[Cryptography] Photon beam splitters for "true" random number generation ?

[Patrick Chkoreff]

Tom Mitchell wrote on 12/21/2015 10:26 PM:
> On Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 6:51 AM, Patrick Chkoreff
> <patrick at rayservers.net <mailto:patrick at rayservers.net>> wrote:

>     Right, or use a set of 16-sided dice.  I bought some a few years ago.
> 
> 
> Why 16-side?

> N-sides allows base N and conversion to any other interesting base would
> be easy.

The 16-sided dice just make it particularly easy to create a truly
random number which contains precisely 256 bits of entropy, expressed in
hexadecimal notation.

Of course you are correct, e.g. you could instead roll 100 six-sided
dice, or throw 256 pennies into the air above a tile floor, but if you
want a hexadecimal number you have to do some pesky conversions in
either case.


-- Patrick