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Re: Simple random number generator?
Posted:
Nov 29, 2012 1:16 PM
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In article <50b6cabe$0$24749$607ed4bc@cv.net>, "Existential Angst" <fitcat@optonline.net> writes:
>"Ben Bacarisse" <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> wrote in message news:0.7912956cb736cc5e9ead.20121128152922GMT.87d2yxu4od.fsf@bsb.me.uk...
>> They are related but they are not the same. I think all
>> non-compressible sequences will be statistically random, but not
>> vice versa (as pi shows).
>
>What is compressibility, and what is its significance here?
>
>So are the digits of pi random or not?
>
>I personally think picking 5 or 10 consecutive digits from the current
>trillion digits of pi, and making THAT the basis for a Lotto win would be
>more inneresting than a bunch of air-blown pingpong balls....
If you chose those digits from the same point every time, you'd get the
same result every time. If you chose them starting from where you left
off the previous time, everybody would still know what the winning numbers
would be.
So, you need to have a random starting point in the decimal representation
of pi, and you still need a source of random numbers. Since you need that
source anyway, sending its output through pi seems a needless step.
>>> The point being, if you need a random sequence, for whatever purpose, you
>>> can just sort of pull them "off the shelf", from anywhere in the
>>> sequence.
But, you need to choose a starting point.
--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
Twenty-four hours in a day; twenty-four beers in a case. Coincidence?
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