On 04/10/2011 09:25 PM, Warp wrote:
> Orchid XP v8<voi### [at] devnull>  wrote:
>>>     When was the last time you wrote something on paper with a pen, other
>>> than your name / other personal information / signature?
>
>> Lamentably, about 2 hours ago...
>
>    I don't remember when was the last time I wrote something on paper.

In addition: I quite often write formulas on paper. It's much quicker to 
do algebra on paper than try to fight some computer software to make it 
produce mathematical notation.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On 10/4/2011 12:21, Warp wrote:
>    When was the last time you wrote something on paper with a pen, other
> than your name / other personal information / signature?

I take pen and paper notes all the time, myself.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   How come I never get only one kudo?

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On 04/10/2011 08:39 PM, Stephen wrote:
> On 04/10/2011 8:21 PM, Warp wrote:
>> Invisible<voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>>> To be fair, while the US is legendary for stupidity, there are plenty of
>>> stupid people in other countries too. Visit any shop while the computers
>>> are down and watch the poor checkout girl struggle to compute £2.99 +
>>> £4.85. Watch, and sigh.
>>
>> Can you blame them?
>>
>
> Yes, the above sum is mental arithmetic. It does not need pencil and paper.

To be fair, if there were a few more items, you'd probably need to write 
it down just to keep track of it all. But two pencil sharpeners which 

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On 05/10/2011 8:55 AM, Invisible wrote:
>>> Can you blame them?
>>>
>>
>> Yes, the above sum is mental arithmetic. It does not need pencil and
>> paper.
>
> To be fair, if there were a few more items, you'd probably need to write
> it down just to keep track of it all. But two pencil sharpeners which



blame.

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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>> To be fair, if there were a few more items, you'd probably need to write
>> it down just to keep track of it all. But two pencil sharpeners which

>

> blame.

Um... part of the job of the education system is to teach people who to 
do arithmetic. If people can't do arithmetic, that's *totally* within 
the failure of the system!

Although arguably our culture deserves part of the blame. It seems we 
live in an age where possessing intelligence or skill is seen as 
pointless and stupid. Only losers are good at maths, right? *Real* 
people win stuff on game shows, and that's the thing to aspire to...

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On Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:05:44 +0100, Stephen wrote:

> On 05/10/2011 8:55 AM, Invisible wrote:
>>>> Can you blame them?
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Yes, the above sum is mental arithmetic. It does not need pencil and
>>> paper.
>>
>> To be fair, if there were a few more items, you'd probably need to
>> write it down just to keep track of it all. But two pencil sharpeners
>> which are £1.95 each shouldn't trouble anybody...
> 
> I blame the education system. I don’t know what for but something is to
> blame.

Technology.  Why should one have to figure out how to do sums when 
everyone has a phone with a calculator built into it?

Jim

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>>> To be fair, if there were a few more items, you'd probably need to
>>> write it down just to keep track of it all. But two pencil sharpeners
>>> which are £1.95 each shouldn't trouble anybody...
>>
>> I blame the education system. I don’t know what for but something is to
>> blame.
>
> Technology.  Why should one have to figure out how to do sums when
> everyone has a phone with a calculator built into it?

Heh. My phone has a calculator, but it'll take you five minutes to 
figure out which submenu it's burried under. And then to remember which 
key you have to hold for 3 seconds to make the various mathematical 
operators appear...

(Then again, it'll take you 20 seconds just to cancel out of the random 
submenu that the phone has opened in your pocket for no defined reason.)

It still amuses me when I see people in the lab sitting in front of a PC 
with a 3 GHz dual-core 64-bit processor, and using a desktop calculator 
to work out what numbers to key into the computer. ;-)

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On Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:03:07 +0100, Invisible wrote:

>>>> To be fair, if there were a few more items, you'd probably need to
>>>> write it down just to keep track of it all. But two pencil sharpeners
>>>> which are £1.95 each shouldn't trouble anybody...
>>>
>>> I blame the education system. I don’t know what for but something is
>>> to blame.
>>
>> Technology.  Why should one have to figure out how to do sums when
>> everyone has a phone with a calculator built into it?
> 
> Heh. My phone has a calculator, but it'll take you five minutes to
> figure out which submenu it's burried under. And then to remember which
> key you have to hold for 3 seconds to make the various mathematical
> operators appear...
> 
> (Then again, it'll take you 20 seconds just to cancel out of the random
> submenu that the phone has opened in your pocket for no defined reason.)

Well, that's why I put a shortcut on the screen for it. :)

> It still amuses me when I see people in the lab sitting in front of a PC
> with a 3 GHz dual-core 64-bit processor, and using a desktop calculator
> to work out what numbers to key into the computer. ;-)

It's all about familiarity.  They probably are much faster on a 
calculator keypad. :)

Jim

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On 5-10-2011 17:50, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:03:07 +0100, Invisible wrote:
>
>>>>> To be fair, if there were a few more items, you'd probably need to
>>>>> write it down just to keep track of it all. But two pencil sharpeners
>>>>> which are £1.95 each shouldn't trouble anybody...
>>>>
>>>> I blame the education system. I don’t know what for but something is
>>>> to blame.
>>>
>>> Technology.  Why should one have to figure out how to do sums when
>>> everyone has a phone with a calculator built into it?
>>
>> Heh. My phone has a calculator, but it'll take you five minutes to
>> figure out which submenu it's burried under. And then to remember which
>> key you have to hold for 3 seconds to make the various mathematical
>> operators appear...
>>
>> (Then again, it'll take you 20 seconds just to cancel out of the random
>> submenu that the phone has opened in your pocket for no defined reason.)
>
> Well, that's why I put a shortcut on the screen for it. :)
>
>> It still amuses me when I see people in the lab sitting in front of a PC
>> with a 3 GHz dual-core 64-bit processor, and using a desktop calculator
>> to work out what numbers to key into the computer. ;-)
>
> It's all about familiarity.  They probably are much faster on a
> calculator keypad. :)

Ever noticed that the keyboard has a calculator side pad? That most 
calculators use this and that you can copy paste answers.
Indeed they didn't.


-- 
Apparently you can afford your own dictator for less than 10 cents per 
citizen per day.

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>> It still amuses me when I see people in the lab sitting in front of a PC
>> with a 3 GHz dual-core 64-bit processor, and using a desktop calculator
>> to work out what numbers to key into the computer. ;-)
>
> It's all about familiarity.  They probably are much faster on a
> calculator keypad. :)

Well, at least you don't have to worry about it lagging out because the 
scheduled antivirus scan just kicked in... Even so, there's something 
deeply broken about purchasing a powerful computational device and then 
purchasing another one to do the actual math for you.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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