[12750] in Cypherpunks
Re: Random #'s via CD-ROM?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Eli Brandt)
Fri Apr 29 16:26:55 1994
To: cypherpunks list <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 94 13:22:33 PDT
From: Eli Brandt <ebrandt@jarthur.cs.hmc.edu>
In-Reply-To: <9404291108.AA21168@snark.imsi.com>; from "Perry E. Metzger" at Apr 29, 94 7:08 am
> How do you pick the random section in the first place? Oh, I see, we
> use a random number generator!
Every PRNG needs to be seeded somehow. I was thinking he meant to
start the process with a secret key. The main problem I see (assuming
you hash the blocks down to get decent random data) is that CD-ROMs
aren't all that big.
(The vast majority of CD-ROM drives, by the way, cannot make a bit-for-bit
copy of audio CD's. The record industry was unhappy with this idea.)
Eli ebrandt@hmc.edu
