[Coco] Is the RND command really generating a random number?

[Arthur Flexser]

The usual technique is to use Y=RND(-TIMER) to get a somewhat random seed
for the random number generator at the beginning of the program.  But, as
Dave said, computer-generated random nuimbers are only "pseudo random".

On the other hand, people tend to underestimate things like how often five
consecutive heads are likely to occur in a series of coin-flips, so your
impression that "some titles come up more than the laws of probability
would suggest" might be a psychological illusion.  People's efforts to
generate random sequences usually under-represent such repeated occurrences.

Art

On Thu, May 18, 2017 at 8:39 PM, Rietveld Rietveld <rietveldh at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> I used the RND command to generate a random game play option in the
> cocoflash, but it doesn't seem to be very random. Some titles come up more
> than the laws of probability would suggest is possible.   instead I am now
> using a small math equation that uses a PEEK of the clock value.   This has
> resulted in a far more random looking selection
>
> Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.
>
> --
> Coco mailing list
> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>