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Define the word randomness

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: entropy, S]
     2: the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan [syn: haphazardness,
         stochasticity, noise]

72 Moby Thesaurus words for "randomness":
   aimlessness, capriciousness, causelessness, chance, chanciness,
   changeableness, derangement, designlessness, disarrangement,
   disarray, disarticulation, discomfiture, discomposure,
   disconcertedness, disharmony, dishevelment, disintegration,
   disjunction, disorder, disorderliness, disorganization,
   disproportion, disruption, disturbance, dysteleology, entropy,
   erraticism, erraticness, fickleness, haphazardness, hesitancy,
   hesitation, incalculability, incertitude, incoherence, indecision,
   indecisiveness, indemonstrability, indeterminacy, indetermination,
   indeterminism, indiscriminateness, inharmonious harmony,
   irregularity, irresolution, luck, most admired disorder,
   nonsymmetry, nonuniformity, perturbation, promiscuity,
   promiscuousness, purposelessness, suspense, suspensefulness,
   turbulence, unaccountability, uncertainness, uncertainty,
   uncertainty principle, undecidedness, undeterminedness,
   unforeseeableness, unpredictability, unprovability, unsureness,
   unsymmetry, ununiformity, unverifiability, upset, vacillation,
   whimsicality

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 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 randomess, 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
   (http://www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits/). Another derives random bits from
   images of Lava Lite lamps (http://lavarand.sgi.com/). (Hackers
   invariably find the latter 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]