From:	dyad255 AT aol DOT com (Dyad255)
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject:	Re: True random numbers.
Date:	12 Sep 1997 05:07:59 GMT
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To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway:	from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

Heh-- I remember coding a fun little program long ago on the Apple IIc in
BASIC which put a pixel in the center of the screen then repeatedly traced
to any of 8 compass directions "randomly"... and was surprised to see the
squiggly pictures repeat after an hour or so.

But the "random numbers" weren't repeating PERFECTLY... they shifted and
changed very slightly, so what looked like a dog in one corner looked like
a cross-eyed dog in the other corner. CPU drift? 8)  If I had run the
program a millisecond later I might have seen cats instead.

My point is that for computers, TIME is the most random factor, and with
good algorithms (there are some killer algorithms and generators in the C++
Standard Template Library [STL], among many other places) you can make even
repetitive operations very random.

If you truly need lots of random SEEDS, try generating a table and
modifying parts of it as the user types things. Use your imagination. 8)

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