I don't think the Organizer app is all that great. Even though it is free, it takes up so much space and still doesn't do a whole lot. In my opinion, the low-resolution, miniscule screens on graphing calculators just aren't suited to any complicated calendar apps, because the whole point of them is to show a big visual display of everything you have going on in a certain period of time. Also, it is best to have an organizer app (at least on a computer) that is always running, so it can alert you to upcoming events easily. Leaving on a calculator is not practical, both because of the APD and the drain it would cause on the batteries if you disable the APD. I am perfectly happy using MS Outlook, with my 89 sitting beside me having considerably more free Flash ROM.

I like it because it eliminates any need for a PDA, as it can now have games, math functions, primitive word processing and spreadsheets, and store important data. The app lets me access school assignments and phone numbers when I'm not at my computer, which is rather handy. Perhaps I'll piece together a review for the August newsletter...

I found a new flash app (in development) on TI's ftp site called TI-Reader (Go to the program archive on the site and it's under "pub/graph-ti/sw-apps/TI-Reader/" if you want proof). So now you can add reading books to the list of things your TI calc can do. If you look hard enough you can also find TI Flash Studio 1.1.43 too.

Unfortunatly you need a certificate to run the TI-Reader beta :(

What platform?

TICT's eBook reader has always done that, and it was released a couple years ago.

Speaking of the newsletter:

10. You know what IS>( and DS<( do, and you know the syntax for seq().
9. Your math teacher realizes it's not worth the bother of trying to stop you from programming in his/her class.
5. You use GDB's to hide and save BASIC game information.
2. You have worn off the writing on your 2ND Key from playing games too much on your calculator.
1. Your teacher singles you out, making you the only one in the class not able to use a calculator on a test.

These I have done or had done to me.

speaking of that...:

8. You are constantly leaving off ending quotation marks and parentheses in your writing due to habit.

or how about we learn how to do that since BASIC is the only forgiving language in that area?

On the upper calcs, it won't let you do that. :(

That's why I love Kevin Kofler's autoclbr program so much, and I couldn't upgrade from 2.05 until he fixed it. :-)

Oh yeah, I remember seeing that. :) I should probably get that. I forget quotes every now and then on my TI-89, out of habit.

Well, of the above list, I have 9 and 10. :)

<<You know what IS>( and DS<( do>>

This is only applicable on the 8x series.

Well, to be more specific, the lower z80 models. I don't think the TI-85/86 use that, and I'm almost sure the TI-89 doesn't.

You could always make a user-defined function for IS>() and DS<().

The 85 and 86 do have IS>( and DS<(, but the 89 doesn't.

That would make it an even more specific piece of knowledge. Therefore, if you know what it does, you MUST be a calc programmer.

WAIT. This requires 2.09? WHO uses AMS 2.09? And WHY? I mean, I can understand them wanting to use an AMS with a clock (for the scheduler and such), but upgrading my OS would require me to lose all of my files. Now, this is just me, but that doesn't seem too appealing. Even so, I have been thinking about wiping my memory to get rid of some stuff, but I never thought of an OS change. What the heck, I might try it. If I do, I'll be sure to tell you what it's like.

I just thought people should know that it's only for AMS 2.09 (or above... but they don't HAVE any "above"). Most people don't want to change their OS, so I thought I'd let them know so they don't have to find out themselves.

I'm fine at 2.08 with no problems. I'm going through all the 89, 92+, and V200 asm games and picking out the ones I like for a "personal" on computer archive.

hey the ams 2.09 is starting it's a matter of time for you to change, is just that now it is limited, but this will be corrected in near future, the truth is that while it consumes much memory, it has a GUI all you guys should be mad at it it is almost a PDA, anyway... I think it has future

If your talking about the Desk Top GUI, then it has been around since 2.08 (2.07 for V200 users) and is nothing new. I plan on waiting for some major change to take place in order for me to upgrade again. I needed 2.08 for the TI-Keyboard to work, hence I have 2.08.

then what has 2.09 new? also why not upgrade?

I think it just fixes stability bugs. I can't remember... I think there's an article way back when it came out about it.

Yeh it fixes stability issues, but it's mainly for compatability with their new TI-Navigator.

*cough* Kill Bin Laden *cough*

Okay, so it does run on 2.08? I have a couple more questions:
Where can I get the OS for 2.05, you know, in case I get so fed up with 2.09 that I want to go back :)
Do I need the NEW TI-Connect to send the 2.09 OS, or can I use the one I got on the CD (I think it's 1.1)?
Will the clock thing drain my batteries like crazy? (It has to run when the calc is off)
Can I just use ttstart() to run all of my 2.05 programs? Like *cough* Kill Bin Laden *cough*?
Anything else you think I should know before I do this?

Any version of TI-Connect should send AMS 2.09 just fine. The primary difference in the newest versions of TI-Connect is that they come with the newest AMS. However, I would recommend getting the newest version of TI-Connect if you use the Backup/Restore feature. With the older version, I had trouble with the Restore feature, but it seems to be fixed now.

About the clock: the drain isn't too bad. If you have the clock enabled, the calc is not always on. There is a thing inside the calc that turns it on halfway for a fraction of a second, once each second to advance the clock. But it isn't running most of the time.

Alright, so I shouldn't worry about buying lots of AAA batteries? :)

I don't think so. I haven't used my calc much this summer, though I am beginning to again. The clock, then, and not much else has been running since at least May, maybe earlier, and my batteries are at full. Another thing to look into is rechargeable batteries. I haven't gotten these because, being in high school, I can get my parents to pay for "school expenses" such as calc batteries. And I am cheap. But I would suppose they are very money-saving over the long haul.

Get a NiMH battery charger and two sets of NiMH AAA batteries. They are good for a lifetime and have no memory garranteed! They are the only type of battery I use.

>They are good for a lifetime and have no memory garranteed!

OK, not ONLY did you spell that ATROCIOUSLY, you made no sense after the word 'and'.

i think he was talking about the memory effect in some types of rechargable batteries.

*cough* Fix the trajectories in the cannon so they are parabolic, make some grayscale sprites, and improve gameplay *cough*

*cough*
Actually, I was planning on doing that. But there's so much going on right now. I'm dling K-Lite and I'm changing the OS on my calc and putting on Organizer. After all of that, I might work on KBL.

I do hate the way the cannon works in mission 4. Definitely need to fix that. I have a very good idea, too. (I will attempt to make them parabolic :))

Grayscale would slow the game down...

And I am also thinking of improving the gameplay on mission 3.

Oh, and I need to see if it works on AMS 2.09
*cough*

Did you see/here how the author of Pinball did the trajectories? If not just use a steping variable. The cannon shell has an increment that it moves up with and little by little that increment is reduced which forms a perfectly parabolicle path if the x step is kept the same.

My opinion on the newer OSes (>2.05): I had been using 2.05 almost constantly for the past year, except for brief periods in which I would switch to 2.08 to use my keyboard. As of Saturday, I am now using 2.09 for several reasons. With Super Start, all of the games I could play on 2.05 now work on 2.09. Integrated Desktop makes the icon desktop actually useful. I've found many more uses for my keyboard. And, of course, there's this app in itself. Since both of the TSR's I use (fastkbd and autoclbr) work with 2.09 now, it seems perfectly logical to upgrade. As far as the losing all of your files, you don't have to. Although I had already backed up what I had, I discovered that when using the automatic upgrade feature of TI-Connect, it will automatically back up everything on your calc, send the new OS, and then send all of your files back. So far, I have no regrets of upgrading. Anyone have any good reasons not to do it?

<<So far, I have no regrets of upgrading. Anyone have any good reasons not to do it?>>

There is a bad bug in the AMS with combinations of inequalities and radicals. This has been there since 2.07 (or possibly 2.06, I haven't bothered to check).
But if you don't use inequalities, you should be ok :-)

Didn't they fix that?

I think I'll put ID on my V200 in the next couple days, but I prefer using TictExplorer. this OS thing remeinds me of the Mac/Win/Linux arguments we have participated in. It is just a matter of preference.

Dude, just backup your files, upgrade, and restore you files. TI-Connect makes backup/restore very simple.

Well, I just did backup all my files (didn't know TI-Connect could do that... I always use Graph Link).

Now, all I gotta do is put on the new OS... (is it easy to do? I've never done it before... LOL)

If you've got the whole drag-n-drop technique down, it should be no problem. ;-) However, I prefer TI-Connect's automatic update thing, because you don't have to go thru the web interface.

I don't use the Drag-n-Drop method. I prefer sending things to Archive usually but sometimes I go RAM so I right click, "Send to Connected TI Device", "ARCHIVE/RAM"

Quote from #tcpa:

<PatrickD> I use AMS 2.09 !

If Patrick Davidson uses it, it must be okay. ;-)

This battle between 2.05, 2.08, and 2.09 is begining to sound alot like the Mac/Win/Linux battles