17 Dec
2003
17 Dec
'03
11:17 p.m.
Perry writes, regarding alpha decay counts for random numbers:
And, as I noted, there are RS232 interfaceable radiation detectors you can buy off the shelf -- no hardware hacking needed.
As far as a radiation source goes, the Americium 241 source from a cheap smoke detector is just dandy. A while ago, I took one into the lab and put it on a scintillating counter and got alpha hits at roughly half-microsecond intervals. It was a while ago, so I forget how this compared to the rating in Curies on the package. But that would be fine for a low-to-moderate bandwidth RNG. -- Will