• 0ops@piefed.zip
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    2 days ago

    Lol I’ve had to essentially derive formulas that I should have memorized mid test before. Or reverse engineer examples from other questions to figure out the concept needed for another question (again, should have known that going in). I used to take absurdly long tests due to stunts like these, but tbh it usually worked. I distinctly remember discovering how logarithms worked mid-test at some point, for example

    • Aganim@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Reminds me of highschool math. At some point you needed a graphical calculator, you could upload programs onto them but that required hooking them up to a computer with a crazy expensive data cable. So I found a schematic, ordered the components for a fraction of that price and learned to solder. It looked ugly AF, but it worked. Next step I wrote a program containing the formula’s I needed, uploaded it and installed a program which hid your program menu until you pressed a certain key combination. It could even simulate a hard reset, as you could get spot-checked and asked to do just that.

      I could also have just memorised the formula’s, but that wouldn’t have been fun. And unlike all those formula’s I still use my soldering and programming skills. 😋

      • 0ops@piefed.zip
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        2 days ago

        Respect dude. Those cables are stupidly expensive (to match the calculators I guess), I just bit the bullet on mine

        • Aganim@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Well, it did help that they used a simple serial connection back then and didn’t require any advanced electronics. Just a bunch of resistors and basic stuff like that, all relatively large components that are easy to solder with what I had back then. I’m not sure how easy it would be these days with USB.

    • CocoaBird@sopuli.xyz
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      2 days ago

      In a way I think being able to derive a formula is a much more valuable skill than rote memorisation, especially in higher education. That being said I’ve also done this when I was just lazy and didn’t remember my lessons…