Random number generator - a "new" idea

Sorry for the premature posting - that was odd.

If you know about random number generators, they have/had been a problem for a long time as they were never really random and if you examined the output of the data long enough, a pattern could often be determined and or calculated to a reasonable rate of accuracy. IDK if they have developed a better method over the last decade or so, but here is the idea.

At any given time there are LOTS of people using a screened device that is often changing in some manner. A program could take a reading of a certain pixel location and use the hexadecimal number for the color of that location, which has about 64,000 possibilities (IIRC - more with higher bit-rate of color). On top of this the pixel location for the mouse cursor could be taken every second (or whenever) whenever the mouse is moving.

Those two numbers could be used to calculate a large set of what I think would be random numbers and when we look at all the computers, phones, tablets, etc, there could be a lot of random numbers generated.

This data could be collected and transmitted to whatever company needs it (it's often used for research and for things like generating encryption keys). The data collected would be pretty small and could be compressed and transferred very easily, it would be nothing compared to the size of files for large pics, videos and other things.

What do you guys think about this idea?

a reply to: DigginFoTroof


This is the best post I have read all day. It is the safest way to be sure that ATS does not delete your thread and censor as they do to a lot of mine

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Looks like we got another one guys!

originally posted by: norhoc
a reply to: DigginFoTroof


This is the best post I have read all day. It is the safest way to be sure that ATS does not delete your thread and censor as they do to a lot of mine

Finally.. something nonpartisan we can all get behind!!!

I was hoping for a post about RNGs. Still hope at this point.

originally posted by: roadgravel
I was hoping for a post about RNGs. Still hope at this point.

Well it's not the most interesting topic - I'm guessing that was a sarcastic response.. IDK if you know what they are used for, but if you did, you'd understand why a true RNG is kind of important.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof


Are you going to actually post something about this topic or just leave the generic ATS message? Or is this part of some experiment you are conducting?

originally posted by: norhoc
a reply to: DigginFoTroof


Are you going to actually post something about this topic or just leave the generic ATS message? Or is this part of some experiment you are conducting?

I hadn't written anything, I was in the middle of writing the title when the posted thread popped up. Sorry it takes a couple minutes to type a post

I imagine you are familiar with random org and random noise use. Space seems to be a good source.

originally posted by: roadgravel
I imagine you are familiar with random org and random noise use. Space seems to be a good source.

Oh, you weren't being a sarcastic troll. I never know on this board. Pretty sad actually.

Thanks for referencing that site. I'm looking at it now - never knew it existed. I was reading something published within the last year or two about something in the DOD and it referenced that there are still security issues due to the way they generate random numbers, so I figured it was still a problem.

I would think landscape or other complex pictures might be more diverse than a page layout as a source.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I think hardware to capture it is available, or used to be.

originally posted by: roadgravel
I would think landscape or other complex pictures might be more diverse than a page layout as a source.

That is another idea that I had before, I thought about using cameras on phones and also dash cams, backup cam's, etc and use the varying images from these to generate the randomness.

here is a RNG on USB.

The TrueRNG Hardware Random Number Generator uses the avalanche effect in a semiconductor junction to generate true random numbers. The avalanche effect has long been used for generation of random number / noise and is a time-tested and proven random noise source

ubld.it...

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I think about RNG stuff quite often. There is also software whitening to improve randomness.

The main problem I see with this is that the distribution of colors on our screen are not truly random. The colors black and white - #000000 & #ffffff, will appear much more often than any other colors or shades of grey.

When I need a random number for a variable in a web app, I typically derive that variable from the millisecond of the front end user.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Seems like you're still subject to a pattern. The cursor position, for example, must move in a linear fashion, so, at any point, the next linear number can only be one of the surrounding 8 positions.

I feel like a combination of Pi, Phi and a cipher type system would be the best we could get to a true random number generator.

Interesting post

Two words: "Lava Lamps"

Of course, to randomly generate the number on your phone, it would need to have access to a lava lamp.

Could this thinga-ma-jiggy spit out some lotto numbers? I never play, but would be curios to know. Actually, it is selfish for me to ask. If I was supposed to be wealthy, the good lord would have made it so.

Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG)

Quantis is a physical random number generator exploiting an elementary quantum optics process. Photons – light particles – are sent one by one onto a semi-transparent mirror and detected. These exclusive events (reflection – transmission) are associated to “0” – “1” bit values

www.idquantique.com...