Testimonials

In several things that I do, I require some form of randomness (for example, secure primary keys for databases, with almost no chance of collision error). To do this, I use your site to create them. A simple generation of numbers between 0 and 35, and then change them into their base-36 equivalent, however long the sequence needs to be, and you have an virtually unguessable primary key sequence. You can’t guess what the next key in the sequence will be. Very useful for keeping people from being able to hack your customer list and finding out who does business with you (they might be able to guess one, but the next won’t be sequential, so they would have to start all over again to find the next). I also use it in my writing, to generate datasets for locations and people by assigning integers to various items and using the site to pick the ones that apply.

—John Anderson

Dear Mr. Haahr, I would like to express my appreciation for your random number generator. I used it for selecting a sample of 40 (of about 400) for my Work-Study project, a way to provide students on government assistance with money and work experience, at the Department of Classics, University of Toronto, Erindale Campus. My supervisors, Dr. Catherine Rubincame and Elaine Goettler would also like to express their thanks. I hope you keep up the good work.

—Ilija Milicevic, University of Toronto