From: "Andrew D. Isaacson" <adisaacs@mtu.edu>
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 1995 14:27:58 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Video as a source of randomness
Message-ID: <199511020602.BAA23380@supreme.csl.mtu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text


A thought just occurred to me...

How useful would it be to use a video stream as a source of random input
to something like /dev/random?  I'm thinking along the lines of a
Connectix QuickCam (sp?) or the cool videocam that comes with the Indy.
It seems to me that the picture recieved by a camera sitting atop a
monitor would be quite unpredictable. (relatively) High bandwith, too.
Even if the entropy in a video signal is low, the high bandwidth would
seem to make up for it.

Struggling to keep my head above the crypto tide,
andy
-- 
Andrew Isaacson <adisaacs@mtu.edu>    finger adisaacs@colossus.csl.mtu.edu 
Freshman/Comp Sci @ Michigan Technological University   for PGP public key
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