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Last active January 1, 2016 17:38
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silly idea for pooled random number mining

On Randomness

The strength of cryptography is in the ability to create chunks of data in unpredictable ways. "True randomness" is perfect unpredictability. The process of generating a random number does not need to be perfect, if another unpredictable process is used somewhere else. Thus, it seems possible to create an extremely unpredictable process out of many, more predictable, processes.

Consider a network of nodes. Each one creates a weak pseudo-random number every n unit of time. Each node sends these random bits to another node. The recipient node will perform some kind of weak pseudo-randomizing technique with the given bits, such as pseudo-random bit shifting, or hashing with another pseudo-randomly generated number.

Each node creates and sends random bits, and each receives bits and further randomizes them. Perhaps they have a 100 pseudo-random processes, and each iteration a random process is chosen. Sometimes, a node will digest a random chunk, to be used by the operator of the node for random number generation.

The process for each random number is unknowable. An attacker could not presume predictable behaviors.

[NEEDS CITATION]

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