Random Eyes!

[muckefuck]

Oh, how well some people know me!

I'm still working on a way to generate an entry made up of random elements. I suppose the most mathematically consistent way would be to take the set of all my liveJournal subentries past and future, assign each member sequential integers starting with 1, and then generate random numbers between 1 and X (where X is the total number of entries in the set) to determine which are posted together. Of course, there are some difficulties with this approach, mostly tied to going against the flow of the current time-space continuum.

But how's this for something of an approximation?

1. Generate several random three-digit numbers.
2. Look up the corresponding three-digit class number in the Dewey Decimal System and find the area of knowledge it designates.
3. Write a short entry of varying length on a topic within each area.

For instance, say one of the numbers is "666", which corresponds to "Ceramic and allied technologies". Then I write an entry on my father's recent ceramic tour of China or Sunday's conversation about Jingdezhen with the proprietor or a North Chinatown shop or my Korean celadon tea cups. It's far from perfect, since there's still ultimately a lot of human selection involved, but it's much closer than the typical use of "random" in LJ entries, which typically means no more than "diverse" or "not obviously related to neighbouring elements".

If anyone out there has a reliable method for generating three-digit numbers (I've been told that computer-based methods, such as that Unix command I used to use, evince subtle biases), post a view and I'll assemble an entry for tomorrow. ("Got dragon dice?") Or if you math-types reading this have a better idea for randomising entries, hit me with it.

Comments

[lhn.livejournal.com]

If anyone out there has a reliable method for generating three-digit numbers (I've been told that computer-based methods, such as that Unix command I used to use, evince subtle biases), post a view and I'll assemble an entry for tomorrow. ("Got dragon dice?")

That last is the answer I'd use-- roll 3d10. (For maximum randomness, shake them in a cup rather than just picking them up and throwing them.) I know of at least one reasonably well-regarded random password generation scheme that uses dice. Other sources of randomness are discussed here, though most of them are better-suited to someone more technically proficient than you or me.

[teapot-farm.livejournal.com]

So did your father really have a recent ceramic tour of China? If so, we want details! Please... Well, I want details, everyone else may be bored rigid at the thought...

[grahamwest.livejournal.com]

Computer-based random number generators can properly only be called pseudo-random but many are statistically strong enough that their imperfections take tens to hundreds of millions of samples to be noticeable. Of course it's possible to create a very weak algorithm but that is true of any operation.

Slot machines use software to determine where the reels will stop and there's an enormous amount of law regarding what mathematical properties their random number generators may and may not exhibit, for example. University of Nevada Las Vegas' mathematics department has a couple of professors on staff who specialise in statistics and have lucrative consulting gigs with the various slot machine manufacturers.

[tyrannio.livejournal.com]

I suggest using yarrow stalks, or perhaps consulting entrails at a fine Yunnanese restaurant.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

How many yarrow stalks do I have to throw to generate at least 10^3 numbers?

[tyrannio.livejournal.com]

From the description here (found at random via google, so I have no idea if it's right), 50 stalks, but you'd have to throw them 10 times instead of 6 to generate a number between 0-1023, and the number wouldn't be uniformly distributed. (If you got a number between 1000-1023, you could either try again or take the day off.)

[mollpeartree.livejournal.com]

If it were me, I would just take the last three numbers on the U.S. deficit ticker.

[mollpeartree.livejournal.com]

Oops, I meant to say "trade deficit ticker." There is also one somewhere for the budget deficit, but it didn't turn up on the first page of my Google search, so there ya go.