For anyone who has ever wondered what are the odds of a man using a public restroom and not washing his hands (1 in 2.99), or the odds of winning the jackpot (1 in 195,200,000) or any other obscure or practical thing, there is a Web site that is sure to delight.
Bookofodds.com was designed to be an easily accessible and standardized reference to “the odds of everyday life.”
It began in 2006, as a Boston-based start-up company and was launched in late 2009. The site claims to have more than several hundred thousand probabilities that vary in topics from debt to sex to politics and more. Visitors can find the odds they are looking for by searching by literally the odds (for example, a visitor might type in “2″ to find out what activities have a one out of two odds), by keyword, with a visual component or by browsing topics, tags, and articles. There are many ways to access the information, but it takes a little getting used to, to navigate with ease.
There is a plethora of well-researched information (the sources are all listed at the bottom of the every “odds statement”) available to visitors for free. However, as with many sites, visitors are encouraged to register to gain access to added features. Some of these include the ability to suggest odds statements that are not currently listed and collect and save favorite odds statements.
And if that’s not enough for one sitting there is always the site’s store, where visitors can purchase t-shirts and mugs with selected odds statements. Perhaps a good gift idea? Maybe they have an odds statement for the likelihood of someone enjoying an odds statement-embossed mug.
Either way this site can be both practical and fun in offering insight into the odds of everyday things.
Contact the reporter at Nicole.ethier@asu.edu.
