math infotainment - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: jh15
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2013, 06:41:51 am
content: Just reading stuff about education here tonight and couldn't leave without posting a non Ipad only app.I am linux device person, so hope it comes out on it soon.Myscript Calculator:Really cool, I may never leave my hacked Nook Color classic behind on an engineering job again.It is a fantastic handwriting math calculator, including trig functions, sqr, etc.You just draw equations with your finger or stylus, like on a blackboard.Fantastic!You can toss other variables or formulas in between variables, throw in a ? anywhere it will solve it...And like my first 4 banger calculator, (and later a TI-59 intro to programming) I am fascinated just by playing with math and results on my lap.Just google it or look in your app store.Next best thing to the slide rule in a holster I carried.

author: AlfBaz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2013, 09:08:06 am
content: Huh! Didn't know I could do that.I'm on my windows desktop, browsed to google play, pressed install and it asked me which of my devices I wanted it installed, selected, and bingo installed.Pretty cool program by the way

author: N4-ES
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 22, 2013, 10:42:04 pm
content: Quote from: jh15 on February 22, 2013, 06:41:51 amWhile nothing can quite replace a good slide rule, or an HP calculator, I'm particularly fond ofpCalcon my Mac and iPad. It has superb RPN entry, with elegant enhancements.- Andrew

author: Anquietas
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2013, 10:51:17 pm
content: Ah, this looks fun, indeed!I solved the lack of a proper "scientific calculator" myself, though, and it works like a charm (for me). I took my six years old Acer laptop which had a broken HDD, replaced it with a solid state drive (250GB), and put a minimal Ubuntu installation (Ubuntu Server 12.04 -> "Minimal Alternate Install") on it (and installed enough stuff to get X11 with XMonad running, copied my standard xmonad.hs and auxiliary files from my HP laptop where I have this setup, to speed up the configuration process), set it up as an SSH server and installed SAGE, Singular, GAP, and a range of other useful tools. (It also acts as a file server, so I am making proper use of the solid state drive.) The laptop now acts as a makeshift home server, is mounted to my wall next to my cable modem and router and hooked up to the Internet via Ethernet cable.Then I installed an OpenSSH client on my Samsung Note 2 and now I have several computer algebra and numerical computation systems available through my phone, also when I am outside via mobile broadband. Comes in very handy and this is way beyond a simple (or even a 'scientific') calculator. Since it's also not running on my phone but on my computer at home, it's extremely fast in processing large expressions.So far this cost me nothing, basically, and no calculator or app or anything can keep up with this setup, as far as I can tell.I am soon going to add Mathematica 9 to the package. And real-time plotting capabilities without having to browse to a saved plot myself.

author: jh15
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2013, 04:47:59 am
content: anquitas, I was showing this for the ease of use, try reading just your paragraph...I pull out my Nook, and find for example my heart rate on the exercise bike by drawing on it then back to the free library book on the Kindle or ebook app.But I am on your side of using great Linux distros on a real (old or new) computer. My favorite just went to 64 bit.

author: Anquietas
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2013, 05:05:15 am
content: Quote from: jh15 on February 23, 2013, 04:47:59 amWell, once it's set up, it's quite easy to use. You have to learn how to use a programmable calculator, too, or re-learn how to use your tool if you switch models, so it's not much different. Besides, learning the Python programming language (for Sage and rapid prototyping), Haskell (for fun, as a mental exercise and rapid prototyping / DSEL development) is generally a good idea.QuoteI switched to GNU/Linux about seven years ago. Never looked back. But I might re-try Windows in the near future if I want to get into electronics, because for some reason EE people don't seem to mind using Windows. I mean, some $100k oscilloscopes actually run Windows XP or so underneath.