From: Steve Reid <steve@edmweb.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 17:48:10 +0800
To: Jack Mott <thecrow@iconn.net>
Subject: Hardware RNG (was Re: spinner entropy)
In-Reply-To: <3179954A.176A@iconn.net>
Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.91.960420223831.7579C-100000@kirk.edmweb.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> Anyway I am in the middle of putting together a portable RNG that will should 
> consist of nothing more than a photoelectric tube, 9volt battery, and a bit of 
> wiring. It will connect through the serial port. Just put your favorite 
> radioactive substance near it and your set. before people freak out, there are 

Why not just use a sound sample? "Please blow into the microphone"...
You've got the randomness of the sound itself, along with the minute
errors produced by the analog/digital converter. Should be able to get
plenty of entropy. Maybe even just use background noise.

Even if you don't have a sound card, you could probably fix something up 
that plugs into a port.

Seems like a good idea, but I'm no expert on entropy.

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