Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site utcsstat.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!utcsstat!anthony
From: anthony@utcsstat.UUCP
Newsgroups: ont.micro
Subject: random number generation
Message-ID: <2156@utcsstat.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 9-Jan-85 16:20:57 EST
Article-I.D.: utcsstat.2156
Posted: Wed Jan  9 16:20:57 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Jan-85 16:42:56 EST
Organization: U. of Toronto, Canada
Lines: 26


	In regards to an earlier message by Greg Dudek with respect to
random number generation being dependent on I/O delays, and that my
criticism is especially inapplicable in the context of games, I would like
to raise two points. First, games that use a JOYSTICK necessitate that
the user not provide any keyboard input - hence my criticism is still
valid. Secondly, the random number generator is NOT dependent on I/O delays
and this can be shown to be true easily by executing the following
sequence of instructions:

	1. boot-up and type PRINT RND(1)
	2. boot-up again, press some keys (to give the I/O delay
	   counter a new value) and then type PRINT RND(1)

	Both steps above will yield the same random number. On my machine,
this is 0.87..... Thus, the supposedly pseudo-random numbers are reprod-
ucible - a much desired characteristic !!!!
-- 
					Anthony Ayiomamitis
					Dept Prev Medicine & Biostatistics
					Faculty of Medicine
					University of Toronto
					Toronto, Canada  M5S 2T1

       	          {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!utcsstat!anthony
                  {ihnp4|decvax|utzoo|utcsrgv}!utcs!utzoo!utcsstat!anthony