[carlr]

The pattern of ones and noughts - 'heads' and 'tails' as it were - could then be printed out as a graph. The laws of chance dictate that the generators should churn out equal numbers of ones and zeros - which would be represented by a nearly flat line on the graph. Any deviation from this equal number shows up as a gently rising curve.

If it is truly random (wonder how that works since the computer had to be programed by someone)than it is conceivable that it will randomly produce a string with a greater number of "heads" than "tails" or vice versa.
This over time will create the flat line he is talking about.The problem is no one knows how long that time must be to see the flat line,ie;one minute,one day,one month and so on.
Any change in the perspective will alter how straight that line is.

[Flightdeck]

There are random number generators that get their input from radioactive decay of certain isotopes, which as near as anyone can tell is utterly random.

[LeftCoastNeoCon]

Yes, if I remember correctly, it is impossible to create a true random number generator. Only something that closely mimics a random number generator is possible. In fact, there was a guy who worked for a company that created an algorythm to mimic random numbers for a Vegas (or was it Atlantic city?) casino Kino game. He and a partner set up a scam. They tried it out - by seeing what the last set of so-called "random" numbers were and then extrapolating what the next would be - and they hit it perfectly on the very first try.

This made the casino suspicious. They checked the "winnner's" room and found the guy who used to work for the company that sold them the "random" number generator.

Then, I suppose, they went to jail.

[killjoy]

If it is truly random (wonder how that works since the computer had to be programed by someone)than it is conceivable that it will randomly produce a string with a greater number of "heads" than "tails" or vice versa.

Correct. If it is truely random, each 'bit' of information that it produces is unique and is in no way determined by the previous bit. It can be thought of the same as a coin toss. If a coin is flipped and it turns up 'heads' 10 times in a row, there is still only a 50% chance of it coming up 'heads' on the next flip.

Technically, the machine could produce millions of 1s in a row and still be random. Of course it would be highly unlikely, but statistically, it is possible.