faster /dev/random

[Tim]

On Sun, 2010-08-22 at 17:46 +0200, Roberto Ragusa wrote:
> As for 1) there are hardware generators based on physical phenomenons
> (from electronic noise to nuclear decay). I would suggest you to use
> an audio input sampling some noise (fan noise). The ambient noise
> in addition to the electrical noise will be a good entropy source
> if you sample at 48000Hz/16bits. Another opportunity is a webcam
> (pointed to a fan, blinking LEDs, or a window with wind moving leaves
> and clouds...) or an analogic TV acquisition board (not tuned).

I would think a fan might make a regular noise (motor, air buffeting),
not to mention that putting a microphone directly into an air path can
wreck it.  A simple solution might be to connect to an analogue tv tuner
or radio tuner off-station, to get the (almost) white noise from it.

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