randomness
    n 1: (thermodynamics) a thermodynamic quantity representing the
         amount of energy in a system that is no longer available
         for doing mechanical work; "entropy increases as matter and
         energy in the universe degrade to an ultimate state of
         inert uniformity" [syn: randomness, entropy, S]
    2: the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan [syn:
       randomness, haphazardness, stochasticity, noise]

randomness
 n.

    1. An inexplicable misfeature; gratuitous inelegance.

    2. A hack or crock that depends on a complex combination of
    coincidences (or, possibly, the combination upon which the crock depends
    for its accidental failure to malfunction). ?This hack can output
    characters 40--57 by putting the character in the four-bit accumulator
    field of an XCT and then extracting six bits ? the low 2 bits of the XCT
    opcode are the right thing.? ?What randomness!?

    3. Of people, synonymous with flakiness. The connotation is that the person
    so described is behaving weirdly, incompetently, or inappropriately for
    reasons which are (a) too tiresome to bother inquiring into, (b) are
    probably as inscrutable as quantum phenomena anyway, and (c) are likely to
    pass with time. ?Maybe he has a real complaint, or maybe it's just
    randomness. See if he calls back.?

    Despite the negative connotations of most jargon uses of this term have, it
    is worth noting that randomness can actually be a valuable resource, very
    useful for applications in cryptography and elsewhere. Computers are so
    thoroughly deterministic that they have a hard time generating high-quality
    randomness, so hackers have sometimes felt the need to built
    special-purpose contraptions for this purpose alone. One well-known website
    offers random bits generated by radioactive decay. Another derives random
    bits from chaotic systems in analog electronics. Originally, the latter
    site got its random bits by doing photometry on lava lamps. Hackers
    invariably found this hilarious. If you have to ask why, you'll never get
    it.)

randomness

   1. An inexplicable misfeature; gratuitous inelegance.

   2. A hack or crock that depends on a complex combination
   of coincidences (or, possibly, the combination upon which the
   crock depends for its accidental failure to malfunction).
   "This hack can output characters 40--57 by putting the
   character in the four bit accumulator field of an XCT and then
   extracting six bits - the low 2 bits of the XCT opcode are
   the right thing."  "What randomness!"

   3. Of people, synonymous with "flakiness".  The connotation is
   that the person so described is behaving weirdly,
   incompetently, or inappropriately for reasons which are (a)
   too tiresome to bother inquiring into, (b) are probably as
   inscrutable as quantum phenomena anyway, and (c) are likely to
   pass with time. "Maybe he has a real complaint, or maybe it's
   just randomness.  See if he calls back."

   [Jargon File]