diff --git a/sim/shared.py b/sim/shared.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/sim/shared.py
+++ b/sim/shared.py
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ from nsloc import nsloc # NetStim with location unit type
 import server # Server for plexon interface
 from time import time
 from math import radians
-def id32(obj): return 0#hash(obj) & 0xffffffff # for random seeds (bitwise AND to retain only lower 32 bits)
+import hashlib
+def id32(obj): return  int(hashlib.md5(obj).hexdigest()[0:10],16)# hash(obj) & 0xffffffff # for random seeds (bitwise AND to retain only lower 32 bits)
 
 
 ## MPI
testing seed consistency local vs hpc