From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from lists.gentoo.org (pigeon.gentoo.org [208.92.234.80]) by finch.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3935113877A for ; Sun, 29 Jun 2014 00:37:41 +0000 (UTC) Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id BAE83E0ABE; Sun, 29 Jun 2014 00:37:35 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mx2.cims.nyu.edu (MX2.CIMS.NYU.EDU [128.122.49.96]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id AFB87E0AA0 for ; Sun, 29 Jun 2014 00:37:34 +0000 (UTC) Received: from smtp.cs.nyu.edu (smtp.cs.nyu.edu [128.122.49.97]) by mx2.cims.nyu.edu (8.14.4+Sun/8.14.4) with ESMTP id s5T0bTmM022039 for ; Sat, 28 Jun 2014 20:37:29 -0400 (EDT) Received: from newlap-wireless.localdomain (ool-182de8a5.dyn.optonline.net [24.45.232.165]) (authenticated bits=0) by smtp.cs.nyu.edu (8.14.3/8.14.4) with ESMTP id s5T0bQhl022036 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT) for ; Sat, 28 Jun 2014 20:37:29 -0400 (EDT) Received: by newlap-wireless.localdomain (Postfix, from userid 1000) id 64843AAF5E; Sat, 28 Jun 2014 20:37:26 -0400 (EDT) From: gottlieb@nyu.edu To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Re: OT: Mapping random numbers (PRNG) References: <20140606025619.GB3837@solfire> <20140606210329.GA1631@lyseo.edu.ouka.fi> <827EEF66-5787-4078-B18E-3D95F13B3902@iki.fi> <0ko38b-2a.ln1@hurikhan77.spdns.de> Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 20:37:26 -0400 In-Reply-To: ("Canek \=\?utf-8\?Q\?Pel\=C3\=A1ez_Vald\=C3\=A9s\=22's\?\= message of "Sat, 28 Jun 2014 17:06:33 -0500") Message-ID: <87k380360p.fsf@nyu.edu> User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/24.3 (gnu/linux) Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.4.1 (mx2.cims.nyu.edu [128.122.49.96]); Sat, 28 Jun 2014 20:37:29 -0400 (EDT) X-Virus-Scanned: clamav-milter 0.97.4 at mx2 X-Virus-Status: Clean X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.73 on 128.122.49.96 X-Archives-Salt: 28f45741-cf2c-428d-a274-36d27266d813 X-Archives-Hash: 83863af04e1612f6b0a72e14b662d5fd On Sat, Jun 28 2014, Canek Pel=C3=A1ez Vald=C3=A9s wrote: > That doesn't matter. Take a non-negative integer N; if you flip a coin > an infinite number of times, then the probability of the coin landing > on the same face N times in a row is 1. This is certainly true. > This means that it is *guaranteed* to happen That is not as clear. Prob =3D 1 does not always mean certain (when there are infinite possibilities). For example the probability is zero that a random rational number chosen between 0 and 1 is exactly 1/2. So the probability is 1 that the number is not 1/2. However it is not certain that the random choice will not be 1/2. allan