Interesting Random number generation...
-
My gf was looking for a particular song, so I decided to try and find a non-spyware p2p program (please, this isn't about the evils of filesharing, so respectfully: stuff it). I dl'ed a copy of BearShare, and was very impressed with the method in which they pseudo-generate random numbers for security purposes: 1st number (I'm guessing that a number or random string is the result): "Jiggle your mouse about the screen for approximately 1 minute. Try to make the movements as erratic as possible."(paraphrased) 2nd number: "Mash the keys randomly for about 45 seconds. Do not type in actual text; just hit keys willy-nilly" (also paraphrased) No real point in the post, just thought it was a cool idea... [EDIT] Do not download BearShare, by the way...I'm still uninstalling the suites of Adware they decided to stuff into my poor pc...[/EDIT] Jeremy Kimball
-
My gf was looking for a particular song, so I decided to try and find a non-spyware p2p program (please, this isn't about the evils of filesharing, so respectfully: stuff it). I dl'ed a copy of BearShare, and was very impressed with the method in which they pseudo-generate random numbers for security purposes: 1st number (I'm guessing that a number or random string is the result): "Jiggle your mouse about the screen for approximately 1 minute. Try to make the movements as erratic as possible."(paraphrased) 2nd number: "Mash the keys randomly for about 45 seconds. Do not type in actual text; just hit keys willy-nilly" (also paraphrased) No real point in the post, just thought it was a cool idea... [EDIT] Do not download BearShare, by the way...I'm still uninstalling the suites of Adware they decided to stuff into my poor pc...[/EDIT] Jeremy Kimball
GPG does something very similar when creating keys.
I, for one, do not think the problem was that the band was down. I think that the problem may have been that there was a Stonehenge monument on the stage that was in danger of being crushed by a dwarf.
-David St. Hubbins -
My gf was looking for a particular song, so I decided to try and find a non-spyware p2p program (please, this isn't about the evils of filesharing, so respectfully: stuff it). I dl'ed a copy of BearShare, and was very impressed with the method in which they pseudo-generate random numbers for security purposes: 1st number (I'm guessing that a number or random string is the result): "Jiggle your mouse about the screen for approximately 1 minute. Try to make the movements as erratic as possible."(paraphrased) 2nd number: "Mash the keys randomly for about 45 seconds. Do not type in actual text; just hit keys willy-nilly" (also paraphrased) No real point in the post, just thought it was a cool idea... [EDIT] Do not download BearShare, by the way...I'm still uninstalling the suites of Adware they decided to stuff into my poor pc...[/EDIT] Jeremy Kimball
Jeremy Kimball wrote: please, this isn't about the evils of filesharing, so respectfully: stuff it And you're so polite about it too! That's ok; we all know stealing music is justified. Only stealing software is wrong because we're a group of programmers and not musicians. Jeremy Falcon
-
My gf was looking for a particular song, so I decided to try and find a non-spyware p2p program (please, this isn't about the evils of filesharing, so respectfully: stuff it). I dl'ed a copy of BearShare, and was very impressed with the method in which they pseudo-generate random numbers for security purposes: 1st number (I'm guessing that a number or random string is the result): "Jiggle your mouse about the screen for approximately 1 minute. Try to make the movements as erratic as possible."(paraphrased) 2nd number: "Mash the keys randomly for about 45 seconds. Do not type in actual text; just hit keys willy-nilly" (also paraphrased) No real point in the post, just thought it was a cool idea... [EDIT] Do not download BearShare, by the way...I'm still uninstalling the suites of Adware they decided to stuff into my poor pc...[/EDIT] Jeremy Kimball
-
My gf was looking for a particular song, so I decided to try and find a non-spyware p2p program (please, this isn't about the evils of filesharing, so respectfully: stuff it). I dl'ed a copy of BearShare, and was very impressed with the method in which they pseudo-generate random numbers for security purposes: 1st number (I'm guessing that a number or random string is the result): "Jiggle your mouse about the screen for approximately 1 minute. Try to make the movements as erratic as possible."(paraphrased) 2nd number: "Mash the keys randomly for about 45 seconds. Do not type in actual text; just hit keys willy-nilly" (also paraphrased) No real point in the post, just thought it was a cool idea... [EDIT] Do not download BearShare, by the way...I'm still uninstalling the suites of Adware they decided to stuff into my poor pc...[/EDIT] Jeremy Kimball
That is like, the worst idea for generating a psuedo-random number I've ever seen, why doesn't it ask you to count the hairs on your head as well?
-
Jeremy Kimball wrote: please, this isn't about the evils of filesharing, so respectfully: stuff it And you're so polite about it too! That's ok; we all know stealing music is justified. Only stealing software is wrong because we're a group of programmers and not musicians. Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote: And you're so polite about it too! Well, I try to keep an aura of politeness, class, and respectability whenever I endeavour to engage others in the art of...oh wait, you were being sarcastic, right? :) the "other" Jeremy
-
My gf was looking for a particular song, so I decided to try and find a non-spyware p2p program (please, this isn't about the evils of filesharing, so respectfully: stuff it). I dl'ed a copy of BearShare, and was very impressed with the method in which they pseudo-generate random numbers for security purposes: 1st number (I'm guessing that a number or random string is the result): "Jiggle your mouse about the screen for approximately 1 minute. Try to make the movements as erratic as possible."(paraphrased) 2nd number: "Mash the keys randomly for about 45 seconds. Do not type in actual text; just hit keys willy-nilly" (also paraphrased) No real point in the post, just thought it was a cool idea... [EDIT] Do not download BearShare, by the way...I'm still uninstalling the suites of Adware they decided to stuff into my poor pc...[/EDIT] Jeremy Kimball
You could not use those random numbers in a Monte Carlo simulation. Well you could, but they are not very good ones. This is actually not a new method, older versions of PGP used it. Now this is quite a cool way to generate random numbers: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.08/random.html[^]
-
You could not use those random numbers in a Monte Carlo simulation. Well you could, but they are not very good ones. This is actually not a new method, older versions of PGP used it. Now this is quite a cool way to generate random numbers: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.08/random.html[^]
Giles wrote: Monte Carlo simulation Gack! Painful flashbacks of Computer Science courses at college! *pant pant pant* whew...better now... Jeremy "Poisson distribution" Kimball
-
Jeremy Kimball wrote: please, this isn't about the evils of filesharing, so respectfully: stuff it And you're so polite about it too! That's ok; we all know stealing music is justified. Only stealing software is wrong because we're a group of programmers and not musicians. Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote: we all know stealing music is justified It is only stealing if you are depriving the music companies of revenue by DLing music files. If you never intended on buying the music, there is no loss of revenue.
-
My gf was looking for a particular song, so I decided to try and find a non-spyware p2p program (please, this isn't about the evils of filesharing, so respectfully: stuff it). I dl'ed a copy of BearShare, and was very impressed with the method in which they pseudo-generate random numbers for security purposes: 1st number (I'm guessing that a number or random string is the result): "Jiggle your mouse about the screen for approximately 1 minute. Try to make the movements as erratic as possible."(paraphrased) 2nd number: "Mash the keys randomly for about 45 seconds. Do not type in actual text; just hit keys willy-nilly" (also paraphrased) No real point in the post, just thought it was a cool idea... [EDIT] Do not download BearShare, by the way...I'm still uninstalling the suites of Adware they decided to stuff into my poor pc...[/EDIT] Jeremy Kimball
DriveCrypt uses the mouse method - pretty cool. It even has a status bar that shows the current "mouse entropy" to make sure you don't settle into a repetitive pattern.
-
Jeremy Falcon wrote: we all know stealing music is justified It is only stealing if you are depriving the music companies of revenue by DLing music files. If you never intended on buying the music, there is no loss of revenue.
Terry O`Nolley wrote: If you never intended on buying the music, there is no loss of revenue. That's the typical excuse, and it's bullshit. For those that would buy it, won't have to because it's available for free. If you don't want to pay for something, then you shouldn't get it if the author doesn't want you to. Do you work for free? I doubt it. Jeremy Falcon