MySQL pulls out random data

They all wanted to use PHP's implementation of randomization, but it seems to take more than two queries to get them out.

After going through the manual, I found the following statement. Now I can complete the task, but it is less efficient
SELECT   *   FROM   table_name   ORDER   BY   rand()   LIMIT   5;

rand says this in the manual:
RAND()  
RAND(N)  
Returns a random floating point value in the range 0 to 1.0. If an integer parameter N is specified, it is used as the seed value.  
mysql >   select   RAND();
                - >   0.5925
mysql >   select   RAND(20);
                - >   0.1811
mysql >   select   RAND(20);
                - >   0.1811
mysql >   select   RAND();
                - >   0.2079
mysql >   select   RAND();
                - >   0.7888
You cannot use columns with RAND() values in an ORDER   BY clause, because ORDER   BY will double count columns many times. However, in MySQL 3.23, you can do:   SELECT   *   FROM   table_name   ORDER   BY   RAND(), This is in favor of getting one from SELECT   *   FROM   table1,table2   WHERE   a=b   AND   c< Random sample of the set d   ORDER   BY   RAND()   LIMIT   1000. Note that an RAND() in an WHERE clause is reevaluated each time WHERE is executed.  

But I tried. For a table of eight thousand records, one execution would take 0.08   sec. A little slower

Later, I consulted google and got the following code

SELECT * 
 FROM table_name AS r1 JOIN 
    (SELECT ROUND(RAND() * 
           (SELECT MAX(id) 
            FROM table_name)) AS id) 
    AS r2 
WHERE r1.id >= r2.id 
ORDER BY r1.id ASC 
LIMIT 5; 

Unfortunately, only mysql   4.1.* above supports such a subquery.  

Here's what others have added:

select id   zhyx_items     order by rand()   rand  

After the sql statement is optimized:

SELECT t1.id 
FROM zhyx_items AS t1 JOIN 
(SELECT ROUND(RAND() *
((SELECT MAX(id) FROM zhyx_items)-(SELECT MIN(id) FROM zhyx_items))+
(SELECT MIN(id) FROM zhyx_items)) AS id) AS t2 
WHERE t1.id >= t2.id 
ORDER BY t1.id LIMIT 0,5;