Texas lottery considers eliminating lotto balls

Comment #6

RJOh — Tue, 16 Sep 2003 23:22:07 GMT

Balls falling and bouncing are random by nature, computers are random only when people program them to be and people are lazy some times.A few years ago the Ohio Lottery had a drawing for lottery losers. To play, one mailed in a loosing lottery ticket which was to be randomly drawn. When the contest was over, some one noticed that most of the winners work at the local post office near lottery headquarters. It turn out that postal workers stucked their envelopes in the mail bags last and when

Comment #5

Todd — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 22:31:45 GMT

As much as I think computers are great for a lot of things, I prefer my lottery numbers to be drawn from a drum filled with actual lotto balls.Anyone who has been victimized by a computer virus knows that hackers find ways of corrupting computer programs for their own benefit.

Comment #4

golotto — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 22:27:41 GMT

the more complex a system is, the less secure it is

Comment #3

hypersoniq — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:05:37 GMT

http://www.random.org is a good free source of random numbers.

Comment #2

Thomas Covenant — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 18:46:21 GMT

It is possible to have a completely random drawing using a computer. Just use a good source of entropy(as discussed on another thread). Cutting down the administrative cost could mean more money for the schools. Or it could mean more bonuses for the lottery officials, depending on your state.

Comment #1

vincejr — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 18:21:57 GMT

If they really want to save

Texas lottery considers eliminating lotto balls

Lottery Post — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 08:16:58 GMT

The familiar white, numbered balls that have determined the winners of hundreds of millions of dollars in Texas lottery prizes may get bounced. The Texas Lottery Commission is taking a first, cautious step toward using a computer to replace the rubber balls used since the games began in 1992.It's early in the conceptual stage, but lottery officials have looked at computerized random number generator systems that, linked with animations, are used by a handful of lotteries to pick the winning nu... [ More ]