

ORDER BY RAND() - morphics
http://jan.kneschke.de/projects/mysql/order-by-rand/

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jackalope
For selecting a single random row with equal distribution and no need to worry
about holes, the following might be simpler:

    
    
        SET @var = (SELECT FLOOR(RAND() * COUNT(id)) from random);
        PREPARE statement FROM 'SELECT name FROM random LIMIT ?, 1';
        EXECUTE statement USING @var;
    

I don't know how well this compares in performance to the examples in the
article, but it's certainly easier to comprehend.

