[aklug] Re: random bits vs random Hex

From: Christopher Howard <christopher.howard@frigidcode.com>
Date: Tue May 28 2013 - 21:29:53 AKDT

On 05/28/2013 06:54 PM, Szechuan Death wrote:
>
> Also, ultimately, keep in mind that your randomness tests are *only*
> operating on binary digits; hex representation is only for
> human-readable convenience. (The processor doan know from know hex, dude.)
>

I think this is the critical point: All you are changing is the label.
The actual number of /allowed states/ does not change.

I think the subject you are looking for is entropy and randomness. I
don't quite grasp it myself yet, but the two critical components at
least are the number of possible states, and the ability of the system
to ensure that each of those possible states are equally likely to be
chosen. In your scenario, neither has been changed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_in_thermodynamics_and_information_theory

http://web.mit.edu/16.unified/www/FALL/thermodynamics/notes/node57.html

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Received on Tue May 28 21:30:26 2013

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