cbinckly / gmail.com wrote:

> Keep in mind that Ruby's random numbers are only pseudorandom, so if
> you need real random numbers you should look into something a little
> more robust than Kernel.rand

Three questions:
What is the difference between real random numbers and pseuderandom numbers?

In which situation is the difference important?
My guess is, that it is cryptography, to make a salt in a key less 
"guessable".

Last, but not least: Where would I go to create real random numbers, 
preferably in a platform-independent way?

P.S.: Call me lazy, but I wouldn't know what to search for, much less be 
able to weight the sources I get. Feel free to reply off-list, if this 
is too off-topic for the list. In that case, I'll compile an article and 
make it publicly available.

-- 
Phillip "CynicalRyan" Gawlowski
http://cynicalryan.110mb.com/

Rule of Open-Source Programming #11:

When a developer says he will work on something, he or she means
"maybe".