[FRIAM] Why "true" random?

[Robert Holmes]

Cryptography. The required robustness of a random generator is highly
sensitive to the intended application;

   - Generating a "thought for the day" for your blog? Required
   randomness = low.
   - Response testing a missile system? Required randomness = medium
   - Stealing above test results, encrypting them and transmitting them
   to Al Quaeda in a form that you hope the NSA won't understand? Required
   randomness = high

Robert

On 7/21/07, Peter Lissaman <plissaman at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>  Why is it important (except intellectually) to have "true" randomness???
> I very well remember the early, good old, bad old, days of Aerospace, in the
> 50's, when we were really doing practical earthshattering things -- like
> going to the moon -- sans computers!!  The RAND corporation, for whom I
> consulted, published a typed book (size of a Manhattan telephone directory)
> of "random" numbers  for engineering application.  Much entertainment was
> occasioned when, about three months later, they distributed a list of
> "typos" to their original list of random numbers.  Today I use homemade
> random numbers alla time for real problems, specifically the actual response
> of real flight vehicles in real atmospheric turbulence.  Flight tests
> support  analysis, in the sense that what we predict is not obviously
> incorrect.  We have never found it necessary to utilize any more "perfectly
> random" "random" sequences!
>
>
> Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
>
> Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for.
>
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> TEL: (505) 983-7728 FAX: (505) 983-1694
>
>
>
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