Comments on: someone good with math, please step up to this challenge.

By: kat_chan

kat_chan — Sun, 05 Jan 2003 05:02:05 +0000

In theory, the probability of a give two songs being selected from 1,153 would be roughly on the lines of 1 in 1.33 million; statistically. But as chaizilla said, if you're using a computer program set to "random", then it's not working in quite the way you'd imagine. I know that Peri's jukebox program for her home net server used an algorithm that grouped songs in a few bunches, and it would first select a random number to determine the bunch to select from, then another to select the song. So, if you had two "equal" groups (one of 576, one of 577 songs), your statistical probability, under that system, would be about 1 in 660,000. And how the random number is generated (selecting a "random number" between 0 and 999, for example, versus selecting a random nuber from 0 to 9 three times) adds even more variability into the probability.

So, there you have a rough estimate of truly random selection probability, and then illustration of how different methods of selecting the random number can affect that probability.

Sorry about the geeking out. I was in a geography department that emphasized use of statistical methods, much to my chagrin.

By: Astrid

Astrid — Sat, 04 Jan 2003 01:08:45 +0000

Re: oh.

me neither, but i surmise that the difference there would be that a digital machine is trying to create a random circumstance, whereas something completely mechanical, without influence from anything digital, would naturally be random, since all it's doing is moving until it stops.

nowwww does it make sense why i suck at mathematics and physics?

By: chaizzilla

chaizzilla — Sat, 04 Jan 2003 00:33:42 +0000

Re: oh.

i don't know how the mechanical ones work ;p

By: Astrid

Astrid — Sat, 04 Jan 2003 00:08:48 +0000

oh.

i think i can visualise that now.

kinda like the difference between a mechanical slot machine and a computerised one, right?

By: chaizzilla

chaizzilla — Sat, 04 Jan 2003 00:02:30 +0000

a computer cannot generate an absolutely random number, and the means with which computers approximate one vary greatly.

By: Astrid

Astrid — Fri, 03 Jan 2003 23:57:39 +0000

i guess i'm needlessly dense.

how do these differ?