Re: Randomness of a bit string

Timothy C. May says:

Here's a short article I wrote for sci.crypt aboout "randomness" of a bit string and the Kolmogorov-Chaitin definition that a string is random if and only if it has no shorter description than itself.

With respect, Tim, this definition is insufficient. For cryptographic purposes, a string must not merely be incompressible but also unknown. One can imagine things that are uncontrollable and incompressable but well known -- such as, say the least signifcant bits in the payoffs on winning horses at some race track. Perry