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From: Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Fair, truly random random number generator
Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2016 11:57:17 -0700
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"Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> writes:
[...]
> I just want to play my MP3 songs in shuffle mode. I noticed that most 
> shuffling algorithms are not random enough, as I could hear a pattern 
> being repeated. :)

You don't need an unusually high-quality PRNG to shuffle songs,
unless you're using the shuffle order for cyptography.

It's very likely that you're hearing patterns that aren't really
there.  Humans in general are *very* good at detecting patterns --
whether they're real or not.

If you're using a random number generator to shuffle songs, you won't
be able to tell the difference between a typical low-quality rand()
implementation and a high-quality hardware implementation.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst-u@mib.org  <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
Working, but not speaking, for JetHead Development, Inc.
"We must do something.  This is something.  Therefore, we must do this."
    -- Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, "Yes Minister"