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Actually I was learning PHP, so this question just came into my mind. How does the computer pick a random number?
The random numbers we normally have access to from code are called pseudorandom numbers. They are based on mathematical sequences of numbers that only repeat themselves after a very, very long time. The place to start in the sequence is based on the seed, which is normally taken as a function of time.
The numbers appear to be random, but in reality they’re not, and that’s why they’re called “pseudorandom”.
Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_number_generation