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n1vux (1492)
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http://boston.pm ... x.cgi?BillRicker
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Only started with Perl4 and Perl5 in 1995. I was doing AWK etc for 12 years before that, and resisted switching. I've been doing OO since before C++ hit bigtime, with Objective-C and SmallTalk, so I really like the (no longer new) Perl5 OO style; and the Lispish Map style is also an old friend. What do I hack with Perl? All data that passes my way; systems monitoring scripts at $DayJob, weather data at night, and I cheat on NPR word puzzles. Member: Boston.pm.org [pm.org] BLU.org [blu.org]
N1VUX is my FCC-issued ham radio callsign.
Science News -- Math today
- Pi seems a good random number generator - but not always the best
-
«If you wanted a random number, historically you could do worse than to pick a sequence from the string of digits in pi. But Purdue University scientists now say other sources might be better.
Physicists including Purdue's Ephraim Fischbach have completed a study comparing the "randomness" in pi to that produced by 30 software random number generators and one chaos-generating physical machine. After conducting several tests, they have found that while sequences of digits from pi are indeed an acceptable source of randomness – often an important factor in data encryption and in solving certain physics problems – pi's digit string does not always produce randomness as effectively as manufactured generators do.»- Pi, the naturally random number, may not be the best source of randomness, and may or may not be cost-efficient, but it's better quality than many intentional artificial attempts.
- Purdue, via EurekAlert ;
Earlier work via MAA index of Science News and LBL.GOV, 2 - Navigating Celestial Currents - Interplanetary super-highways
- «
Mathematicians are creating an atlas of solar system highways
along which spacecraft can coast using no fuel.»
- And I thought Traveller's jump lines were bogus. Well I was wrong. (Traveller is revived at SJG-Gurps.)
- Src, via MAA index of Science News and Manifolds in the Genesis mission - previous article at MAA
Or is it a BUG?"
"Let's call it an accidental feature. :-)"
--Larry Wall in <6909@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>
How can something be more random ... (Score:1)
Maybe I should just FTFL or some such slashdot acronym.
Re:How can something be more random ... (Score:2)
link back: interstat (Score:1)
this posting was cited in a scholarly journal. http://interstat.statjournals.net/YEAR/2006/articles/0601001.pdf [statjournals.net]
Bill
# I had a sig when sigs were cool
use Sig;