Randomness
From Maze
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(→IV. The Emergence of Computational Randomness in Aesthetic Design) | (→V. The C64 and RND) | ||
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[An early example of this is a 1960 teleplay "written" by a computer at MIT, and then performed on CBS.] | [An early example of this is a 1960 teleplay "written" by a computer at MIT, and then performed on CBS.] | ||
| − | ===V. The C64 and RND=== | + | === The C64 and the RND Function === |
| − | In this section we finally discuss the RND function in the context of the C64. | + | An important feature of computing is the opposite of randomness, regularity. Computer chips differ greatly from the outer world in their orderliness. Unlike our beaches or the bumpy landmasses with weather on which we build our houses, the world inside chips is meticulously fabricated, symmetrical, isolated and predictable. In fact, its basis is one massive crystal grown from purified silicon. It is so perfect that it is difficult to create unanticipated behavior. |
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| − | With so many variables in the real world like late buses, misdialed numbers, and slippery fingers dropping grilled cheese sandwiches into french fry oil (the legendary origin of the Monte Cristo sandwich!), one of randomness's opposites, order, becomes a valued commodity. Clocks, calendars, safety standards, and style guides suffuse our culture to protect us. | ||
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| − | Yet, in a computer, it is quite the opposite. Computer chips differ greatly from the outer world in their orderliness. Unlike our beaches or the bumpy landmasses with weather on which we build our houses, the world inside chips is meticulously fabricated, symmetrical, isolated and predictable. In fact, its basis is one massive crystal grown from purified silicon. It is so perfect that it is difficult to create unanticipated behavior. | ||
As randomness in the home computer market transitioned from being a mere source of artificial surprise into practical security applications, computer chips were designed with modules designed to encourage random amounts of heat energy to influence their silicon junctions to hasten the creation of unpredictable data. This is part of the essence of encryption - the production of obscurata. | As randomness in the home computer market transitioned from being a mere source of artificial surprise into practical security applications, computer chips were designed with modules designed to encourage random amounts of heat energy to influence their silicon junctions to hasten the creation of unpredictable data. This is part of the essence of encryption - the production of obscurata. | ||
