Re: Random selection

On Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 2:02 PM, Florent Georges <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Vladimir Nesterovsky wrote:
>
>> using a random seed e.g. a value derived from current time stamp
>
>  Pay attention that current-dateTime() is stable.

One doesn't need to provide a seed more than once (and the whole
thinking of a "single random number" is flawed).

It is just OK to provide a seed once and to ask for a sufficiently
long *sequence* of randoms, then just use them.

Of course, such a beast that provides a "single random" can be
implemented and, in the absence of type classes and monadic
implementation (yet) in XSLT, it will return together with the
"random" the value for the next seed that must be passed on the next
call. As messy as the flawed concept it implements.

-- 
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
---------------------------------------
Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
---------------------------------------
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
-------------------------------------
Never fight an inanimate object
-------------------------------------
You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what
you're doing is work or play