Wheel of names: spin to pick

A fair spin

The winner is drawn before the wheel moves: a random number from your computer's cryptographic random source picks one slice, each with the same chance, and the wheel is then turned to stop on a random spot inside that slice, never on a line between two. The spin, six to eight turns slowing down smoothly, is there to build the suspense; it does not decide anything.

Every line of the list is one slice, so a name written twice gets two slices and twice the chance. That is the simple way to weight a raffle: one line per ticket. Empty lines are ignored. Clicks play as the pointer passes each slice; switch off Click as it spins under Saved wheels for a quiet room. If Windows is set to show less animation, the wheel jumps straight to the winner.

Removing winners and saving wheels

For a raffle with several prizes, or choosing who presents next, press Remove after each spin: the winner's line leaves the list and the next spin is among the rest. The button needs at least three names, so a wheel always keeps two to choose between. The winners stay listed under Picked so far, in order, with Copy to paste them elsewhere.

To keep a list, type a name under Save this list as, such as Class 4B, and press Save (or Replace for a name already used). Open a saved wheel brings it back; Delete removes it. Saved wheels and the names on the wheel are kept on your computer, so they are still there when you come back, and nothing is sent anywhere: a class list never leaves the PC.

Big wheels, and ideas

The wheel takes from 2 to hundreds of names. Slices are colored in Octoolo's family colors with black or white text, whichever reads better on each, and the text shrinks as the slices get thinner; names too long for their slice end in “…”. With more than a hundred or so, the names become too small to read on the wheel, but the winner is always shown in full.

• Classrooms: who answers, the order of presentations, pairs for a project.
• Decisions: Yes or no, Yes, no or maybe, or what to eat tonight.
• Raffles and giveaways: one line per entry, removing each winner.
• Games: the 1 to 10 wheel, or your own list of challenges.

For a number from a range use the random number generator, and for two choices you can also flip a coin.