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This is a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist. For all practical purposes a properly implemented software random number generator provided by the

by hannob 7y ago

This is a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist. For all practical purposes a properly implemented software random number generator provided by the OS is fine. The few corner cases where this isn't the case (mosly early boot entropy problems) appear in situations where you don't yet have Internet connectivity.

dooglius 7y ago
How do you prove to another party that the data was random, or that you didn't just keep sampling until you got a desired result?
- nighthawk648 7y ago
  I think this is the largest necessity for those truly invested in a truly random performing system. The truly random system can also provide more sophisticated simulation / effects of said simulation. Think of trying to programmatically trying to solve unbound equations / millennium problems. Anything involved in testing to deal with chaos would not be accurately represented until a true random is created. Now what is true random, and does true random exist is a whole other topic of conversation.
ncmncm 7y ago
The article, in fact, reveals plenty of practical purposes, besides early boot initialization, where pseudo-random numbers are entirely unsuitable. If the article deserves criticism, it is in the suggestion that true randomness is hard to come by. We have billions of connected devices with high-density CCD image sensors. Each pixel generates random noise that may be sampled at many frames per second. The true randomness of any pixel is limited -- bias is easy to demonstrate -- but mixed with millions of others their randomness becomes exemplary. The top-quality random bits available from these legions of phone and surveillance cameras far exceeds any practical need. Those without a camera often have access to a microphone. Microphones, likewise, provide a ready source of random noise in their least-significant bit. Where a stereo source is available, XORing low bits is better. Those with a radio receiver can find easy random bits by tuning to an unused channel -- or even a used one -- and stirring least-significant bits into a pool. Such a pool may be left over from previous runs, so a device with any persistent storage need never start with no random bits. Systems with access to a CCD, microphone, or receiver have a ready solution to the problem of early-boot key generation.

by hannob 7y ago

dooglius 7y ago

How do you prove to another party that the data was random, or that you didn't just keep sampling until you got a desired result?

nighthawk648 7y ago
I think this is the largest necessity for those truly invested in a truly random performing system. The truly random system can also provide more sophisticated simulation / effects of said simulation. Think of trying to programmatically trying to solve unbound equations / millennium problems. Anything involved in testing to deal with chaos would not be accurately represented until a true random is created. Now what is true random, and does true random exist is a whole other topic of conversation.

ncmncm 7y ago

The article, in fact, reveals plenty of practical purposes, besides early boot initialization, where pseudo-random numbers are entirely unsuitable. If the article deserves criticism, it is in the suggestion that true randomness is hard to come by. We have billions of connected devices with high-density CCD image sensors. Each pixel generates random noise that may be sampled at many frames per second. The true randomness of any pixel is limited -- bias is easy to demonstrate -- but mixed with millions of others their randomness becomes exemplary. The top-quality random bits available from these legions of phone and surveillance cameras far exceeds any practical need. Those without a camera often have access to a microphone. Microphones, likewise, provide a ready source of random noise in their least-significant bit. Where a stereo source is available, XORing low bits is better. Those with a radio receiver can find easy random bits by tuning to an unused channel -- or even a used one -- and stirring least-significant bits into a pool. Such a pool may be left over from previous runs, so a device with any persistent storage need never start with no random bits. Systems with access to a CCD, microphone, or receiver have a ready solution to the problem of early-boot key generation.