Quick Question Thread

[Donathan]

If I type 07 into my phone, followed by nine randomly selected digit, what’s the probability that I’ve called an actual phone number?

[Brother Blades]

If I type 07 into my phone, followed by nine randomly selected digit, what’s the probability that I’ve called an actual phone number?

It’s 9 to the power 12, I can’t be arsed working out the odds, but certainly billions to 1.

[Donathan]

It’s 9 to the power 12, I can’t be arsed working out the odds, but certainly billions to 1.

I don’t mean a specific phone number.

[Brother Blades]

I don’t mean a specific phone number.

Neither do I

[Donathan]

Neither do I

The reason I ask is that a bird I met at a gig appears to have given me a fake phone number, and I was surprised to find out that the number provided is actually a person’s number and not just a dead end.

I consider that there are ten billion possible phone numbers in the U.K. from 07000000000 to 07999999999. If all 60m people have one phone number each that means that there’s only a 1 in 167 chance that a randomly selected 11 digit number starting in 07 will be a phone number.


I also appear to have answered my own question and also disproved your answer.

[welshbairn]

18 minutes ago, Donathan said:

If I type 07 into my phone, followed by nine randomly selected digit, what’s the probability that I’ve called an actual phone number?

I spent a drunken night using my shitty landlord's phone to dial random numbers in Moscow and New York. Got through quite often.

[Brother Blades]

The reason I ask is that a bird I met at a gig appears to have given me a fake phone number, and I was surprised to find out that the number provided is actually a person’s number and not just a dead end.

I consider that there are ten billion possible phone numbers in the U.K. from 07000000000 to 07999999999. If all 60m people have one phone number each that means that there’s only a 1 in 167 chance that a randomly selected 11 digit number starting in 07 will be a phone number.


I also appear to have answered my own question and also disproved your answer.

Aye fair do’s, but you never mentioned you lived in the UK, my calculations were global, so my answer is correct. So so sorry that some bird gave you a random number.

[throbber]

It’s 9 to the power 12, I can’t be arsed working out the odds, but certainly billions to 1.

How is it 9 to the power 12?

[topcat(The most tip top)]

The reason I ask is that a bird I met at a gig appears to have given me a fake phone number, and I was surprised to find out that the number provided is actually a person’s number and not just a dead end.

I consider that there are ten billion possible phone numbers in the U.K. from 07000000000 to 07999999999. If all 60m people have one phone number each that means that there’s only a 1 in 167 chance that a randomly selected 11 digit number starting in 07 will be a phone number.


I also appear to have answered my own question and also disproved your answer.

In practice though they aren’t producing a real random string of nine digits

And mobile phone numbers are random

If you had to produce a random phone number of the cuff and wanted to make it seem convincing you’d probably give the first part of one number and the second part of another or just swap the last couple of digits of your actual number

If the first few digits after the 7 are from a real phone then it means that the prefix has at least been allocated to a provider

Which improves your chances of the remaining 6 matching


Mind you the same logic applies if you scribbled it down with one digit wrong

So this doesn’t actually tell us much

[Donathan]

1 hour ago, Brother Blades said:

Aye fair do’s, but you never mentioned you lived in the UK, my calculations were global, so my answer is correct. So so sorry that some bird gave you a random number.

 

All 07 numbers are UK AFAIK. 

The plot thickens, it turns out that it actually is the burd's number and her mate had her phone and was pretending it was fake

[Sergeant Wilson]

2 hours ago, Donathan said:

 

The reason I ask is that a bird I met at a gig appears to have given me a fake phone number

 

I can understand that.

[Bobby Skidmarks]

3 hours ago, Donathan said:

The plot thickens, it turns out that it actually is the burd's number and her mate had her phone and was pretending it was fake

Sounds like she was patching you tbh. 

Did you call it from another phone and she answered?

[welshbairn]

3 hours ago, Donathan said:

 

All 07 numbers are UK AFAIK. 

The plot thickens, it turns out that it actually is the burd's number and her mate had her phone and was pretending it was fake

007 is the dialling code for Russia believe it or not. You may have involved yourself in something more dangerous than you could possibly imagine.

Edited February 10, 2018 by welshbairn

[Gregor147]

Who picks up guide dog poo?

[sevesnape]

1 hour ago, Gregor147 said:

Who picks up guide dog poo?

Your shoe.

[Gaz]

1 hour ago, Gregor147 said:

Who picks up guide dog poo?

To give this a serious answer - the dogs are trained to remain in the same place once they've done so that the owner can pick it up while they're reasonably sure what place it's in.

[welshbairn]

1 minute ago, Gaz said:

To give this a serious answer - the dogs are trained to remain in the same place once they've done so that the owner can pick it up while they're reasonably sure what place it's in.

The dogs must think they're seriously weird.

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

Looking for a replacement all in one wireless printer. Any recommendations trying to get one that’s cheap to buy and cheap to buy ink for? Mainly going to be printing notes for my sons homework

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/printers-scanners-and-ink/printers/hp-envy-5546-home-photo-all-in-one-wireless-inkjet-printer-10143742-pdt.html?awc=1599_1518298672_9ca8143b8c002aec98464134a1717e43&srcid=369&xtor=AL-1&cmpid=aff~HotUKDeals~Communities%20%26%20UGC~47868&awid=47868

9 months of 300 pages per month included in that price.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

1 hour ago, Gaz said:

To give this a serious answer - the dogs are trained to remain in the same place once they've done so that the owner can pick it up while they're reasonably sure what place it's in.

This creates an image of a blind person going at it like a pensioner at the bingo having at their card with a dabber.

[Cardinal Richelieu]

3 hours ago, Gregor147 said:

Who picks up guide dog poo?

Answered this before, but my family used to foster guide dogs. Whenever they need a shite, they're trained to do it in the gutter rather than the pavement. Not sure if that means that you're not legally obliged to pick it up, but it certainly made me happy. 

Had to pick up my first dog shite the other day. I ended up nearly throwing up in a bin. It's the main reason I don't own a dog.