From: "Michael R. Kesti"
Newsgroups: comp.arch.embedded,sci.electronics.design
Subject: Re: Generating Serial Numbers
Date: Sat, 02 Nov 2002 20:45:18 -0800
Organization: MK Associates
Message-ID: <3DC4A9DE.7DB67B64@gv.net>
Reply-To: mkesti@gv.net
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References: <3db7d3e6$0$45992$8fcfb86b@news.wanadoo.nl> <021120021516039350%silli_artie@hotmail.com>
artie wrote:
>Another approach to the problem, as used by a shareware program I use.
>The registration screen asks you to enter your name and a serial
>number, then click the OK button -- pretty standard looking stuff. If
>you give it a random number, and click the button, it tells you the
>serial number is no good.
>
>But when you pay your registration fee, the e-mail you receive tells
>you to enter your name, whatever number you feel like, and then hold
>down a magic key combination as you click the OK button!
>
>Does away with all those nasty serial number generation - tracking -
>verification schemes, and keeps the honest people honest. I like it!
I like it, too, but what you describe is are registration numbers or
validation numbers, rather than a serial numbers. As such, they fail
to provide the means to track units to specific production batches.
This is OK for validation of shareware registration, but comes up
short in hardware manufacturing.
--
========================================================================
Michael Kesti | "And like, one and one don't make
| two, one and one make one."
mkesti@gv.net | - The Who, Bargain