From:	Erik Max Francis <max AT alcyone DOT com>
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject:	Re: real random numbers
Date:	Tue, 24 Mar 1998 18:21:35 -0800
Organization:	Alcyone Systems
Lines:	23
Message-ID:	<35186A2F.66FBE025@alcyone.com>
References:	<m0yHU7T-000S2iC AT inti DOT gov DOT ar>
NNTP-Posting-Host:	charmaine.alcyone.com
Mime-Version:	1.0
To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway:	from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

Salvador Eduardo Tropea (SET) wrote:

> Are you kidding! The noise generated in a diode junction IS NOISE and
> is
> generated by the combination of electrones, if you can predict it ...
> man
> you'll gain the next 100 Nobel prices ;-))). Using a diode junction
> (amplifying
> the signal to the A/D range) and taking A/D samples is an EXCELENT way
> to
> generate real ramdom values.

It's probably a good way to get pretty darn random numbers, but it is
almost _certainly_ not a good way to get random, _uniformly-distributed_
numbers.

-- 
         Erik Max Francis, &tSftDotIotE / mailto:max AT alcyone DOT com
                       Alcyone Systems / http://www.alcyone.com/max/
  San Jose, California, United States / icbm:+37.20.07/-121.53.38
                                     \
        "I've got the fever for the / flavor of a cracker"
                                   / Ice Cube

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