Hey Mike!
OK, OK, others interested in this kind of stuff---
The link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828795 glosses over Excel's latest
incarnation of RAND()

(1) We now have a doc of what MS intends. Can anyone map back into the longs
from doubles to run the PRNG through Marsaglia's DIEHARD? (I can't) The
coders might be trying to fix a long established problem (I started
complaining in 1985). Do we *know* that they actually implemented what they
intended this last go-round (as opposed to what shipped with Excel 11) with
the latest SP? Also, *when* will they get a seed into the thing? (see note)

(2) Microsoft's note re ATP PRNG is absolute BS. Generate a few thousand
variates, and you will see repeats, including a number of 0's and 1's.

(3) What's up with VBA's RND? Any sign of an impending upgrade?

Regards,
Dave B

"Mike Middleton" wrote in message
...
Allie -

See "Description of the effects of the improved statistical functions for
the Analysis ToolPak in Excel 2003 and in Excel 2004 for Mac," at

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;829208

specifically, the "Random Number Generation" section.

- Mike
www.mikemiddleton.com

"Allie" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I've been trying to generate random numbers using excel's random number
generator in the analysis toolpak. I'm using Uniform number generation
between 0 and 1, and I am using a random seed, as I would like to be able
to
re-generate the same numbers in the future.

Using seeds from 1 to 10, when i fill a range of 16 cells with random
numbers, the first cell filled is always the lowest. This is an
extremely
unlikely circumstance with a true RN generator. I just wanted to raise
this
flag, as it could be affecting others without their knowledge.

Thanks,
Allie