It's modelled with randomness, each card is taken from left or right with a probability, it's not a deterministic model.

Quite the assumption here: "cards are randomly interleaved from the left or right pile one by one. (Each card gets dropped from either the left or the right pile with a probability that’s proportional to the number of cards remaining in that pile."

... Why would it be proportional to the number of cards in each pile? (Edit: I suppose the person doing the shuffling might adjust the rate of cards coming from each hand ... But not perfectly and continuously)

If there is one card in this pile and no cards in the other, the probability of dropping the card from this pile is one. If instead there are some cards still in the other, a) the probability is less than one, and b) we move one step closer to the first state. So by construction it must be proportional - perhaps a poorly behaved proportionality, but that is still enough for the math to work.

> But not perfectly and continuously

Isn’t that where the randomness comes in?

The randomness comes from sampling the probabilities. The strange assumption is that the probabilities are exactly proportional to number of cards currently in each stack.

There is specific kitchen / bathroom paint that is smoother and has some anti-mold ingredients. Makes a huge difference to use the correct paint in a damp environment.

Condensation itself is a function of the air conditions (temperature and relative humidity ie dew point) and surface temperatures. All surfaces should be comfortably above the dew point to prevent mold. You can use a hygrometer to measure the air, and an infrared thermometer to measure surface temperatures.

> All surfaces should be comfortably above the dew point to prevent mold.

I agree that this should be the case, but actually achieving this in the UK (where heating is very expensive and housing is poorly insulated) is prohibitively expensive for many people.

Dehumidifier is an option as well, and/or heat-recovery ventilation.

Absolutely but one thing about living in rented accommodation - you rarely get to choose the paint.

I agree that a dehumidifier helps but you basically need one in every room. Where I live you can easily take out 10 liters a day from every room during the humid season (which is the maximum capacity of the machine I rented).

Might be different but repainting your apartment is expected from renters here to the point that contracts often state you need to do it every X years and before moving out.

Definitely not normal here although in my current house I did repaint with good paint, but I had to ask the owner permission first.

I think that the owner needing to repaint between tenants is considered normal wear and tear here.

i've always assumed that the letting's agency will _definitely_ take my deposit if i fsck with the walls

This description fits a LOT of economic activity in general.

There's a meta-lesson there.

I wonder what that would cost...

Perhaps less than the cost of not doing it.

Market phenomena like this are a bit like the Manhattan project in that you pay for it, and make use of it, whether you want to or not. It's functionally very similar to the government doing something.

I personally get about 50 tokens per hour.

There was surely also a lot of political will coming from car users. Motorists are a large and vocal constituency.

Megabucks is a common word but not often used as a unit