Ti84+ Calcs, MirageOS, and the myth of the Math Teachers?

[PDJ]

Yep apparantly the chair of the math department at my school recently returned from some sort of regional math teacher get-together where she was informed that MirageOS is a "virus" that "eats away at your memory" (because flash memory tastes good :P). Anyway, this rumor (i'll call it a rumor in an effort to imply that it is false) was quickly spread to all of the math teachers at my school, and they are telling all their classes to "delete mirageOS imeadiately kay?"....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MirageOS was originally designed for the TI83+ (long b4 84's existed), and I have been running the app for roughly 3 years on my 83+ with no serious problems. I do admit that certain games often lock up, commonly resulting in RAM-clears, but it is always certain games and only those games that cause problems, it has NEVER been necessary for me to delete my MirageOS in order to regain calculator functionality or functionality of mirage itself, it has always been mirage programs that have caused problems, and not the OS itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought an 84+ Silver last year, and ported all of my programs over to it, including mirage, and i soon learned that mirage generally runs alot slower on it. Aside from the fact that i have to scroll down a list of 50 apps in comparison to it being the 3rd option on my 83+, it opens slower, and takes longer to load and unload games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, further explanation from my math teacher, he claims that the problem occurs after "consistant use of mirage for a period of about 6 months". I've had it installed on my 84 for about 10 months with no problems, although ive opted out of using it often, in preference of gaming on my 83 because it runs faster. Needless to say however, I have NEVER noticed any problems except for the slowness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My teacher also suggetsed that he *might* have been told that this issue was only with 84+ and 84+silver, and not the older models, but he wasn't sure exactly what he heard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, just wondering, who else is being told similar propoganda? who thinks there is any fact behind it? is it just a conspiracy to try to get kids to stop playing games? has anyone experienced any serious problems?

[J272]

I can only imagine that this was just a (cheap)way to keep you from gaming during class, and that 6 months crap was only for the sake of intracacy :?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its dumb that they would try to pull that on someone....if they are trying to "pull" it that is....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also have Mirage since ION was too basic of a shell for me....Otherwise, I havent had any problem running my games AND mathematical and scientific programs on it for about 3 years as well....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J272

[PDJ]

I can only imagine that this was just a (cheap)way to keep you from gaming during class, and that 6 months crap was only for the sake of intracacy :?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is my assumption, i would just like to make sure... I googled it and didn't find anything that suggested there was any fact behind it.

[stan18]

i think its all LIES :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but i have an 84+, and all but three of my games erased this saturday after my calculator crashed while playing poker :? i use mirageOS, btw

[insane]

What's with everyone "needing" graphing calculators... we use them for like... one class in all of high school so they just have 30 that we borrow for a class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you actually need these on a daily basis? :P

[J272]

Ooooh ya....I use mine to write programs for synthetic division, quadratic equ. stuff, and calculus functions, plus, we have to graph stuff every day....Which makes everything tons easier....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you dont use yours much, then you will later....or you have really easy classes :roll:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J272

[insane]

Ooooh ya....I use mine to write programs for synthetic division, quadratic equ. stuff, and calculus functions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, we used pencil and paper, and figured out the equations ourselves :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you dont use yours much, then you will later....or you have really easy classes :roll:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J272

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, I never "had" one, as we didn't use them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I'm pretty sure using a calculator that makes things easier is irrelevant, or inverse to class difficulty. *I would here insert an eye roller if I didn't think they were revolting :P*. I scored an 85 in grade twelve calculus at the highest level in one of the hardest marking schools in my region.

[snyper_freak]

Ooooh ya....I use mine to write programs for synthetic division, quadratic equ. stuff, and calculus functions, plus, we have to graph stuff every day....Which makes everything tons easier....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you dont use yours much, then you will later....or you have really easy classes :roll:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J272

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:lol: I did 4 Unit maths at my school, a selective private school, one of Sydney's best schools, and we never used graphing calculators..

[Greatsilverwyrm]

 

Ooooh ya....I use mine to write programs for synthetic division, quadratic equ. stuff, and calculus functions, plus, we have to graph stuff every day....Which makes everything tons easier....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you dont use yours much, then you will later....or you have really easy classes :roll:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J272

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:lol: I did 4 Unit maths at my school, a selective private school, one of Sydney's best schools, and we never used graphing calculators..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What kind of classes were they? Odd that you never used any graphing calculators.

[insane]

 

 

Ooooh ya....I use mine to write programs for synthetic division, quadratic equ. stuff, and calculus functions, plus, we have to graph stuff every day....Which makes everything tons easier....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you dont use yours much, then you will later....or you have really easy classes :roll:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J272

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:lol: I did 4 Unit maths at my school, a selective private school, one of Sydney's best schools, and we never used graphing calculators..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What kind of classes were they? Odd that you never used any graphing calculators.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe it's an American thing to use the calcs. It would be consistent with the posts in this topic if it were true.

[PDJ]

Owning a TI83+ or compatible calculator is absolutely required in all math classes at my school from Algebra 2 and up, they are not provided by the school we need to own them. Currently the school is distributing ti84+'s, they buy them in bulk and can sell at about 10% discount heh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theres just certain things we do, that would be rediculous without the aid of a calculator. Something like linear or quadratic regression (which goes back to alg2 heh) is possible without a calculator... but it would take u like 20-30 mins to do the same problem a calc can do in 5 seconds. The technology exists in the real world, people use it.. so it only makes sense that they are going to teach you how to use it in school. At this point though, in my calculus course we only rarely use calculators.. they are more important in the alg2 and precalc courses. Although the use of calculator still can save us alot of time, especialy for checking answers :).

[CoRnMaN]

to insane: graphing calculators make things faster. y waste time on making a graph?

[insane]

to insane: graphing calculators make things faster. y waste time on making a graph?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use of a calculator often negates knowledge of the concept.

[CoRnMaN]

 

to insane: graphing calculators make things faster. y waste time on making a graph?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use of a calculator often negates knowledge of the concept.

so ur saying u can make a graph on a calculator with out the concept of graphing?

[R33c3]

What's with everyone "needing" graphing calculators... we use them for like... one class in all of high school so they just have 30 that we borrow for a class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you actually need these on a daily basis? :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are forced to buy ours at our school. Well, not forced but highly recommended too. All we need it for is Grade 11 math, and you don't need it what-so-ever in Grade 12.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waste of 125$ if you ask me.

[____]

so ur saying u can make a graph on a calculator with out the concept of graphing?

Insane might not be but I certainly will.

 

 

 

All we had to do was push one button, enter in a few numbers then press another and we had ourself a graph.

 

 

 

Some random person off the street could've done it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@insane, that was the same case as my school. They had like 15 we could borrow for a 24hr period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We used them for like 1 week (4 70min lessons to be exact) during Maths.* And the people in Physics weren't much more dependant on them either. Some people didn't even use them and were still knocking over very good grades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sister (did a degree in Maths) didn't even need one till her third year in uni and even then it was just for one subject. She hasn't touched it since :-?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*shrug*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/yrs11_12/subjects/maths_c/

[J272]

Our school requires us to have some sort of graphing calc from about the Geometry or Algebra 2 level. Whereas you could make a case for it either not being needed, a waste of money, or whatever, I'm glad my school encourages their use, lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may be an American thing, I just dont know why other nationalities would make it as rough on themselves :wink:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J272

[Necromagus]

While I can't really help you with your problem (TI-83 4 lyf), the site http://www.ticalc.org has an extensive documentation on just about every TI graphical calculator out there, as well as an extensive software archive. If you can't find a fix for your problem there, at least you'll be able to find a replacement.

[insane]

 

so ur saying u can make a graph on a calculator with out the concept of graphing?

Insane might not be but I certainly will.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No no, I will ;) I completely agree with you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I also don't understand is games on a graphing calculator. Seems like an oxymoron to me :P

[assassin_696]

I'm with Insane on this one. I live in the UK and go to a leading independant school, and yet i am unaware of the A-level students using any graphing calculators on a regular basis, if at all. It may make it easier, but apart from writing the program (if you actually do) to solve the equation, after that you don't really need any real grasp for the subject. Since using a scientific calculator for 2 years my mental arithmatic isn't what it used to be. I'm not really speaking from a position of authority on this one since i'm only in year 10, but it seems to be that only the US uses these graphing calculators.

[BlueTear]

So... Could someone tell me what you people mean when you say a graphing calculator?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mean, obviously, it could be used to draw graphs, but what other nifty little functions are you forsaking? I'm assuming you do use calculators, just not the advanced graph kind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(We're required to have one and I've been using mine daily for years here in Sweden)

[adthegreat-]

I'm with Insane on this one. I live in the UK and go to a leading independant school, and yet i am unaware of the A-level students using any graphing calculators on a regular basis, if at all. It may make it easier, but apart from writing the program (if you actually do) to solve the equation, after that you don't really need any real grasp for the subject. Since using a scientific calculator for 2 years my mental arithmatic isn't what it used to be. I'm not really speaking from a position of authority on this one since i'm only in year 10, but it seems to be that only the US uses these graphing calculators.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry assassin, but i can completely contradict you. I'm doing AS level maths right now, and we need graphic calculators :P .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our college tells us which calculator to get (Casio 9750) and its pretty much a must if we want to do well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But i've never heard of putting games on a calculator or even running an OS :? . It seems pretty commonplace to all you other people, strange that...

[weezcake]

 

I'm with Insane on this one. I live in the UK and go to a leading independant school, and yet i am unaware of the A-level students using any graphing calculators on a regular basis, if at all. It may make it easier, but apart from writing the program (if you actually do) to solve the equation, after that you don't really need any real grasp for the subject. Since using a scientific calculator for 2 years my mental arithmatic isn't what it used to be. I'm not really speaking from a position of authority on this one since i'm only in year 10, but it seems to be that only the US uses these graphing calculators.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry assassin, but i can completely contradict you. I'm doing AS level maths right now, and we need graphic calculators :P .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our college tells us which calculator to get (Casio 9750) and its pretty much a must if we want to do well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But i've never heard of putting games on a calculator or even running an OS :? . It seems pretty commonplace to all you other people, strange that...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's pretty commonplace in boring math classes. :)

[Greatsilverwyrm]

 

I'm with Insane on this one. I live in the UK and go to a leading independant school, and yet i am unaware of the A-level students using any graphing calculators on a regular basis, if at all. It may make it easier, but apart from writing the program (if you actually do) to solve the equation, after that you don't really need any real grasp for the subject. Since using a scientific calculator for 2 years my mental arithmatic isn't what it used to be. I'm not really speaking from a position of authority on this one since i'm only in year 10, but it seems to be that only the US uses these graphing calculators.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry assassin, but i can completely contradict you. I'm doing AS level maths right now, and we need graphic calculators :P .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our college tells us which calculator to get (Casio 9750) and its pretty much a must if we want to do well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But i've never heard of putting games on a calculator or even running an OS :? . It seems pretty commonplace to all you other people, strange that...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Casio 9750 is a graphing calculator? I know Casio has them, but am unsure what model is what..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've never heard of running a game on a Casio calculator either, I think it's TI-Specific..

 

 

 

Also, MirageOS isn't a seperate OS, it's simply an application that's used to launch other programs more easily.

[assassin_696]

 

I'm with Insane on this one. I live in the UK and go to a leading independant school, and yet i am unaware of the A-level students using any graphing calculators on a regular basis, if at all. It may make it easier, but apart from writing the program (if you actually do) to solve the equation, after that you don't really need any real grasp for the subject. Since using a scientific calculator for 2 years my mental arithmatic isn't what it used to be. I'm not really speaking from a position of authority on this one since i'm only in year 10, but it seems to be that only the US uses these graphing calculators.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry assassin, but i can completely contradict you. I'm doing AS level maths right now, and we need graphic calculators :P .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our college tells us which calculator to get (Casio 9750) and its pretty much a must if we want to do well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But i've never heard of putting games on a calculator or even running an OS :? . It seems pretty commonplace to all you other people, strange that...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Must just be me then :P Actually you're dead right, i've just checked my school's syllabus and we do graphical stuff with calcs for AS. But i've certainly never heard of games on them. Unless trying to write rude words with a few letters and numbers counts :P