From: bbense+comp.lang.ruby.Feb.27.03@... Date: 2003-02-28T03:40:54+09:00 Subject: Re: Objectify the mersenne twister in 1.8? -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <200302270924.27763.seth@cql.com>, Seth Kurtzberg wrote: >Booker, > >Are you saying that the thermally generated random numbers on the P4 are not >truly random? > >> - - Depends on what they did. A really small gieger counter would >> be ideal, I'm sure there are things you could do to get >> randomness from some quantum effects. I have no ideal what >> Intel has done though. >> _ Please read carefully ( okay I'm terrible at proofreading my own writing, it should say.) "I have no idea what intel has done". _ I can't comment one way or the other on what's in the P4. If they are sampling a random physical process[1], then they have something really useful. I'm just trying to get across the incredible difficulty of actually generating a truly random sequence on a computer. It's pretty hard to get one suitable for physical simulations, getting one that's crypto quality is an open problem. - - Booker C. Bense [1]- These are much harder to find than you might think at first, particularly if you need a very large/fast random byte stream. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBPl5bc2TWTAjn5N/lAQGc4QQApknDqgCGDfoRzU66PaewSJSPuKpC1Aet UNiQrVGB3DMUwmeINoxuZVOTKVogZ1zkFqDg9AFzsaEhCDdDesLo8HoNbJjov+hV kXyBZzTkRoWdQ+AH25RJKi+4/b3AGmi5n9eBr5sEg9MeqHLks73uVsCCwVHPARCm 2+1lDnrUqic= =Z5AB -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----