Random-access memory

Random-access memory (RAM /ræm/) is a form of computer data storage. A random-access memory device allows data items to be accessed (read or written) in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of data inside the memory. In contrast, with other direct-access data storage media such as hard disks, CD-RWs, DVD-RWs and the older drum memory, the time required to read and write data items varies significantly depending on their physical locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm movement.

Today, random-access memory takes the form of integrated circuits. RAM is normally associated with volatile types of memory (such as DRAM memory modules), where stored information is lost if power is removed, although many efforts have been made to develop non-volatile RAM chips. Other types of non-volatile memory exist that allow random access for read operations, but either do not allow write operations or have limitations on them. These include most types of ROM and a type of flash memory called NOR-Flash.

Random access

In computer science, random access (more precisely and more generally called direct access) is the ability to access an item of data at any given coordinates in a population of addressable elements. As a rule the assumption is that each element can be accessed roughly as easily and efficiently as any other, no matter how many elements may be in the set, nor how many coordinates may be available for addressing the data. For example, data might be stored notionally in a single sequence like a row, in two dimensions like rows and columns on a surface, or in multiple dimensions. However, given all the coordinates, a program can access each record about as quickly and easily as any other, and in particular, access it in time to be of value to the user. In this sense the choice of data item is arbitrary in the sense that no matter which item is sought, all that is needed to find it, is its address, that is to say, the coordinates at which it is located, such as its row and column (or its track and record number on a magnetic drum). At first the term "random access" was used because the process had to be capable of finding records no matter in which sequence they were required. However, soon the term "direct access" gained favour because one could directly retrieve a record, no matter what its position might be. The operative attribute however is that the device can access any required record immediately on demand. The opposite is sequential access, where a remote element takes longer time to access.

Random Access Memories

Random Access Memories is the fourth studio album by French electronic music duo Daft Punk. It was released on 17 May 2013 by the duo's imprint Daft Life, under exclusive license to Columbia Records. The album pays tribute to the late 1970s and early 1980s era of music in the United States, particularly the sounds that emerged from Los Angeles. This tribute was reflected in the gradual promotional rollout for the album that included billboards, television advertisements, and a web series. Unlike their previous studio albums, Daft Punk recruited session musicians to perform live instrumentation in professional recording locations, and limited the use of electronic instruments to drum machines, a custom-built modular synthesizer, and vintage vocoders. The album features collaborations with Giorgio Moroder, Panda Bear, Julian Casablancas, Todd Edwards, DJ Falcon, Chilly Gonzales, Nile Rodgers, Paul Williams, and Pharrell Williams.

Random Access Memories received critical acclaim upon its release, scoring an 87 out of 100 on review aggregator site Metacritic and frequently appearing on music critics' year-end lists. It has also become one of Daft Punk's most commercially successful albums to date, topping the charts in more than 25 countries worldwide. It debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling more than 339,000 copies within its first week, becoming their highest charting album to date and their first to top the chart. The lead single, "Get Lucky", was a critical and commercial success worldwide, topping the charts in more than 30 countries worldwide and becoming one of the best-selling digital singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014, the album won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Best Dance/Electronica Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and "Get Lucky" won for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Daft Punk

Daft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. The duo achieved significant popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement and were met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house music with funk, techno, disco, rock, and synthpop. The group was managed from 1996 to 2008 by Pedro Winter (Busy P), the head of Ed Banger Records.

Bangalter and de Homem-Christo were originally in a rock band called Darlin' together, which disbanded after a short period of time, leaving the two to experiment musically with drum machines and synthesizers. The duo became Daft Punk, releasing their debut album Homework on Virgin Records in 1997 to highly-positive reviews. The 2001 release of Discovery was even more successful, driven by the club singles "One More Time", "Digital Love", and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". In March 2005, the duo released the album Human After All to mixed reviews. However, the singles "Robot Rock" and "Technologic" achieved success in the United Kingdom.

Randomness

Randomness is the lack of pattern or predictability in events. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Individual random events are by definition unpredictable, but in many cases the frequency of different outcomes over a large number of events (or "trials") is predictable. For example, when throwing two dice, the outcome of any particular roll is unpredictable, but a sum of 7 will occur twice as often as 4. In this view, randomness is a measure of uncertainty of an outcome, rather than haphazardness, and applies to concepts of chance, probability, and information entropy.

The fields of mathematics, probability, and statistics use formal definitions of randomness. In statistics, a random variable is an assignment of a numerical value to each possible outcome of an event space. This association facilitates the identification and the calculation of probabilities of the events. Random variables can appear in random sequences. A random process is a sequence of random variables whose outcomes do not follow a deterministic pattern, but follow an evolution described by probability distributions. These and other constructs are extremely useful in probability theory and the various applications of randomness.