michael@0: =head1 NAME
michael@0: 
michael@0:  prng - pseudo-random number generator
michael@0: 
michael@0: =head1 SYNOPSIS
michael@0: 
michael@0:  prng [count]
michael@0: 
michael@0: =head1 DESCRIPTION
michael@0: 
michael@0: B<Prng> generates 32-bit pseudo-random integers using the
michael@0: Blum-Blum-Shub (BBS) quadratic residue generator.  It is seeded using
michael@0: the standard C library's rand() function, which itself seeded from the
michael@0: system clock and the process ID number.  Thus, the values generated
michael@0: are not particularly useful for cryptographic applications, but they
michael@0: are in general much better than the typical output of the usual
michael@0: multiplicative congruency generator used by most runtime libraries.
michael@0: 
michael@0: You may optionally specify how many random values should be generated
michael@0: by giving a I<count> argument on the command line.  If you do not
michael@0: specify a count, only one random value will be generated.  The results
michael@0: are output to the standard output in decimal notation, one value per
michael@0: line.
michael@0: 
michael@0: =head1 RESTRICTIONS
michael@0: 
michael@0: As stated above, B<prng> uses the C library's rand() function to seed
michael@0: the generator, so it is not terribly suitable for cryptographic
michael@0: applications.  Also note that each time you run the program, a new
michael@0: seed is generated, so it is better to run it once with a I<count>
michael@0: parameter than it is to run it multiple times to generate several
michael@0: values.
michael@0: 
michael@0: =head1 AUTHOR
michael@0: 
michael@0:  Michael J. Fromberger <sting@linguist.dartmouth.edu>
michael@0:  Copyright (C) 1998 Michael J. Fromberger, All Rights Reserved
michael@0:  Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH  USA