Use random.org to select an item

selector.py

# Derived from http://pastebin.com/10egeE1a
# Original Copyright 2012, Paul
# License: Eiffel Forum License 2

import re, urllib

def randomorg(max):
    svcurl = "http://www.random.org/integers/?num=1&min=1&max=%d&col=1&base=10&format=plain&rnd=new" % max
    u = urllib.urlopen(svcurl)
    content = u.read()
    u.close()
    return int(content)
 
def selector(istr):
    terms = re.findall('\[[^\]]*\]|\"[^\"]*\"|\S+', istr)
    tlen = len(terms)
 
    if tlen < 2:
        print "Please provide at least 2 terms."
 
    try: result = randomorg(tlen)
    except IOError:
        print "Service error."
 
    print "I choose: " + terms[result - 1]