RE: Random Number Generator

Okay, people, let's see what Webster's has to say.

1 a : lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern 
   b : made, done, or  chosen at random <read random passages from the book>
2 a : relating to, having, or being elements or events with definite
         probability of occurrence <random processes> b : being or relating
to
         a set or to an element of a set each of whose elements has equal
         probability of occurrence <a random sample>; also : characterized
by
         procedures designed to obtain such sets or elements <random
         sampling>

Note the absence of any guarantee noone else can produce the same result.

For security, I agree with you Leif.  Noone should be able to generate the
number simply by trying various combinations from a list.  However, that one
is able to do so is irrelevant as to whether the number is random.  

In the final analysis, the list of possible values is always known.  There
are only so many characters in the alphabet and so many numbers, right?

Donald R. Fisher, III
Project Manager
Heilig-Meyers Furniture Company
(804) 784-7500 ext. 2124
Don.Fisher@HeiligMeyers.com

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the lotto numbers (and your 1-digit number) are not random in the sense
of being unknowable beforehand. It can generate a list of all these numbers
any time I want to. That I don't know which one will win is not important
as far as the randomness is concerned, but is, of course, of some interest
as far as the lottery is concerned.

Imagine that I need a random number to generate a secure session key.
I can generate millions of them in seconds and try them all until I find the
one that gives me access.

Flipping a (fair) coin may seem to be a random process, but the binary
sequence HTH (head, tail, head) hardly qualifies as a random number.
Now flip the coin 100 times and you have a good (and long) random number.
Nobody else can produce the same number.
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