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LavaRnd: A Open Source Project for Truly Random Numbers

Posted by Hemos on from the 1231232-hash-uyiuyiu1q2123 dept.

Phil Windley writes "Truly random numbers are crucial to good encryption. Most people have heard of Silicon Graphic's use of Lava Lamps to generate random numbers. There were some problems: it required special SGI hardware and software along with six lava lamps, and the solution wasn't portable. But the biggest drawback was that SGI patented the idea so it wasn't freely available. Now, some of the scientists behind the SGI random number system have create LavaRnd, an open source project for creating truly random numbers using inexpensive cameras, open source code, and inexpensive hardware. The system uses a saturated CCD in a light-tight can as a chaotic source to produce the seed. Software processes the result into truly random numbers in a variety of formats. The result is a random number that is crytographically sound, ranking at the top of its class in the NIST 800-22 Billion bit test. Its even portable, so the truly paranoid can take it with them when they travel."

4 of 549 comments (clear)

  1. I can see it now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "But, sir, I need this lava lamp for my cubicle! It's required for encrypting our company's secrets. I also need the black light, for, uh... stopping pop-ups."

  2. I'm going to get modbombed to hell, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    I don't want to start a holy war here, but what is the deal with you SGI lava lamp fanatics? I've been sitting here at my freelance gig in front of a lava lamp (SGI LavaRnd lamp) for about 20 minutes now while it attempts to create me a 17 Meg file of random numbers. 20 minutes. At home, the lava lamp I got from my mom, which by all standards should be a lot slower than this SGI lamp, the same operation would take about 2 minutes. If that. In addition, during this random number generation, Netscape will not work. And everything else has ground to a halt. Even Emacs Lite is straining to keep up as I type this.

    I won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while working on various SGI lava lamps, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen a SGI lava lamp that has run faster than its 1960s counterpart,despite the SGI lamp's smaller viscosity. My lamp with runs faster than this SGI lamp at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that the SGI LavaRnd is a "superior" machine.

    SGI addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to use a SGI over other faster, cheaper, more stable systems.

  3. I have the most portable solution... by PrimeWaveZ · · Score: 5, Funny

    For generating random numbers: A quarter in my pocket and a lot of free time.

  4. Re:Bizarre sequences of random numbers by Elbelow · · Score: 5, Funny

    I just used LavaRnd's Lotto Number Generator with default values and it returned:

    1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

    Well, in a truly random sequence, this combination is just as likely as any other... :-)