How Much Is A Billion

It appears that depends on what country you're from.

It's all in the zeroes. Happy 2010!

Weather Conversion Calculators

Extremely useful! Put in one number and the others show up as well.

The database is a:
Distance Conversion Calculator (Meters, Inches, Feet, Yards, Miles, Nautical Miles)
Speed Conversion Calculator (Meters per Second, Kilometer per Hour, Miles per Hour, Knots per Hour)
Weight Conversion Calculator (Grams, Kilograms, Ounces, Pounds, Troy Pounds)
and several more.

What’s In A Name

I’ve mentioned the Wall Street Journal’s The Numbers Guy, who questions the conventional wisdom about statistical report before. Recently, he took on studies suggesting that major league baseball players with first or last initial K were more likely than average to strike out; and business graduate students with initials C or D had lower grades, on average, perhaps reflecting an unconscious affinity to the grades corresponding to their initials. Why IS that, and is that really what's going on?

Random Numbers

"RANDOM.ORG offers true random numbers to anyone on the Internet. The randomness comes from atmospheric noise, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random number algorithms typically used in computer programs. People use the numbers to run lotteries, draws and sweepstakes and for their games and gambling sites. Scientists use them for random sampling and as input to modelling and simulation applications. Artists use them to make art and music. The service has been operating since 1998 and was built and is being maintained by Mads Haahr who is a Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin in Ireland."

It includes everything from a Coin Flipper to a Dice Roller (useful if you don't actually have the dice you need for a game) to an Integer Generator up to 10,000 numbers, with values determined by the user, limits ±1,000,000,000. A Sequence Generator is the same as the Integer Generator except it eliminates duplicates. And there's a lot more.

The Numbers Guy

RECOMMENDED BLOG: The Numbers Guy. "Carl Bialik examines the way numbers are used, and abused." Free from the Wall Street Journal. Recent examples:

The Trouble With Ranking Life-Expectancy Numbers (August 27)
Calculating the Cost of Weddings (August 23): noting the difference between the mean and the median price of matrimony
Increasingly in Baseball, Stealing Pays (August 21): Go, METS! Literally.