this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024
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xkcd

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cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/8677292


Transcript:

[A computer program.]

int getRandomNumber()
{
   return 4; // chosen by fair dice roll.
             // guaranteed to be random.
}

Hover Text:

RFC 1149.5 specifies 4 as the standard IEEE-vetted random number.

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[–] LazaroFilm 38 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I prefer using a whole wall of lava lamps for a random number.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Seems like the place to share. Ages ago a group epoxied a webcam and used the random flashes (from cosmic rays?) as their source of randomness.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago

I think what they're referring to is a company - I think it's CloudFlare - who use a bunch of physical randomness generators to seed their commercial random number generator. One of those seeds is a webcam pointed at a load of lava lamps.

https://youtu.be/1cUUfMeOijg