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Back in the 90's I didn't have a computer at home and made countless very long programs on my ti calculator. A few years later I finally got a computer and a T

by icefox 9y ago

Back in the 90's I didn't have a computer at home and made countless very long programs on my ti calculator. A few years later I finally got a computer and a Ti-Link to edit programs on my computer. The tedious nature of it was okay, because you were creating amazing things that were impossible otherwise.

Declanomous 9y ago
We created some really ridiculous programs on TI-84's ca. 2003-2007 for the exact opposite reason. We had computers we could program on almost anywhere except in class. So we'd write programs on our calculators. I wrote a program that could solve almost any formulaic problem in Chemistry, Algebra or Geometry. I shared it with a bunch of people, but ended up losing it because my link port broke. I had made a ton of money in High School charging $10 to fix broken link ports, but at that point I hadn't developed a method to fix a link port without disconnecting all of the batteries. And so I lost all my programs when the ram was cleared for a standardized test. Programming on Ti-84's is one of the most fun I've ever had, and I'm sure I learned more writing those programs than I did in class. Even the non-CS nerds were programming stuff.
- ChicagoBoy11 9y ago
  Funny you mention the RAM clearing -- a buddy in HS and I wrote a program to simulate the ram clearing screen so that we could keep using our programs and not lose them. Then the teachers caught on and then instituted a policy that they would use the calculator to make sure it had cleared. Well, just meant we had to make a 2.0 version that allowed you to do operations on the calculator within the app. That one we didn't distribute to friends, but just kept for ourselves. Man, those were the days...
- peckrob 9y ago
  Heh, this was me with my TI-85 in the late 90s. I had a computer at home, but not in class. So after finishing whatever thing we had to work on in class, I'd write programs and games on my TI-85. A friend and I wrote a chat program that used the GraphLink cable to send messages back and forth so we could chat in class. This was a neat hack, but considering the cable that came with the 85 was like 2 feet long, it was kinda useless in practice unless we were sitting at the same table. So I made a longer cable at home out of stuff from RadioShack. Everything was cool until we got caught using the homebrew cable in class. Fortunately, once we showed the principal what we'd done, we were let off with a warning not to have the cable in class anymore. :) You know, I think I might still have my TI-85 in a box somewhere. I wonder if any of my old programs are still there.
- khedoros1 9y ago
  > And so I lost all my programs when the ram was cleared for a standardized test. On my TI-83+, I could transfer RAM programs into flash, to "archive" them. Wasn't that an option on the TI-84+?
  - Declanomous 9y ago
    This actually was a Ti-83+, I just got the model number wrong. I don't recall the specifics, but I believe the flash didn't store everything I needed through reformatting, or my programs were too large to fit entirely within the flash. I think the ti-84 actually had a USB port (or a redesigned port of some sort), which eliminated this issue.
    - khedoros1 9y ago
      The flash was a lot larger than the RAM, but I think you could only store programs there, maybe. Data tables, strings, and such might've needed to be stored in RAM. I feel for your loss though, whatever the circumstances were. The first graphing calculator I had access to was a TI-81. No flash space, RAM only. And since it had been my mother's when she went back to college, by the time I was using it, the button battery was pretty "iffy".
owenversteeg 9y ago
Ooh, I did something similar but with Casio Basic. I eventually made a giant program with several minigames and passed it around to friends.

by icefox 9y ago

Declanomous 9y ago

We created some really ridiculous programs on TI-84's ca. 2003-2007 for the exact opposite reason. We had computers we could program on almost anywhere except in class. So we'd write programs on our calculators. I wrote a program that could solve almost any formulaic problem in Chemistry, Algebra or Geometry. I shared it with a bunch of people, but ended up losing it because my link port broke. I had made a ton of money in High School charging $10 to fix broken link ports, but at that point I hadn't developed a method to fix a link port without disconnecting all of the batteries. And so I lost all my programs when the ram was cleared for a standardized test. Programming on Ti-84's is one of the most fun I've ever had, and I'm sure I learned more writing those programs than I did in class. Even the non-CS nerds were programming stuff.

ChicagoBoy11 9y ago
Funny you mention the RAM clearing -- a buddy in HS and I wrote a program to simulate the ram clearing screen so that we could keep using our programs and not lose them. Then the teachers caught on and then instituted a policy that they would use the calculator to make sure it had cleared. Well, just meant we had to make a 2.0 version that allowed you to do operations on the calculator within the app. That one we didn't distribute to friends, but just kept for ourselves. Man, those were the days...
peckrob 9y ago
Heh, this was me with my TI-85 in the late 90s. I had a computer at home, but not in class. So after finishing whatever thing we had to work on in class, I'd write programs and games on my TI-85. A friend and I wrote a chat program that used the GraphLink cable to send messages back and forth so we could chat in class. This was a neat hack, but considering the cable that came with the 85 was like 2 feet long, it was kinda useless in practice unless we were sitting at the same table. So I made a longer cable at home out of stuff from RadioShack. Everything was cool until we got caught using the homebrew cable in class. Fortunately, once we showed the principal what we'd done, we were let off with a warning not to have the cable in class anymore. :) You know, I think I might still have my TI-85 in a box somewhere. I wonder if any of my old programs are still there.
khedoros1 9y ago
> And so I lost all my programs when the ram was cleared for a standardized test. On my TI-83+, I could transfer RAM programs into flash, to "archive" them. Wasn't that an option on the TI-84+?
- Declanomous 9y ago
  This actually was a Ti-83+, I just got the model number wrong. I don't recall the specifics, but I believe the flash didn't store everything I needed through reformatting, or my programs were too large to fit entirely within the flash. I think the ti-84 actually had a USB port (or a redesigned port of some sort), which eliminated this issue.
  - khedoros1 9y ago
    The flash was a lot larger than the RAM, but I think you could only store programs there, maybe. Data tables, strings, and such might've needed to be stored in RAM. I feel for your loss though, whatever the circumstances were. The first graphing calculator I had access to was a TI-81. No flash space, RAM only. And since it had been my mother's when she went back to college, by the time I was using it, the button battery was pretty "iffy".

owenversteeg 9y ago

Ooh, I did something similar but with Casio Basic. I eventually made a giant program with several minigames and passed it around to friends.