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True Random Number Generator Goes Online

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on

amigoro writes "A 'true' random number generator that relies on the unpredictable quantum process of photon emission has gone online providing academic and scientific community access to true random numbers free of charge."

6 of 439 comments (clear)

  1. random.org ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hasn't random.org done this for a while already? Perhaps they don't have academic backing, but I do believe they use numbers generated by atomic decay.

    1. Re:random.org ? by stinerman · · Score: 5, Informative

      Indeed. First page:

      RANDOM.ORG offers true random numbers to anyone on the Internet. The randomness comes from atmospheric noise, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random number algorithms typically used in computer programs. ...

      The service has been operating since 1998 and was built and is being maintained by Mads Haahr who is a Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin in Ireland.

    2. Re:random.org ? by psu_whammy · · Score: 5, Informative

      You could, say, read up on the statistics they give you. The site has all sorts of fun info on exactly how their RNG works, and daily stats on the randomness of the numbers presented.

  2. quantum random number generators by Wise+Dragon · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is neat but there have been other quantum random number generators online for years. This one by id Quantique springs to mind... I'm not sure what this new service provides that others don't. If you REALLY want secure random numbers you should buy a QRNG PCI card and make them yourself so you're the only one with a copy.

  3. Re:Wow! by Xiph1980 · · Score: 5, Informative
    Too bad that's only ROT13:
    Not really the hardest of encryptions to crack.

    ..OMG, did anyone see that to register you have
    to solve a math problem like:

    derivative of (5*sin 3x +6cos(-pi/2))

    Nice!

    Here is a direct link to the generator, you can
    download the client from here as well:

    http://random.irb.hr/

    QRand Command-line Utility [v0.2, 2007-07-17]
    Note 1: Compiles under Visual Studio and g++.
    Note 2: Windows executable included.
    Note 3: GNU Linux executable included.
    --
    Manuals are your last resort only
  4. Re:lava lamps at SGI by Richard+W.M.+Jones · · Score: 5, Informative

    That would be Lavarand from, oh, just 10 years ago.

    Rich

    --
    libguestfs - tools for accessing and modifying virtual machine disk images