Rnaodm Nmbeurs

From Maze

In 10 PRINT CHR$(109.5+RND(1));:GOTO 10, the RND command (pronounced “random”) modulates the output in a stunning way. Compared to the maze pattern program which forms the title of this book, you can imagine how boring the following program would be: 10 PRINT CHR$(109); : GOTO 10 In fact, here’s a demonstration of it: (pic109.jpg)

 or possibly 10 PRINT CHR$(110); : GOTO 10

pic110.jpg



Do other simple programs besides 10 Print... promise more interesting patterns? One might consider switching printing every Nth block as one possibility, or, more adventurously, using a chaotic system with feedback... but none of these patterns are encapsulated into this single three-letter command which is built into the operating system: RND. What does it really mean? Let’s try to make a connection between the mathematical sense of the word, and the social usage of the word.

The meaning of the word random varies with time. Sometimes considering not only the static meaning of a word, but its path helps interpret and use the word better. The appropriation of the term by computer scientists constituted a coup of sorts (or at least a hijacking) in which a particular sense of the word was rolled, kneaded out, and baked at 350 degrees for 21 minutes. Surely it was not their fault - in the 1940s, who could have anticipated that “random” would become a teenager’s slang term? (You can read this in the 140+ defintions of the word on the website http://urbandictionary )

Since then however, a sense of the prior definition has survived. Random can also describe an emotional concept. As pattern-seeking creatures, we find patterns and make use of them, remembering and perceiving as much as possible and combing our experiences and those in others' stories in order to thrive. We may even value patterns so much that the thought of anything happening randomly, such as a murder or terrorist act, sounds scary or pointless. Even a desperate detective working around the clock believes patterns underlie the assembled evidence. When a pattern is discovered and the killer is caught, that frustration turns to joy as the randomness disappears.

Yet, sometimes randomness causes celebration. Particularly when combined with generosity, it leads to surprise, such as when one “practices a random act of kindness.” Just the right amount of randomness transports a blues jam deeper into the heart or sparks a random encounter between lovers. Sometimes, the slip of a finger on a trumpet valve can produce “wrong note” which the player incorporates into the song, which is heard by two shy lovers, delighting them and encouraging them to move closer together. A truly random act, a grand coincidence can heighten any other emotion, because randomness implies a relationship between expected and surprise, a violation of anticipation as well as a notion of temporariness. This notion of violated predictability is key to some musicians playing and composing styles, leading to many attempts at “generative music,” most of which fail comparison to prerecorded music.

    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 origin of the Monte Cristo sandwich!), patterns are especially valued because they are so rare.  Yet, in a computer, it is quite the opposite.  Digital integrated chips, and possibly other computing devices differ greatly from the world in their orderliness.   In fact, the world inside digital chips is in some ways so perfect it is difficult to actually create unanticipated behavior.  Interestingly, we still can detect patterns within it, using computers, but our perception is poor at recognizing randomness because we continuously attempt to find patterns in it.   

The internal orderliness is at least true for the chip (MOS6510) running the Commodore 64’s BASIC interpreter, as well as the chip running the original BASIC interpreter at Dartmouth. As randomness transitioned from the sublime concept it once possessed to the practical application of security, sections of chips were designed to encourage random amounts heat energy of influence of their silicon junctions in order to hasten the creation of unpredictable data. This is part of the essence of encryption - the production of obscurata. Patterns in these data are way behind the abilities of humans to predict in our heads, and are even difficult for many computers to suss out.

In my own memories from 1984 and beyond, RND was most often used to improve the quality of games. For example, in the endless clones of Breakout!, RND chose where the ball would drop into the game, how much it would wiggle through the air, and helped make the sound of the bricks exploding. It made the game a little bit different each time and more challenging. You might wish to try my modern interpretation of my bricks exploding routine: 5 for i=0 to 24: read a : poke 54272+i,a : next 6 data 5,17,29,34, 45,29,23,100, 39,234,255,12, 100,101,102,103, 40,20,10,5, 0,0,0, 255, 10 poke 54274 + rnd(0)*2,rnd(0)*256 : goto 10

This usage was nearly identical to the usage offered in the example programs from Dartmouth in the first version of BASIC in 1964.  This shows that random is a kind of "spice," or source of variation.

For all of these reasons, computer scientists continue to challenge themselves to produce more random number generators.