How I almost used an Atari 8-bit for school

[Lord Thag]

 

Fuck'n teachers I tell you! They wouldn't accept good 1/216th advanced dot-matrix. And when I asked WHY they couldn't or wouldn't tell me. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a legitimate reason for not accepting them, but there wasn't. At least none that I understood. Other than to maybe sadistically make the students hunch over and write write write like a punishment. Well fuck'em'all. I still can't do cursive nicely. It was kinda like tryn'a make a Yugo win the Daytona, never going to happen, but go through the motions just to go through the motions.

 

One teacha told me it was hard to read. And I said like bullshit it is and started reading my paper. And I got sent to the office for detention for a day for mouthing back. The school I went to was so anti-tech and backwards. I hated it and couldn't wait till I got out of there.

 

Yeah, mine were too. One of the things I am kinda proud of was telling off a teacher and saying that cursive was going the way of the dinosaurs. Never bothered learning it. She got all high and mighty and said it was a required skill to be an adult. I said using a computer was.

 

Guess who ended up being a successful adult due to ignoring cursive and focusing on computer skills?

 

Take that, you mean old battleaxe.

[boxpressed]

Wordstar 3.3 and Epson LQ dot matrix for me in high school.

 

Also, the daisy wheel printer was the luxury no one I knew owned.

[Osgeld]

I started off using pfs write or if I had to work on something like when they give you homework over summer break and I was stuck with my mom, wordstar, and yes I never bothered to learn cursive beyond the point of the class exercise

 

I migrated to appleworks cause we had it (as well as PFS write) and it was easier to deal with writing papers outside of book reports with its office suite

 

NO COMPUTER PRINTOUTS i want you to hand scrawl a bunch of incomprehensible loop de loops that everyone does differently and give you a bad grade cause I cant read YOURS ... I also argued with math teachers constantly "cause I didnt show my work" like seriously X + 1 = 3 solve for X, what do you think I am? Shit my pants tying my shoes retarded, that I cant figure that out without writing a thesis?

Edited September 17, 2017 by Osgeld

[+mytek]

 

Fuck'n teachers I tell you! They wouldn't accept good 1/216th advanced dot-matrix. And when I asked WHY they couldn't or wouldn't tell me. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a legitimate reason for not accepting them, but there wasn't. At least none that I understood. Other than to maybe sadistically make the students hunch over and write write write like a punishment. Well fuck'em'all. I still can't do cursive nicely. It was kinda like tryn'a make a Yugo win the Daytona, never going to happen, but go through the motions just to go through the motions.

 

One teacha told me it was hard to read. And I said like bullshit it is and started reading my paper. And I got sent to the office for detention for a day for mouthing back. The school I went to was so anti-tech and backwards. I hated it and couldn't wait till I got out of there.

 

 

 

Yeah, mine were too. One of the things I am kinda proud of was telling off a teacher and saying that cursive was going the way of the dinosaurs. Never bothered learning it. She got all high and mighty and said it was a required skill to be an adult. I said using a computer was.

 

Guess who ended up being a successful adult due to ignoring cursive and focusing on computer skills?

 

Take that, you mean old battleaxe.

 

Reminds me of something that happened back in 7th grade history when we had a substitute for about a week (the original history teacher was out for some reason). Anyway a student in the class (Malcolm) questioned one of the supposed facts that the substitute teacher was presenting, at which point the sub told Malcolm to not question him. Of course Malcolm continued to stick to his argument, and then the sub said for disrupting my class you will write 100 times that "I shouldn't talk back in class". This did not stop Malcolm, and he continued to disagree, at which point the assignment became 200, then 300... you get the point. Then something inside me snapped and I yelled "That isn't fair!!!" So... I too got the same assignment. Next day Malcolm and I showed up to class and hadn't written a single sentence. The sub sent us to the Principles office. Now keep in mind that the thing that Malcolm had disagreed with was indeed not correct, meaning that the sub was teaching us a falsehood and standing by it as if it were the truth. So we're both in the Principle's office, we tell him our story, and the Principle calmly says that unfortunately it doesn't matter, and that we still need to write the assignment or else we will be expelled from school.

 

Yes Malcolm and I finally gave in and did what we were told. After all we were only 13 years old, didn't want our parents to find out, and felt too small to continue the fight on our own. We also learned a valuable life lesson that day, that life isn't always fair. And yes sometimes teachers suck . I also subsequently figured out what the saying "power corrupts" really meant, and later still the term "plausible deniability".

 

EDIT: I just want to add that I also had some outstanding teachers that went the extra mile to help me.

 

- Michael

Edited September 18, 2017 by mytekcontrols

[+Stephen]

 

 

 

Reminds me of something that happened back in 7th grade history when we had a substitute for about a week (the original history teacher was out for some reason). Anyway a student in the class (Malcolm) questioned one of the supposed facts that the substitute teacher was presenting, at which point the sub told Malcolm to not question him. Of course Malcolm continued to stick to his argument, and then the sub said for disrupting my class you will write 100 times that "I shouldn't talk back in class". This did not stop Malcolm, and he continued to disagree, at which point the assignment became 200, then 300... you get the point. Then something inside me snapped and I yelled "That isn't fair!!!" So... I too got the same assignment. Next day Malcolm and I showed up to class and hadn't written a single sentence. The sub sent us to the Principles office. Now keep in mind that the thing that Malcolm had disagreed with was indeed not correct, meaning that the sub was teaching us a falsehood and standing by it as if it were the truth. So we're both in the Principle's office, we tell him our story, and the Principle calmly says that unfortunately it doesn't matter, and that we still need to write the assignment or else we will be expelled from school.

 

Yes Malcolm and I finally gave in and did what we were told. After all we were only 13 years old, didn't want our parents to find out, and felt too small to continue the fight on our own. We also learned a valuable life lesson that day, that life isn't always fair. And yes sometimes teachers suck . I also subsequently figured out what the saying "power corrupts" really meant, and later still the term "plausible deniability".

 

EDIT: I just want to add that I also had some outstanding teachers that went the extra mile to help me.

 

- Michael

I was hoping you were going to tell us that you turned in a printed assignment of the sentences

[+mytek]

I was hoping you were going to tell us that you turned in a printed assignment of the sentences

 

I wish But there were no personal computers when I was 13 (and wouldn't be for another decade). However that would have made for an even better story by far .

 

- Michael

[Keatah]

10 For A = 1 to 100

20 Print "I shouldn't talk back in class."

30 Next A

40 End

[Osgeld]

10 For A = 1 to 100

20 Print "I shouldn't talk back in class."

30 Next A

40 End

 

and set the output to the printer

[megarat]

It sounds like I'm pretty lucky, as back in high school (class of '88), I was able to use my Atari 1200XL with a 1025 printer with no problems. I wrote many a report on that thing, and AtariWriter was a good friend of mine.

 

One related memory comes to mind, which was in my Algebra II class, when we were learning matrix multiplication. We were given this hideous assignment to do something like 20 matrix multiplication problems, all by hand, and to show all of our work. As many of you probably know, the process of matrix multiplication is relatively simple, but it's tedious to do by hand -- basically mathematical gruntwork, with little multiplication problems repeated over and over again, where if you make one mistake, your result turns out wrong.

 

So I asked my teacher if I could write a program to do it, and glory be, he said that as long as I turned in the source code with my answers, it would be fine.

 

I gleefully spent that evening writing up a deeply for-looped BASIC program that performed matrix multiplication. This program then did my homework for me in about ten minutes, with almost all of that time required for entering and double-checking the matrices that were to be multiplied. I'm not sure if I saved any time overall, but it was a lot more fun than iteratively grunting through the operations by hand, and I was rewarded with the feeling of being ingenious and innovative.

 

Fast forward to today, where I basically make a living doing the same thing: coding up mathematical (well, statistical and machine learning) methods for data analysis. So perhaps that was a formative learning experience for me.

Edited September 18, 2017 by megarat

[Ely]

@myteckcontrols/Mtchael Good story, pity about the ending. Kids should be taught to question things, how else does the world progress. What was the false thing the teacher was telling you btw and what country was this in?

[Brentarian]

One more high school memory... I didn't have an Apple at home, so in my computer science class I would code at home on my Atari with Kyan Pascal, print the code, then at school re-enter it with a few changes into Instant and Apple Pascal. We were allowed to play games in class if our work was complete. For a two week project I would hurry and get it done in a few days, then play a disk full of AtariSoft games for a week and a half in that class (on a green monochrome monitor).

[+mytek]

@myteckcontrols/Mtchael Good story, pity about the ending. Kids should be taught to question things, how else does the world progress. What was the false thing the teacher was telling you btw and what country was this in?

 

It's been way too long ago to remember. This occurred on the west coast of the United States (state of California) in a town called Petaluma.

 

- Michael

[Ely]

Ah Petaluma, the only reason I've heard it is because that's where Leo Laporte runs his Netcasting business https://twit.tvfrom.

[zzip]

Small nostalgia post.

 

In 4th Grade (~ 1985?), I got in serious trouble with a teacher one time for typing up a few small papers that we were asked to "write". Of course, the teacher was focused on making sure I knew how to do cursive properly, and as a kid who knew everything I thought (and told her) that writing was "primitive", and asked why I can't just use my Atari to do papers.

 

She took my Atariwriter written and (Some kind of Epson dot matrix) printed papers and threw them in the trash and got very red in the face with me .

 

So as it took several more years before schools became accepting of computer technology, my Atari 8-bit never quite got used as part of my academic career.. But I really did love using AtariWriter..

 

P.S. I haven't used Cursive.. in well over 20 years, but I sure love my Atari.

 

they don't even teach kids cursive today, so you were just ahead of your time

[zzip]

I use cursive every time I sign my name but YMMV

 

I used to, but now I kinda just scribble something that resembles my signature

[baktra]

One day, our Czech language teacher asked us to start bringing not only a hard copy of some of our homework to school, but also its machine readable form. It was in 1999, so it was typically a floppy disk. The teacher borrowed the disk, copied the file and returned the disk the day after.

 

Fortunately for the teacher, I had a PC since 1997. If she had decided only two years earlier, I am not sure what she would have to say about a text written in the Čapek editor (a clone of Speedscript) stored on a compact cassette.

Edited September 19, 2017 by baktra

[pixelmischief]

I started writing code in 6th grade. My junior highschool had a room full of Atari 800XLs with 1050's and I took programming instead of wood shop. It wasn't until my freshman year of highschool that I picked up an 800XL and a 1027 of my own. AtariWriter was pretty damned cool and anything that had to be type-written was a breeze. Unlike some of the others here, my teachers were appreciative of the readability of printed work. My sophomore year, I picked up an MPS 801 and shit got real. That thing could spool out reams of tractor feed like nobody's business. Next, I upgraded to a Panasonic KXP-1091i. Slow but gorgeous.

 

The ultimate for me, however, was when I upgraded to a 130XE, XF-551, ICD MIO, and the the Star NX-1000. That setup lasted me from 89 to 92; the first 3 years of my career. I never went to college. When I graduated highschool, if you could spell computer, you were hired. I left south Florida, moved to NY, and started working on Wall Street as desktop support contractor; Windows 3.1 on Novell 3.1 over TokenRing. At home I bought a nice 1040 STe, ICD Link, SyQuest 144, AtariWorks and a Canon BJC-10 setup. That got me through to 1994.

 

Eventually the benefits of a 486 DX4 120 with a Cirrus Logic card running Windows 3.11, Word, and Excel were just too good to pass up. But I've always run my Atari's side-by-side with whatever my modern setups are. After all, they are where my heart is.

[Keatah]

ohh how touching

[TheTIGuy]

I don't use cursive that much, but i attach my signate to all my letters (inluding E-Mail!)

DigiSigniture1.bmp

(WHY IS IT SO DARN HARD TO HAVE IT DISPLAYED?!?!)

Edited September 21, 2017 by TheTIGuy

[BillC]

I don't use cursive that much, but i attach my signate to all my letters (inluding E-Mail!)

DigiSigniture1.bmp

(WHY IS IT SO DARN HARD TO HAVE IT DISPLAYED?!?!)

The forum software doesn't display BMP and some other image attachments, it will display JPEG and GIF.

 

Here is your signature file converted to jpeg.

[gilsaluki]

Yep. 800XL, AW, and 1027 through my Bachelors and Masters degree. And through my military career. Love(d) it. Then at work came WORDSTAR and all those damned control codes. Control KQ, Control KD, what the F#$K! The Word came....nuff said. Still want to write on my Atariwriter, or Speedscript....just no one to write to. Sad.

[R.Cade]

Exactly the opposite of this topic, but how many people took programming classes and the tests required that you wrote programs on a sheet of paper with pencil/pen?

 

Now THAT was stupid. This was the early 90's... Writing Pascal and COBOL programs on paper.

Edited January 6, 2018 by R.Cade

[+poobah]

Exactly the opposite of this topic, but how many people took programming classes and the tests required that you wrote programs on a sheet of paper with pencil/pen?

 

Now THAT was stupid. This was the early 90's... Writing Pascal and COBOL programs on paper.

 

FORTRAN coding sheets.... an abomination unto mankind....

[erichenneke]

Used my 130XE and Atariwriter for all my university papers for first couple of years of college in 87 - 89. I remember a lot of other people (room mates, class mates, etc.) also spending a lot of time in my room typing up their assignments on my 130XE as well. I used a Mannesmann Tally Spirit 80 printer attached through my ATR8000. I wish I still had that ATR8000 ! I remember one of the unique features of that Mannesmann Tally printer was that it used little squares instead of little dots in the matrix, so the print looked more solid. That printer was a true workhorse.

 

This thread also made me remember a funny time in high school when I got in trouble for something (I truly can't remember exact what for) and a teacher told me my punishment was to write something over and over thousands of times, something like "I will not disrupt class ever again by blowing spit wads across the room" or something like that. Anyway, I asked her if I could type it on a computer (this was like 1985 or 86). She said yes, and then she quickly added that it could only be typed on a computer if each line were numbered. Oh, gee, that really killed my plan ! FOR J = 1 to 5000: LPRINT J;" I will not disrupt class ever again": NEXT J

[erichenneke]

 

FORTRAN coding sheets.... an abomination unto mankind....

I remember having to do that in a COBOL class. Really dumb in retrospect.

 

I also remember having to submit the code to be compiled on a VAX 11/780 (using a VT100 dumb terminal) and then having to wait in line for a print out (on that super wide tracker-feed green and white barred paper) in a different building, just to see what error codes result from the compile.

 

Oh, and that makes me remember managing batch jobs over night on a IBM System370 using MVS and OS/JCL job code. And just hitting the ENTER key over and over like a zombie until each job step would finish and a result codes would appear... always praying each time that they would come back with 00 vs. some dreaded error code at 3:00am.

I eventually set up a terminal emulation window on a PC, then used some kind of screen-scraping macro program to basically keep hitting ENTER over and over and monitor specific locations on the screen for result codes. Then I hooked up a 300baud modem I had at the time to that PC, and any time it "saw" a result code other than 00 on the screen it would dial my BEEPER (remember those?!) number and then send me the error code which would show up on the little LCD on my beeper. It worked great and allowed me to walk down the street from my job to the bar district and enjoy the nightlife while the jobs ran! The only problem was when I'd already had a few beers and THEN I'd get a beeper alert with an error code. That made for some interesting late night debugging sessions.