How do I generate a random time interval and add it to a mysql datetime using php?

Question

I have many rows in mysql table with datetime\'s in the format of:

2008-12-08 04:16:51 etc

I\'d like to generate a random time interval of

Answer 1

Using MySQL's rand() function:

update [table] set [field] = now() + interval floor(rand()*(60*60*24*3)) second;

wil get you the current datetime + between 0 seconds and three days.