From: gts (gts@optexinc.com)
Date: Mon Sep 02 2002 - 23:47:43 MDT
Anders Sandberg wrote:
> If you don't need excessive numbers or absolute certainty
> they are not copied somewhere else, one possibility might
> be to use HotBits to get real random numbers over the
> net: http://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/ There are also
> descriptions of the hardware used.
Yes. John Walker, who designed and implemented this true random number
generator device, is a personal acquaintance of mine. John is a software
engineer and the retired founder of AutoDesk, a company that develops
and markets highly sophisticated CAD/CAM software. I once upon a time
ago acted as a consultant to him in a totally unrelated and
non-scientific capacity. He was my client for several years while I
represented a firm with which he once did business. (I feel
uncomfortable divulging more than that out of respect for his privacy.)
I think it is safe to say however that John is a brilliant man. His
genuine random number generator reflects his genius.
Ultimately there are no random numbers except those that can be
generated at the subatomic level by quantum processes. (Contrary to a
post here in this thread, even random numbers generated by chaotic
processes are predictable if one could know all the initial conditions,
which means they are not genuinely chaotic. Genuinely random numbers are
not predictable even in theory.) John recognized that quantum numbers
are the only truly random numbers and was the first to create a device
capable of generating such numbers. These quantum numbers are truly
random. Numbers cannot get more random than John Walker's hotbits.
I see there is some concern that hotbits are "shared." However this is
not true according to the method by which hotbits are said to be
distributed as described on the website: "Once the random bytes are
delivered to you, they are immediately discarded--the same data will
never be sent to any other user and no records are kept of the data at
this or any other site."
Then of course John could be lying... but I doubt it. :)
-gts
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