title: A good random number generator for C
body: <p>I need a good random number generator for a program I'm writing in C. It's a fractal flame generator, if you're interested. My images were coming out very grainy, even though I had success with the same algorithm in the past. The difference, I finally realized, was the random number generator I was using. Incredibly, it makes an ENORMOUS difference. I'm hoping that an even better random number generator might yield better results. The answer could come in the form of a code sample or a link to a pre-existing random number library. The most important requirements:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>it should produce relatively high quality streams of random numbers</li>
  <li>its period must be over ten billion</li>
  <li>it should be fast enough and offer a good performance trade-off.</li>
  </ul>