Startup to launch new random number generator from space

Ben Laurie ben at algroup.co.uk
Thu Dec 21 11:11:49 EST 2006


Udhay Shankar N wrote:
> http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6142935.html
> 
> British start-up Yuzoz has announced that it will be launching its beta
> service in the next two weeks--an online random-number generator driven
> by astronomical events.
> 
> Working with data from satellites and observatories, Yuzoz will use the
> solar wind, the clouds of Venus, the Northern Lights, Jupiter's
> shortwave emissions and other cosmic events to generate 200 choices per
> second.
> 
> While the beta service will use only a single source--the solar wind--to
> deliver a selection of numbers, the full service, due at the end of
> January, will have many more options, including the ability to give the
> site a list of choices and have it pick one.

Using a random number generator, presumably. If only we could find a
good source of randomness... :-)

This kind of service has been discussed here before, of course. The
usual verdict: so much better for attackers, especially if they work for
Yuzoz.

Cheers,

Ben.

-- 
http://www.apache-ssl.org/ben.html           http://www.links.org/

"There is no limit to what a man can do or how far he can go if he
doesn't mind who gets the credit." - Robert Woodruff

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