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: {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 images of Lava Lite lamps. (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}]
    

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