First, how I arrived at a number having the property that the first $250$ digits after the decimal point contain $7777$ , $8888$ and $9999$
I wanted to construct a number which can be shown to be transcendental using the irrationality measure
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/IrrationalityMeasure.html
Consider the sequence $$a_1=0\ ,\ a_2=1\ ,\ a_n=a_{n-1}^2+a_{n-2}\ for \ n>2$$
Then, the denominators of the convergents of the simple continued fraction $$x:=[a_1,a_2,a_3,\cdots]$$ satisfy $q_n=a_{n+1}$ (which can be shown by induction) , hence $x$ must be transcendental because of $$\frac{\ln(q_{n+1})}{\ln(q_n)}>2$$ for $n>2$
The first $250$ digits of $x$ after the decimal point contain the combinations $7777$ , $9999$ and $8888$ (in this order), which seems unusual to me. I would like to know how unusual it is :
What is the probability that a string of $250$ random digits contains the combinations $7777$ , $8888$ and $9999$ ?
Four numbers in a row means that three numbers in a row all equal the previous one. The odds in one spot are one in 1000. So you expect it to happen in a 250 digit number one time in four (250/1000).
I think the odds for it to happen three times is $e^{-\lambda}\lambda^3/6$, where $\lambda=1/4$. That is 0.002, or one chance in 493.
For the 9s, try a test: Pick 500 random digits, and write down how often the most common digit appears. Your software probably has a histogram command to do the counting for you. Do it ten times, then judge how likely it is to get 71 out of 500.
Given 71 nines in the 500 digit number, that makes 99s much more likely. In that case, I don't think twelve of them is unlikely.