You think you can be random. You feel you can be random. However… you are not random. A basic pseudorandom number generator is much more random than you. Want proof? Alright: Go to this page and play for a while. The system gives you a fixed amount of virtual money, and each time it fails to predict the key you press, it gives you a little more than it takes when it guesses. The good news is that your opponent isn't perfect. The bad news is that it doesn't need to be…
Obtaining randomness is a much bigger and more complex challenge than we imagine, but there is always room for creativity. For example, the people at Cloudflare use lava lamps as random number generators, a solution inspired by an old Silicon Graphics patent.
For example, if you use the KeePass password manager, its password creation section includes an “entropy collector”, which comes down to pressing keys and moving the mouse chaotically over a small box that looks like static. Personally, I only move the mouse for one reason… and that is that we are not very good at generating random characters with the keyboard.
Here is the demonstration. This game developed by Ilya Perederiy has very simple rules: Press the left arrow or the right arrow. Each time the system correctly predicts the key, it will deduct a dollar from your account (virtual, of course). Otherwise, it will pay you 1.05.
All you need to get rich is to stay one step ahead of the system with random presses. And I can only add “good luck”, because unless you cheat (that option always exists), sooner or later the system will empty your account. Your fingers repeat certain patterns that the system easily records, and it constantly updates a database with every possible combination of five presses.
This development is based on the so-called Aaronson Oracle, which works in a very similar way, with a slight difference in the keys (“d” and “f” in this case). I insist: Neither system is perfect, but with an average success rate ranging between 70 and 85 percent, the confirmation that our randomness sucks is compelling.
Official site: Click here
