Index: kernel/src/random.cpp
===================================================================
--- kernel/src/random.cpp	(revision 447)
+++ kernel/src/random.cpp	(working copy)
@@ -6,10 +6,11 @@
  */
 
 #include "IMP/random.h"
+#include <cstdlib>
 
 namespace IMP
 {
 
-::boost::rand48 random_number_generator;  
+  ::boost::rand48 random_number_generator(static_cast<int>(std::time(NULL)));  
 
 } // namespace IMP
Index: kernel/include/IMP/random.h
===================================================================
--- kernel/include/IMP/random.h	(revision 447)
+++ kernel/include/IMP/random.h	(working copy)
@@ -15,7 +15,12 @@
 {
 
 typedef ::boost::rand48 RandomNumberGenerator;
-extern IMPDLLEXPORT ::boost::rand48 random_number_generator;
+//! A shared random number generator
+/** The random number generator is seeded based of of the current time. To
+    provide a better seed or use a constant seed call 
+    random_number_generator.seed(x) with a 32 bit int or a 64 bit unsigned int.
+ */
+extern IMPDLLEXPORT RandomNumberGenerator random_number_generator;
 
 } // namespace IMP