h a l f b a k e r y"Put it on a plate, son. You'll enjoy it more."
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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]
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Baked in a sense by the lava link, though I suppose you could claim that what you're doing is slightly different |
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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. |
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I like the idea. It's time Mother Nature started paying her way, she's had it easy the last few millennia. |
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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. |
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