From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.3 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE,RDNS_NONE,SPF_PASS autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: (qmail 19091 invoked from network); 20 Mar 2020 14:03:37 -0000 Received-SPF: pass (minnie.tuhs.org: domain of minnie.tuhs.org designates 45.79.103.53 as permitted sender) receiver=inbox.vuxu.org; client-ip=45.79.103.53 envelope-from= Received: from unknown (HELO minnie.tuhs.org) (45.79.103.53) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTP; 20 Mar 2020 14:03:37 -0000 Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 906599D54E; Sat, 21 Mar 2020 00:03:33 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 56FEA9CD7C; Sat, 21 Mar 2020 00:03:12 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id EEE9E9CD7C; Sat, 21 Mar 2020 00:03:09 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mercury.lcs.mit.edu (mercury.lcs.mit.edu [18.26.0.122]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 462059CD73 for ; Sat, 21 Mar 2020 00:03:09 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mercury.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11178) id 4FBBB18C073; Fri, 20 Mar 2020 10:03:08 -0400 (EDT) To: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org Message-Id: <20200320140308.4FBBB18C073@mercury.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2020 10:03:08 -0400 (EDT) From: jnc@mercury.lcs.mit.edu (Noel Chiappa) Subject: Re: [TUHS] The most surprising Unix programs X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: jnc@mercury.lcs.mit.edu Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" > From: Paul Guertin > I teach math in college ... Sometimes, during an exam, a student who > forgot to bring their calculator will ask if they can borrow mine I > always say "sure, but you'll regret it" and hand them the calculator > After wasting one or two minutes, they give it back Maybe I'm being clueless/over-asking, but to me it's appalling that any college student (at least all who have _any_ math requirement at all; not sure how many that is) doesn't know how an RPN calculator works. It's not exactly rocket science, and any reasonably intelligent high-schooler should get it extremely quickly; just tell them it's just a representational thing, number number operator instead of number operator number. I know it's not a key intellectual skill, but it does seem to me to be part of comon intellectual heritage that everyone should know, like musical scales or poetry rhyming. Have you ever considered taking two minutes (literally!) to cover it briefly, just 'someone tried to borrow my RPN calculator, here's the basic idea of how they work'? Noel