4 ms·

Ant farm ? Hamster wheels ? Anything critter-driven should provide some entropy.

by euroderf 6mo ago

BSVogler 6mo ago
I once read that noise of camera in total darkness is apparently a good source.
- unilynx 6mo ago
  The noise probably makes the lava lamp wall just as effective as pointing the camera at the Mona Lisa - the lamps themselves are not that unpredictable frame-to-frame.
  - LocalH 6mo ago
    For the record, the lamps and camera are present in their lobby afaik, so you can actually go there, stand in front of them, and slightly affect the entropy. A cool parlor trick, certainly.
- amelius 6mo ago
  You can already have a good entropy source from a single resistor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson%E2%80%93Nyquist_noise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson%E2%80%93Nyquist_noise
  - pyuser583 6mo ago
    This is what gets me - entropy is hard, but not that hard. I get it goes against everything a computer is built to do, but so does telling time.
- wpm 6mo ago
  Would a CRT TV tuned to channel 3 and no RF input be a good source?
  - ssl-3 6mo ago
    In the sense that RF noise can be a source of entropy: Sorta*. But one doesn't need the whole thrift-store television set to do that; the visual aspect of a CRT displaying analog video snow just adds style points**. *: Sorta, because if someone discovers that the entropy is derived from an analog TV tuned to channel 3, then they also know how to influence it from outside. **: Style points can have value; it's OK to have fun with work. But that's a secondary function.
  - nxobject 5mo ago
    I imagine that there might still be a way to swing by with RF equipment and tip the scales in your favor. And if you're important enough, I'm sure there'll be someone motivatd enough to do this. After all, Polymarket was motivating enough for someone to take a hair dryer to a weather station... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/23/hairdryer-or-lighter-french-police-look-at-claim-of-sensor-tampering-to-win-weather-bets https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/23/hairdryer-or-l...
  - iberator 5mo ago
    better to just switch to... random channel every while :) Not perfect but something.
FuriouslyAdrift 6mo ago
https://www.idquantique.com/random-number-generation/products/quantis-qrng-pcie/ https://www.idquantique.com/random-number-generation/product...
conception 6mo ago
https://www.random.org/ https://www.random.org/ Uses atmospheric noise. These dudes use dice? https://youtube.com/shorts/ncoDq5EcPFg?si=lI6f9cw8dWcaDZ4Y https://youtube.com/shorts/ncoDq5EcPFg?si=lI6f9cw8dWcaDZ4Y
throw-the-towel 6mo ago
Speaking of ants, Fourmilab (i.e. John Walker, of Autodesk fame) used to provide a random number generator powered by background radiation: https://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/ https://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/

Ant farm ? Hamster wheels ? Anything critter-driven should provide some entropy.

BSVogler 6mo ago

I once read that noise of camera in total darkness is apparently a good source.

unilynx 6mo ago
The noise probably makes the lava lamp wall just as effective as pointing the camera at the Mona Lisa - the lamps themselves are not that unpredictable frame-to-frame.
- LocalH 6mo ago
  For the record, the lamps and camera are present in their lobby afaik, so you can actually go there, stand in front of them, and slightly affect the entropy. A cool parlor trick, certainly.
amelius 6mo ago
You can already have a good entropy source from a single resistor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson%E2%80%93Nyquist_noise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson%E2%80%93Nyquist_noise
- pyuser583 6mo ago
  This is what gets me - entropy is hard, but not that hard. I get it goes against everything a computer is built to do, but so does telling time.
wpm 6mo ago
Would a CRT TV tuned to channel 3 and no RF input be a good source?
- ssl-3 6mo ago
  In the sense that RF noise can be a source of entropy: Sorta*. But one doesn't need the whole thrift-store television set to do that; the visual aspect of a CRT displaying analog video snow just adds style points**. *: Sorta, because if someone discovers that the entropy is derived from an analog TV tuned to channel 3, then they also know how to influence it from outside. **: Style points can have value; it's OK to have fun with work. But that's a secondary function.
- nxobject 5mo ago
  I imagine that there might still be a way to swing by with RF equipment and tip the scales in your favor. And if you're important enough, I'm sure there'll be someone motivatd enough to do this. After all, Polymarket was motivating enough for someone to take a hair dryer to a weather station... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/23/hairdryer-or-lighter-french-police-look-at-claim-of-sensor-tampering-to-win-weather-bets https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/23/hairdryer-or-l...
- iberator 5mo ago
  better to just switch to... random channel every while :) Not perfect but something.

FuriouslyAdrift 6mo ago

https://www.idquantique.com/random-number-generation/products/quantis-qrng-pcie/ https://www.idquantique.com/random-number-generation/product...

conception 6mo ago

https://www.random.org/ https://www.random.org/ Uses atmospheric noise. These dudes use dice? https://youtube.com/shorts/ncoDq5EcPFg?si=lI6f9cw8dWcaDZ4Y https://youtube.com/shorts/ncoDq5EcPFg?si=lI6f9cw8dWcaDZ4Y

throw-the-towel 6mo ago

Speaking of ants, Fourmilab (i.e. John Walker, of Autodesk fame) used to provide a random number generator powered by background radiation: https://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/ https://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/