How can you tell if a sequence of numbers is random (and, of course, what does random mean here)? We discuss a variety of real-world problems where the behavior of the leading digits of a 'random' sequence is not what you would expect. This phenomenon was first noticed by observing which pages of log tables were most worn with age. Nowadays it is used by the IRS to catch tax cheaters. For most of the talk, all that is needed is basic algebra, though we will quote one or two needed results from number theory.

USG funded