HotBits is an Internet resource that brings genuine random numbers, generated by a process fundamentally governed by the inherent uncertainty in the quantum mechanical laws of nature, directly to your computer in a variety of forms. HotBits are generated by timing successive pairs of radioactive decays detected by a Geiger-Müller tube interfaced to a computer. (Warning: random sounds.)
posted by parudox on Feb 9, 2009 - 41 comments

Need to name a character? Use this random name generator. Hit refresh to, uh, refresh. Explanation here. [via]
posted by dersins on May 2, 2008 - 51 comments

Metafilterinkarationicizes! By analyising the frequency of pairs of letters in 45,402 different words it is possible to generate new words which, although, don't have any meaning are reasonably syntatically correct. Enjoy the random word generator.
posted by remlapm on Aug 2, 2002 - 33 comments

I've got a pseudo machine. I know that we're all living in the world of truth, light and clarity these days, but as a bad casualty of one jargon-ridden film studies course in 1981-82, I loved this little program. Less wieldy than the old classic, the postmodern generator. Has anyone noticed that Chip from the Corrections is a classic of the type - "assistant professor of textual artefacts", indeed. Actually, here's a real life Professor of virtual culture. Cute too.
posted by theplayethic on Feb 4, 2002 - 14 comments

[pseudo-]Random content generators - very interesting stuff. I'd love to see human beings act on this content as a sort of selector of aesthetics a la Richard Dawkins. Be sure to check out the randomly generated comics.
posted by SilentSalamander on Nov 12, 2001 - 13 comments

LavaRand ...harnessing the power of Lava Lite® lamps to generate truly random numbers....

That's a bold statement, but who am I to doubt the power of the lava lamp. The mathematical purist may disagree with the "truely random" part, but this geek speak convinced me that LavaRand can handle all my random number needs.
posted by bicyclingfool on Apr 30, 2001 - 1 comment