Code, Strings, and Keys

Category: math

  • Kentucky Lottery Pick 3 Expected Payout

    The expected payouts for the Kentucky Lottery Pick 3 game have an interesting idiosyncrasy. Playing the special “Straight Box” play pays out better than a separate 50¢ straight and 50¢ box play. All other plays average 60¢ per dollar played, but the straight box seems to be 65¢ and 70¢, depending on the numbers played.…

  • Entropy of iPhone headphone cables (an excuse to experiment with WP-LaTeX)

    Why is it that iPhone earbuds seem to tangle with so many more hopeless tangles than any other cables? Of course, this whole exercise was an excuse to play with LaTeX and the WP-LaTeX plugin. I also managed to find a nice LaTeX cheat sheet in the process.

  • Google Calculator cheat sheet

    I just found an awesome site describing some of the features in Google while looking for info on Google Calculator:  Google Guide My first find was the Quick Reference: Google Calculator (Cheat Sheet). I like this tip from Google Guide solutions to Calculator problems: Compute the probability of your winning the lottery if you buy…