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    The Lava Lamps That Help Keep The Internet Secure

    Tom Scott

    1 HN recommender · recommended in 3 months, 2017–2024

    YouTube

    3:59 · 4.3M views · Nov 6, 2017

    Tom Scott visits Cloudflare's San Francisco office to show the wall of lava lamps whose camera feed is used as a source of entropy for random number generation. It is a short explainer on how this helps secure internet encryption.

    The go-to short explanation whenever lava lamps, entropy sources, or Cloudflare randomness come up.

    Systems, Networks & SecurityCryptographyProbability & game theory
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    3 comments from Hacker News

    1. @ceph_Dec 2017· in “A wall of lava lamps helps encrypt the internet”

      There's a good Tom Scott video on this too. Like most of his stuff, it's well worth the watch. this video

      RecommendsView on HN
    2. @NatfanMay 2022· in “Riot Games: Artificial Latency for Remote Competitors”

      Alternatively, just do what Cloudflare does (did?), and have some cameras pointed at lava lamps[0]. [0]: this video

      CitesView on HN
    3. @KarellenMar 2024· in “The London office where swinging pendulums keep cyber threats at bay”

      ObTomScott: The Lava Lamps That Help Keep The Internet Secure this video (Mention of the London pendulums at 2:39)

      CitesView on HN