From: "Hal E. Fulton" <hal9000@...>
Date: 2002-04-25T04:20:08+09:00
Subject: Re: My First Time

> 
> The way I do this is something like:
> 
> File.open(aFile, 'r') do |f|
>         tries = 0
>         begin
>                 # seek to a random point in the file
>                 f.seek(rand(File.size(aFile)))
> 
>                 # read to the next tagline
>                 do
>                         line = f.readline
>                 until line == aSeperator

[snippage before and after]

This is clever, and I had wondered how you were
jumping to a random place in a file of variable-
length lines.

However, for what it's worth, the fortunes will not
have equal probability. The ones that have longer
fortunes as their predecessors will be selected
more often.

OffTopic: This reminds me of the old puzzle about
the guy who rode the subway for fun. There was an
eastbound train that left on the hour and a westbound
train that left fifteen minutes after the hour. (I.e., each
train ran at precisely one-hour intervals.)

He would always arrive at a random time and take the 
NEXT train to leave... yet in spite of the fact that the
trains ran with equal frequency, he found himself taking
the eastbound train three times as often as the 
westbound. (Get it?)

Hal Fulton