Re: Hardware generators

Is this trip really necessary? Seems to me you can get strong random numbers without having to build hardware from scratch. Just get a sound interface (widely available for both ISA and parallel interfaces) and run the noise from an FM receiver into the A/D converter. Hash the output with MD5 and you have some pretty strong random numbers. I wouldn't be surprised if with some 16-bit boards you could do away with the FM receiver and just sample the noise from the analog preamp and mixer stages. Many of those boards are rather noisy. It is always better to buy than to build when you can make effective use of some mass-market PC peripheral. Not only do you save a lot of time, but it'll be much easier for others to replicate too. Phil