Re: How can I get a random number

From: "Philip Olson" <philip@cornado.com> Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 12:36 AM > I hear MIR is for sale. This could make a good PHP random function, one > that always works! Let's pool our resources and get on it. Great thing > is, no need for these mysterious seeds. > > philip > > > On Wed, 10 Jan 2001, Jerry Lake wrote: > > > We may as we set it up in space > > to minimalize gravity and friction > > -can't be adding any predictable forces ;) Ahh... but gravity and friction are exactly what makes the result unpredictable. If in no-gravity and in vacuum, you ought to be able to predict which ball you get, by taking into account the parameters when throwing the balls (direction of each ball, speed, spinning, etc.) and the sorroundings (walls' angels, extruding features - of which there would be plenty onboard the Mir - etc.). So the outcome will not be random but a precise (if mindnumbing) calculated result. :-) Maybe I ought to enter decaf-mode... - Carsten