From:	mwood AT indyvax DOT iupui DOT edu (Mark H. Wood)
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject:	Re: Random Stuff
Message-ID:	<1997Jul31.090524.28930@indyvax.iupui.edu>
Date:	31 Jul 97 09:05:24 -0500
References:	<33DDFE2B DOT 1845 AT cis DOT ufl DOT edu>
Lines:	17
To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway:	from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

In article <33DDFE2B DOT 1845 AT cis DOT ufl DOT edu>, Jason Persampieri <helgaorg AT cis DOT ufl DOT edu> writes:
> I heard recently that SGI had a new cool way to get random numbers that
> blows away anything done before...
> 
> They seed the function with something based on an image evaluation of
> two the reflection of one lava lamp onto another.  This supposedly gives
> the closest thing to a perfect random number yet!

Well, if we're gonna allow external equipment like cameras, I don't think it'll
ever beat a scintillation tube, a chunk of polonium, a pulse-counter, and an
accurate timebase.  Be sure to replace the polonium at appropriate intervals. 
(Probably less often than you'd have to change bulbs in the lamps.)
-- 
Mark H. Wood, Lead Systems Programmer    +1 317 274 0749   [@disclaimer@]
MWOOD AT INDYVAX DOT IUPUI DOT EDU                  Finger for more information.
Thank goodness we've left behind the bad old days, before computers were
transformed from reliable business machines into performance art.

- Raw text -