hardly*, but red? I do red like everyday, in fact if I don’t have on red lipstick or some kind of red lip stain then it’s by accident. lol  

Red lipstick MUST be worn with confidence or not at all

Ancient Egyptians used to paint their lips red, and line their eyes with khol; a look that’s still very popular today. In Japan, the geishas used to paint their faces white and their lips red; another look that’s still popular minus painting our faces white!
People are often intimidated to wear red lipstick, but when it comes down to it, there’s a shade out there for everyone. BUT. Red lipstick MUST be worn with confidence or not at all. The fact that it’s such a look at me color means it’s very important to rock red lips like it’s second nature! If you don’t wanna be looked at then I suggest trying another shade… *walks away disappointed* 

No matter your race, or complexion, there’s a red out there for you!

 They always say pick a color that goes with your skin, sure this works but playing it safe is sooo boring! Especially when it comes to red lipstick… c’mon now what’s safe about red lipstick? You gotta experiment; If you like a shade of red that “doesn’t match” your skin tone, try it out anyway… there are ways to make it work!

I was told to stick to browns, nudes, or dark shades of red when deciding on lip color because of my full lips and dark complexion… whatever *sloooooowwwww eyeroll* I’ve worn brick reds, true reds, and even “blue” reds, and so far we look damn good together!

Some people think women who wear red lipstick have questionable morals (whateverrrrr); In 1770, the British Parliament enacted a law condemning lipstick, and “women found guilty of seducing men into matrimony by cosmetic means” were tried for witchcraft. *wtf??!!!* Queen Victoria even declared makeup, including red lipstick to be impolite…*blank stare* Despite what people thought, women still loved red lipstick, and at the beginning of the 20th century, more women started wearing it as a symbol of empowerment and beauty. 

By World War II, red lipstick had become an icon of femininity; It became a necessity for women who still wanted to feel beautiful even though they worked in factories. This definitely still applies today; red lips + chef jacket= hottest chef you’ve ever seen! lol

Over time, as fashion has changed, red lipstick is still a classic. From housewives who wore it to libidinous rock n roller’s celebrated it. Red lipstick became a secret weapon, the “go-to” cosmetic item for women who wanted/needed to feel as a woman should. Beautiful, confident, powerful. And it’s here to stay… at least with me!

See you tomorrow at HeyDoYou Housecalls!!!

*big red kisses!*

Bella

FYI: In human color psychology, the color red is associated with heat, energy, blood, and emotions that “stir the blood”, including anger, passion, love and pain.

FYI #2: Suffragettes were women who campaigned for the rights of women to vote.

Questa settimana è bene per il mondo delle lotterie! L’opposto di quello che sta succedendo in Senato e in Formula 1. Lasciamo queste questioni per responsabili e pensiamo alle cose buone. Vuoi una eccellente opportunità per investire i vostri soldi? Bene, il Milo Euro, la lotteria più grande in Europa è di € 100.000.000 nel montepremi! That’s right 100 milioni in 18 Settembre! Si tratta di denaro molto. Non avete idea di quello che avrebbe causato così tanti soldi?

Lo stesso giorno sarà ancora attratto da Mega Millions con 51 milioni di dollari! Scegli quello che ti piace e fai clic qui per fare tutti i tuoi sogni! È molto facile, conveniente e sicuro! È possibile acquistare i biglietti prima di partire cliccando qui! Garantiamo la tua soddisfazione o rimborsati.

Oltre a tutti ancora hanno il Powerball, la lotteria più grande negli Stati Uniti con 100 milioni di dollari, che sarà redatto il 19 settembre! Così fretta ora e garantire il passaporto per il mondo di abbondanza cliccando qui!

Pensate a quanto si può vincere con un piccolo investimento. Questa è l’unica possibilità di diventare ricchi per molte persone. Così giocare ora e buona fortuna!

E per coloro che amano giocare con noi in questo periodo ha preparato una promozione più di un po ’speciale! 50% di sconto per l’acquisto in qualsiasi lotteria si fanno utilizzando il nostro sito! Basta inserire il codice 8EFAC4 al momento dell’acquisto. Ma la fretta, perché è valida per i primi 5!

Diese Woche ist für die Welt von Lotterien gut! Das Gegenteil von dem, was passiert im Senat und in der Formel 1. Lassen wir diese Fragen für die Verantwortlichen und wir denken, gute Dinge. Möchten Sie eine ausgezeichnete Möglichkeit, Ihr Geld zu investieren? Nun, ist der Euro Milo, der größten Lotterie in Europa zu 100.000.000 Euro im Preispool! That’s right 100 Millionen in der 18. September! Das ist sehr viel Geld. Sie haben keine Ahnung, was so viel Geld bringen würde?

Am selben Tag wird noch Mega Millions werden mit 51 Millionen Dollar gezeichnet! Wählen Sie die von Ihnen und wie Klicken Sie hier, um all Ihre Träume wahr werden! Es ist sehr einfach, sicher und bequem! Sie können Ihre Tickets kaufen, bevor Sie indem Sie hier klicken lassen! Wir garantieren Ihre Zufriedenheit oder Geld zurück.

Neben allen noch die Powerball, der größten Lotterie in den USA mit 100 Millionen Dollar, die am 19. September gezogen werden! Also beeilen Sie jetzt und sichern Ihren Pass der Welt des Überflusses indem Sie hier klicken!

Überlegen Sie, wie viel Sie mit einer so geringen Investitionen zu gewinnen. Dies ist die einzige Chance, reich für viele Menschen. So spielen Sie jetzt und viel Glück!

Und für diejenigen, die mit uns während dieser Zeit zu spielen bereit, eine Beförderung mehr als wie ein kleines Special! 50% Rabatt für Bestellungen bei Gewinnspielen Sie über unsere Webseite! Geben Sie einfach den Code 8EFAC4 zum Zeitpunkt des Kaufs. Aber beeilen, weil es für die ersten 5 gültig!

Esta semana es bueno para el mundo de las loterías! Lo contrario de lo que está pasando en el Senado y en la Fórmula 1. Dejemos estas cuestiones para los responsables y pensamos en cosas buenas. ¿Quieres una excelente oportunidad para invertir su dinero? Bueno, el Milo de euros, la más grande de la lotería en Europa es a 100.000.000 de euros en el fondo de premios! Eso es 100 millones de 18 de septiembre! Esto es mucho dinero. No tienes idea de lo que podría causar tanto dinero?

El mismo día, todavía se señala a Mega Millions, con 51 millones de dólares! Elija el que más te guste y haga click aquí para hacer todos sus sueños se hagan realidad! Es muy fácil, conveniente y seguro! Usted puede comprar sus entradas antes de salir haciendo clic aquí! Le garantizamos su satisfacción o le devolvemos su dinero.

Además de todo todavía tiene la Powerball, el más grande de la lotería en los EE.UU. con 100 millones de dólares, que será elegido el 19 de septiembre! Así que date prisa ahora y garantizar su pasaporte al mundo de abundancia haciendo clic aquí!

Piense en cuánto puede ganar con una inversión tan pequeña. Esta es la única oportunidad de hacerse rico para muchas personas. Así que jugar ahora y buena suerte!

Y para aquellos que les gusta jugar con nosotros durante este tiempo preparado una promoción más que un poco especial! 50% de descuento para cualquier compra en cualquier lotería que usted haga uso de nuestro sitio! Sólo tienes que introducir el código 8EFAC4 el momento de la compra. Pero date prisa porque es válido para los 5 primeros!

Existem mais de 500 milhões de dólares entre os três loterias no mundo. O Euromilhões é o pior deles e tem uma bem mais de 42 milhões de euros.Em seguida, vem a Mega Millions, com $ 28 milhões e, finalmente, temos o melhor de loteria no mundo de hoje, a Powerball, com uma impressionante piscina de $ 81 milhões.E que nem sequer mencionado na loteria nacional da Itália, o SuperEnalotto, com muitos milhões a sua espera, na loteria deve ser tocada exclusivamente no The Lotter.

Não perca tempo e clique aqui para jogar os melhores loterias do mundo e realizar seus sonhos. Você está a apenas um clique para fazer de você um milionário. Clique aqui e começe a sonhar.

The good people of Arizona have few choices when it comes to winning $1 million plus lottery prizes. They can play the multi-state Powerball where the prizes are huge or they can play the AZ lottery “The Pick”

“The Pick” requires the player to select six numbers from the range 1-44. The odds against getting the jackpot are 7 million to 1. The jackpot starts at $1 million and increases by $100,000 each week it is not won. The rate of increase grows after 10 weeks.

Over the last 50 draws there have been 6 winners and the winning amounts have been:

$2 million
$1.1 million
$1.7 million
$1.3 million
$2.3 million
$5 miilion

The average of these wins is $2.23 million which compares very unfavorably with the odds against winning of  7 million to 1. It seems that the way rollovers are managed favors the State Lottery Board rather than the lottery players of Arizona. It can be argued that this way it benefits all Arizona residents rather than the lucky winners.

The odds of winning the Powerball lottery are 195 million to 1, 28 times greater than winning “The Pick” but Powerball jackpots are mostly even greater still. A simple rule of thumb could be to play Powrball rather than “The Pick” if the Powerball estimated jackpot has grown to 28 or more times “The Pick” jackpot.

The chances of winning either of thes lottery jackpots is remote and lotteries as a gambling proposition are universally poor value. The reason for playing should be a bit of fun with a glimmer of hope. If a prize of one or two millions is beyond your wildest dreams then playing “The Pick” makes some sense. If you need the hope of huge riches, then the Powerball is better for you. In any event, spend very little – in truth one ticket is enough.

Another point: choose numbers that minimize your chances of having to share your prize. You can learn a lot more about these topics at www.HowToPickLotteryNumbers.com.

I plan to do a series of blogs like this on all State lotteries.If you would like me to get to your state sooner rather than later, leave a message here or on www.HowToPickLotteryNumbers.com .

At $930, these Christian Louboutin shoes belong in my Fantasy Life also known as “When I win the Powerball…” But they’re gorgeous and dangerous and absolutely extravagant; so they deserve a mention. Other items in this category, Missoni Casa textiles, Hermes bags and limited-edition Rolex watches. Swoon. That is all.

What do the economy, topless women, Powerball, Senator McCain, President Obama and Jessica Biel have in common? All will be in FNF Monday!

This year 2009 has seen some massive Powerball lottery prizes in excess of $200 million and now Megamillions is catching the eye with a mouth-watering potential jackpot of $325 million.

The odds against winning either of these lotteries are gigantic but the fact remains that eventually someone always wins the jackpot, even if it takes several weeks. There is nothing you can do to predict the winning numbers and on a strict staistical basis money you spend on any lottery is a bad bet. However you have to be “in it to win it” so I adopt the strategy of buying only one ticket. This gives me a glimmer of hope without the feeling that I am wasting money.

One other little tip: on some occasions State or National Lotto games can be a better bet than the Megamillions, Powerball or Euromillions lotteries. This occurs when the Lotto in question has several rollovers leading to a prize of say $25 million with odds against of 14 million to one, whereas the big lottery has just been won, the prize is down to $13 million and the odds remain an astronomical 100 million to one plus. In these circumstances it is better to buy a Lotto ticket rather than Megamillions, Powerball or Euromillions tickets.

Learn more about these strategies at www.HowToPickLotteryNumbers.com .

So I am a complete nerd about data. I got lottery data from 1994 to today and decided to visualize it just to see what it shows. I was surprised by the results. Hope you can see the beauty of “random”. I will try and get more visualization at a later by including dates in the equations. Enjoy.

Update (8/28/09) – New Visuals 

I created a new visual to show the pattern I was observing (which is really obvious if you think about it). Number 1 is heavily skewed to the lower numbers, Number 2 is skewed to the lower numbers but not as badly and has a nice hump at the 11 mark. Number 3 is almost like the bell curve with similar distributions on both sides. Number 4 skews a little to the higher numbers. Number 5 is skewed heavily to the higher numbers. Finally the Powerball number is an even distribution but I do see some falloff at the end.

Now why does this make sense? Because the numbers are organized from lowest to highest in position 1 through 5 of course!

Stay tuned for more visualizations coming soon!