Post Aq3Z0CYUzdMEr5xjf6 by atoponce@fosstodon.org
 (DIR) More posts by atoponce@fosstodon.org
 (DIR) Post #Aq3YzlWRVAfb0tnDCy by atoponce@fosstodon.org
       2025-01-13T23:58:12Z
       
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       Here are some published random number projects.In 1955, the RAND corporation published a book titled "A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates".The random number were produced via an electronic simulation of a roulette wheel attached to a computer. The results were filtered and tested before added to the large table.The book is 400 pages each containing 50 lines of 50 digits. Columns and lines are grouped in fives and the lines are numbered 00000-19999.https://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1418.html
       
 (DIR) Post #Aq3Yzq6kS85VEeoGLw by atoponce@fosstodon.org
       2025-01-14T00:00:18Z
       
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       In 1995, George Marsaglia created a CDROM with sixty 10-MB random bits to test against his DIEHARD battery of randomness tests.Executables and source code are available for Windows, Linux, and Solaris, in FORTRAN and C.Only 1,000 CDROMs were pressed for the Florida State University statistics department, so you likely won't find a physical copy, but you can browse the contents of the CDROM on the Internet Archive.https://web.archive.org/web/19971024144607/http://stat.fsu.edu/pub/diehard/
       
 (DIR) Post #Aq3YzuOyUJ2mYLMsJk by atoponce@fosstodon.org
       2025-01-14T00:06:36Z
       
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       In 2020, inspired by the RAND Corporation, I created "Another Million Random Digits" using the Blum-Blum-Shub "1/P base b" generator, which differs from the cryptographically secure x^2 mod pq generator. The layout follows the same layout as the RAND Corporation.Unlike the RAND Corporation and George Marsaglia, you can reproduce the random numbers in this GitHub Gist, providing 100% full transparency.The file in is Markdown. You can use Pandoc to create it to PDF.https://gist.github.com/atoponce/0d6d6d91fa800b903344449cdd70b028
       
 (DIR) Post #Aq3YzyHK4hIeZloowi by atoponce@fosstodon.org
       2025-01-14T00:21:38Z
       
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       Moving from physical media to digital, we start with the "Electronic Random Number Indicator Equiment", or "ERNIE" for short. ERNIE was introduced in 1956 to create premium bond winners by the Post Office.The numbers were generated via noise in a neon cold-cathode tube. Two tubes contributed to a single digit to prevent a single point of failure.I made a FOIA request to the Government Actuary’s Department in the U.K. to test randomness quality and was denied.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premium_Bonds#ERNIE
       
 (DIR) Post #Aq3Z01oOwAXfXEJmQC by atoponce@fosstodon.org
       2025-01-14T00:25:40Z
       
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       Randomness beacon protocols were first proposed in 1983 by Michael O. Rabin.As far as I can tell, NIST was the first to publish a randomness beacon on the Internet in 2013. In 2019, version 2.0 was released as "beta" and is the current beacon operating.Because the randomness is public, it should not be used for cryptographic keys or other secrets. Obviously, as *it's not secret*.All output is timestamped and cryptographically signed by NIST, ensuring validity.https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/beacon-20
       
 (DIR) Post #Aq3Z05Ha28fIIazcoq by atoponce@fosstodon.org
       2025-01-14T00:29:44Z
       
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       Finishing up, a distributed randomness beacon protocol was proposed in 2019 that can produce verifiable, yet unpredictable and unbiased random numbers as a service.An open source project called "drand" was created which can be found on GitHub. Following the first release, a "League of Entropy" was created with a small geographic distribution of clients, each generating entropy in their own way.Cloudflare joined of the League of Entropy, and the rest is history.https://drand.love/loe/
       
 (DIR) Post #Aq3Z08pipel3JLzQx6 by atoponce@fosstodon.org
       2025-01-14T00:32:07Z
       
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       One great feature of all of these public randomness sources is the ability to use them for publicly verifiable randomness selections or trials.For example, if a company wishes to preform drug tests on a random selection of employees, announcing how the random numbers will be picked using one of these sources can be verified.If an employee objects to being selected, they can verify whether or not the company was unbiased in its selection.
       
 (DIR) Post #Aq3Z0CYUzdMEr5xjf6 by atoponce@fosstodon.org
       2025-01-14T00:32:48Z
       
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       If I missed any notable projects, let me know.