static L<IntRange> splitIntoRandomRanges(double approximateNumberOfRanges, IntRange base) {

  int i = base.start;

  new L<IntRange> out;

  double avgLength = doubleRatio(l(base), approximateNumberOfRanges);

  ifdef splitIntoRandomRanges_debug

    print(+approximateNumberOfRanges, +avgLength, i, lBase := l(base));

  endifdef

  int safety = 0;

  while (i < base.end && safety++ < l(base)) {

    double randVal = random(avgLength*2);

    int j = min(base.end, i+max(1, iround(randVal)));

    ifdef splitIntoRandomRanges_debug

      print(+randVal, +j);

    endifdef

    out.add(intRange(i, j));

    i = j;

  }

  ret out;

}