YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY!! Now, you may currently be feeling many angry thoughts, such as “SaM, why would you not have told us BEFORE the Math 30 Diploma?! This could have saved me!” and “I don’t know what Firmware means!!!” But hey, if any of these thoughts, or many possible others (and I’m sure you don’t actually want to know the number of possibilities [NO! NOT PERMS & COMBS!!!]), ran through your head, please don’t fret or send me hate comments. In fact, I didn’t even use any of the cool new functions (other than fractions) for the Diploma. *deep breaths* It’s all good 😉
Recently, Texas Instruments came out with an update for the TI-84 Plus and Silver Edition models (sorry TI-83ers!) a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say, it is pretty amazing. Like O.M.G. amazing. So what does this beautiful software do? How do these functions sound: sigma notation (insert it as you see it on your page, letters and all, and it will give you the answer), logs with any base (fill in the base you want–not just 10!!!), and the simple, yet wonderful, fractions (why have annoying slashes in the way? As an added benefit, answers are in fraction form as well). If you aren’t as excited as I am… well… don’t download it, I suppose. You’ll be missing out.
Did I mention it keeps excellent time? I forgot my watch and my school doesn’t have a clock in the gym (why? I don’t know :P), so being the nerd that I am, I just used my calculator. **NOTE: make sure you reset your clock after you download the update!!!!
Does this (AND MORE) sound good? Go download it from TI’s website! For the direct link to the software page, click here 😀 . Make sure that you download TI Connect for Window or for Mac beforehand! (there’s a link for this at the top of the page in the “click here” link.)
If you are a TI-83 Plus kinda person, there was a software update waaaaay back in 2006 (holy transistors, that was 5 years ago D:). I would assume that your calculator would have this update, but it doesn’t hurt to check 😉 You can find this update by clicking here.
On a final note, the update will not spontaneously combust when you reset your calculator for exams. It’s a firmware, meaning it is FIRMly placed inside your calculator and will not disappear. All is well 🙂
GOOD LUCK WITH THE REST OF YOUR EXAMS 😀 Enjoy the days before school starts up again. Need something to do? Download some apps for your calculator (they have games!!) and play around 😉 [final final note: downloaded apps will disappear when your calculator is reset, but you can easily redownload them!]