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Fewer Shuffles Suffice
An anonymous reader writes "You may have heard that it takes about seven shuffles to mix up a deck of cards to near randomness. Turns out, though, that most of the time, perfect randomness is more than you need. In blackjack, for example, you don't care about suits. The same mathematician who developed the original result now says that for many games, four shuffles is enough. And the result isn't only important for card sharks. It helps reveal the math underlying Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulations, telling applied mathematicians when they can stop their simulations."
My reply was shuffled 4 times and it's now at a completely random position!
4 shuffles should be enough for everyone.
...deck shuffles you.
Quick, somebody report a bug to Microsoft. Free Cell and Hearts need a patch!
"We're all enthusiastic," Diaconis says, "because you can describe it to your mom, the math is hard, and the results are interesting."
RTFA just for it to turn out to be a Your-Mom joke. Thanks guys. You really got me.
Not so obligatory link: http://xkcd.com/221/
Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.
welcome our new less-thoroughly-shuffled overlords. (I am truly sorry for that, but I couldn't resist)
What we really need is a ten day waiting period and a background check before you can buy a congressman.
First! (this shuffling really works!)
Extreme Programming - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Developers