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The $5000 Compression Challenge (2001)

(www.patrickcraig.co.uk)
181 points ekiauhce | 2 comments | 23 Nov 24 21:10 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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moonchild ◴[24 Nov 24 00:20 UTC] No.42224986[source]▶
suppose the data were generated by a csprng with 256 bits of state. then in fact there are just slightly more than 256 bits of entropy there (prng state plus the length of the generated file). only, you'd have a snail's chance in hell of actually finding that seed
replies(1): >>42225217 #
1. echoangle ◴[24 Nov 24 01:09 UTC] No.42225217[source]▶
If he really wanted to make sure he kept the money, he could just use a hardware RNG. I don’t know how common they were in 2001 but you could probably even generate some practically unpredictable random numbers using radio noise.
replies(1): >>42231434 #
2. tugu77 ◴[24 Nov 24 23:14 UTC] No.42231434[source]▶
Mike thanked random.org for the data. It's exactly what they are doing.