Dave,

just one remark:

> * Other users of integers: For example, the random number generator
> in Squeak uses floating-point to get around the 30 bit small integer
> limit. Virtually all well-tested generators are for 32 bit integers
> and it is a very major bit of work to create a 30 bit generator. Dan
> and I found a major performance improvement using floating-point
> numbers as 'integers' when generating random numbers. If large
> integers handled 32-bit integers well, then the algorithm could be
> switched back, especially on small machines where floating-point
> support is poor or missing.
>

Random generator are very important for such interesting areas like
evolutionary algorithms (GA, ES, GP, etc.) and Artificial Life. I think
Squeak could be a good platform for such research and _games_ (I like
games...)! I was surprised by a random generator with a quiet short period
(is this the right word in English? It means repeating seq) in VW which I
used for my Diploma thesis...

Stephan