h a l f b a k e r yYou think: Aha! We go: ha, ha.
add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random
news, help, about, links, report a problem
browse anonymously,
or get an account
and write.
register,
|
|
|
As we know, computerized random number generators are not so random. Generally, they use the current time (down to milliseconds) as a seed to generate a number.
Nature can be very unpredicable. Even in this age, weather prediction isn't all that great.
A small computer hooked up to a few barometers,
thermometers, psychrometers, and anemometers, using them for input as seed would yield a truly random number.
We could even use sphygmometers, but we need a volunteer.
Good idea but baked
http://www.lavarnd.org/
[theircompetitor, Mar 21 2006]
[link]
|
| |
Baked in a sense by the lava link, though I suppose you could claim that what you're doing is slightly different |
|
| |
Using nature to provide random numbers is Half Baked, too - every other idea in this category is along those lines. But I don't think the things you're measuring are sufficiently random. |
|
| |
I like the idea. It's time Mother Nature started paying her way, she's had it easy the last few millennia. |
|
| |
A related concept (I thought of it second): Blow soap bubbles in the wind and derive a number based on their relative position over time. I like soap bubbles. |
|
| |