A friend of mine was trying to make a choice between two jobs.  Both jobs seemed to offer very similar benefits and opportunities, so it was difficult to make a choice.  I read a book called The Dice Man a few years ago and have often used the technique to help me make a decision.  What I do is roll a die and say that if its this in a certain range, then it’s decision A or decision B.  Then I go around for a few hours assuming that I have made decision A.  This is usually long enough for me to know if decision A is right as after a few hours my brain has either given me 10 good reasons why it is a good or a bad idea.

So, I was chatting to my friend on-line and said let’s roll the die.  I assumed that there must be a die roller on the internet, and sure enough there is.  I found random.org which generates random numbers not using an algorithm but by using atmospheric noise.  Sounds pretty cool.  Sure enough on there is a die roller and also a lottery number generator!

random.org - Die roller

random.org - Lottery quick pick

There is also an API available if you want to generate true random numbers in your own software.  It does more than generate numbers, you can get random times, random dates and also use the service to run your raffle prize draw.