Testimonials

I make mixed media animations as a hobby, and have recently been exploring non-sequential abstract patterns, as both a visual ‘static’ effect, and as dynamic planes and surfaces for figures. While sometimes a typological approach appropriate, like taking a photo of a section of every page in the weekly newspaper and running it at high speed so it becomes non-figurative (to be used as an overcast sky), I often need more specific sorts of abstract, and drawing or otherwise generating thousands of frames of images, often for a minute or two of footage can be time consuming. So, I routinely get around this by making a fraction of that amount, and I used to pad the remaining time out by repeating frames in 'random' order, off the top of my own head, results less than impressive. Now, thanks to your random, I generate integers corresponding to existing frames, which eliminates obvious loops and repetitions, creating a much more believable and smooth non-sequential series.

Also, being subject to whimsy, I occasionally include snapshots of said numbers in the odd frame, or even the URL, considering it subliminal advertising.

—Dominic Brown

I think I've found the strangest use for Random.org's services: I retrieved a 256×256 random bitmap and changed the colors, and I use it as my Windows XP desktop wallpaper. I find that it's easier on the eyes than a large, screen-sized photograph; a small, repeated pattern; or even a solid color. I think of it as shag carpeting for the desktop. The two colors I actually use are #0055AA and #002B55, which I find fit well with the Windows XP color scheme. Now, what would be cool is if I could generate random bitmaps with more than two colors.

—Gus Polly