Randomness definition

Randomness





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4 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  randomness
       n 1: (thermodynamics) a thermodynamic quantity representing the
            amount of energy in a system that is no longer available
            for doing mechanical work; "entropy increases as matter
            and energy in the universe degrade to an ultimate state
            of inert uniformity" [syn: {entropy}, {S}]


       2: the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan [syn: {haphazardness},
           {stochasticity}, {noise}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  72 Moby Thesaurus words for "randomness":
     aimlessness, capriciousness, causelessness, chance, chanciness,
     changeableness, derangement, designlessness, disarrangement,
     disarray, disarticulation, discomfiture, discomposure,
     disconcertedness, disharmony, dishevelment, disintegration,
     disjunction, disorder, disorderliness, disorganization,
     disproportion, disruption, disturbance, dysteleology, entropy,
     erraticism, erraticness, fickleness, haphazardness, hesitancy,
     hesitation, incalculability, incertitude, incoherence, indecision,
     indecisiveness, indemonstrability, indeterminacy, indetermination,
     indeterminism, indiscriminateness, inharmonious harmony,
     irregularity, irresolution, luck, most admired disorder,
     nonsymmetry, nonuniformity, perturbation, promiscuity,
     promiscuousness, purposelessness, suspense, suspensefulness,
     turbulence, unaccountability, uncertainness, uncertainty,
     uncertainty principle, undecidedness, undeterminedness,
     unforeseeableness, unpredictability, unprovability, unsureness,
     unsymmetry, ununiformity, unverifiability, upset, vacillation,
     whimsicality
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  randomness n. 1. An inexplicable misfeature; gratuitous inelegance. 2.
     A {hack} or {crock} that depends on a complex combination of
     coincidences (or, possibly, the combination upon which the crock depends
     for its accidental failure to malfunction). "This hack can output
     characters 40-57 by putting the character in the four-bit accumulator
     field of an XCT and then extracting six bits -- the low 2 bits of the
     XCT opcode are the right thing." "What randomness!" 3. Of people,
     synonymous with `flakiness'. The connotation is that the person so
     described is behaving weirdly, incompetently, or inappropriately for
     reasons which are (a) too tiresome to bother inquiring into, (b) are
     probably as inscrutable as quantum phenomena anyway, and (c) are likely
     to pass with time. "Maybe he has a real complaint, or maybe it's just
     randomness. See if he calls back."
  
     Despite the negative connotations jargon uses of this term have, it is
     worth noting that randomness can actually be a valuable resource, very
     useful for applications in cryptography and elsewhere. Computers are so
     thoroughly deterministic that they have a hard time generating
     high-quality randomess, so hackers have sometimes felt the need to built
     special-purpose contraptions for this purpose alone. One well-known
     website offers random bits generated by radioactive decay
     (http://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/). Another derives random bits from
     images of Lava Lite lamps (http://lavarand.sgi.com/). (Hackers
     invariably find the latter hilarious. If you have to ask why, you'll
     never get it.)
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  randomness
       
          1. An inexplicable misfeature; gratuitous inelegance.
       
          2. A {hack} or {crock} that depends on a complex combination
          of coincidences (or, possibly, the combination upon which the
          crock depends for its accidental failure to malfunction).
          "This hack can output characters 40--57 by putting the
          character in the four bit accumulator field of an XCT and then
          extracting six bits - the low 2 bits of the XCT opcode are
          the right thing."  "What randomness!"
       
          3. Of people, synonymous with "flakiness".  The connotation is
          that the person so described is behaving weirdly,
          incompetently, or inappropriately for reasons which are (a)
          too tiresome to bother inquiring into, (b) are probably as
          inscrutable as quantum phenomena anyway, and (c) are likely to
          pass with time. "Maybe he has a real complaint, or maybe it's
          just randomness.  See if he calls back."
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
       

















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