Free Cash Chance !
Take a Chance Wednesday
(take a chance, take a chance)
(With a care-free descent into the random nature of randomness and some advice on what I should do on Fleet Street or Strand today)
The title did say it all- I have placed 'free' cash (a £5 note) (in a plastic bag) somewhere on Fleet street / Strand at 7.48am this morning (I love the term secret location). It wasn’t random and the answer lies within the text and photos here on this post. Very Da Vinci code. Study the picture carefully- Cryptologist beware! Some are meaningless, some are pointless but some are absolutely ‘on the money’ as it were.
This web site jumped at me last night: Leon’s Random Generators. Well not literally, just popped up, on a random google search which was ironic.
Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris was my role model for today and gave me the following things to do. Firstly form and name a Band. As Strandman I am dedicated to fashion and I was up for the challenge so I accepted the mission.
He suggested (and I immediately formed) the following bands:
‘CHICKEN HAWK ROCKERS’
I like the idea- a sort of Clash meets Robert Mason / LURP fusion. I am in!
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS:
BILLY BILE BAND
THE CONVULSING EIGHT
JON YILMAZ ROCKS-LIKE TRIO
PUMKIN PISTOLS
DOCTOR BETTER NOT
BOYISH BLADES with a PROBLEM
STEEL ALICE’S FUNERAL
The band is formed and ready and we now need to have the killer Lyric.
Certain
| You burst a blood vessel? |
| When did hella chicken hearts cease? |
| The love lies bedding-zongerbird of fuzz and your 9th with three skull soups Does blank cheese and French madame’s type today for tea? |
| |
| More bird on mister cathode . |
| When don't you prevail not? |
| If you are a facade, spout... |
| I will erect a monument to the gods flimproblarsely. |
Feeling the will to live ebb away then and almost decided to run up Fleet Street yelling those catchy words.Then those difficult ‘tunes’ and Chord Progressions:
In the key of F
F F A# A# F F A# A# F F C7 C F F C Cm
F F A# A# F F A# A# F F C7 C F F C Cm
Muscians help me here but I suspect anti-grunge pain sound. [So, good then.]
And finally the ‘Advice’ section. Gosh I have been waiting for this:
IF YOU ARE A RUNNER MAN, BABY YOU BETTER CRACK YOUR MAGAZINE
-- ANONYMOUS (1945 CE)
So after that assault on the senses, what is ‘Random’ and how can I claim my five pounds?
The word random is used to express lack of purpose, cause, order, or predictability in non-scientific language which you might here on Strand or Fleet Street. A random process is a repeating process whose outcomes follow no describable deterministic pattern, but follow a probability distribution.
The term randomness is often used in statistics to signify well defined statistical properties, such as lack of bias or correlation. [Bias? Cricket Umpire? Me?]
Random is different from arbitrary, because to say that a variable is random means that the variable follows a probability distribution (the famous if incorrectly named bell curve) .
Arbitration requires judgement and skill- not Chance.
So the big band plays and we ask the question: Randomness -v- unpredictability?
Randomness is an objective property. [the way you or I see it, or indeed Leon may generate it].
What appears random to one observer may not appear random to another observer. The telling legal argument of what a man on Clapham Omnibus might think- (see picture at top of this article for 'Man looking cross on Strand Omnibus'.
Consider two observers of a sequence of bits, only one of which who has the cryptographic key needed to turn the sequence of bits into a readable message. The message is not random, but is for one of the observers unpredictable. So very Dan Brown.
Ever wondered about the randomness of Roulette? Can you beat the system? Well consider this…If red has come up 16 times in a row what are the chances of it being red next time? Well, is it Random?
One of the intriguing aspects of random processes is that it is hard to know whether the process is truly random. The observer can always suspect that there is some "key" that unlocks the message. This is one of the foundations of superstition. Albert Einstein (let us pray) is reputed to have stated,
"You cannot beat a roulette table unless you steal money from it."
And yet, the numerous even money bets in roulette have inspired many players over the years to attempt to beat the game by using one or more variations of a Martingale betting strategy, wherein the gamer doubles the bet after every loss, so that the first win would recover all previous losses, plus win a profit equal to the original bet. I have tried it and you need a huge store of money to do this and you walk away happy but just about even (in my experience- don't try this at home, online or in a Casino).
Another strategy is the Fibonacci system (or any other Mathematical progression or sequence), where bets are calculated according to the Fibonacci sequence. Regardless of the specific progression, no such strategy can statistically overcome the Casino's advantage (which has nothing to do with zero by the way).
Therefore, I Strandman, conclude that Random is not truly random in the sense of the word.
For a 'random outcome' to occur there must be at least one variable which changes each time the event is repeated or else the same outcome will always occur. However variables influence the outcome of an event and the more variables there are the more contorted the end result will be.
Random is applied to a situation where the end result can not accurately be guessed because of the number of influencing variables. That is Strandman’s view on life.
And you need some help with a job? Random interview questions seems good…
http://tools.monster.com/virtualinterviews/random/
SM
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BigAL (25.10.06 12:45) If i lived nearer I would be searching right now- think I have got 2 clues- are you going to give the answer?? When? Excellent style today. |
