I received an e-mail from a land surveying student who's about 2 months from her license exams. She purchased some HP 35s surveying software, but is getting confused by the details of entering programs into the 35s. She asked if I could enter and test the programs for her. There are 37 pages of programs, and 10 pages of test cases.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to do this right now, and was wondering if anyone here would be interested. If so, please contact her directly:

Elisabeth K. Lucas

elisabethkonzelucas at hotmail.com

Edited: 22 Aug 2010, 8:15 p.m.

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She asked if I could enter and test the programs for her. There are 37 pages of programs, and 10 pages of test cases.
[emphasis added]

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Maybe someone here could take those pesky license exams for her too.

37 pages of programs?! For what? Taking an exam? If she knows and understands the material, I'd bet she doesn't need a single one of them. It is an exam, not a computer programming project...

I am a Surveyor and would just like to add that I think that all your responses are spot on.

Now days if you ask a young Surveyor to solve a problem, there response usually is, "where do I find the program to solve it." This applies to simple as well as complex problems.

I love to program and have written a lot of survey programs, but I come from a generation who knew how to all solve all the problems just from first principles.

The trouble is that we programmers have made it too easy for the current generation.

It might depend on the requirements of the test.

In a test with ample time to work the problems and partial credit then I would have to agree that there should be no need for extra programs.

If the test is designed to only allow time to run the problems through a calculator then shame on the test makers.

Just in defense of the (young?) lady, here's the full text of the original message. Notice that the HP35s was suggested by the board, and that she's willing to pay someone to program the calculator.

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Good evening Stefan,

I have purchased an Hp 35s calculator along with the programing notes for different problems I solve in Land Surveying. I have tried to start programing it on my own, but became frustrated and put it away. Programing is new to me. I have to take my license test in October and would love to be able to use this calculator. It is suggested by the licensing board. It is also one of 3 types of calculators that we are aloud to use during the exam.
So, my question is: would you be interested in programing it for me and I will be happy to pay the price. In fact I would be overjoyed!

Thanks in advance for addressing my problem,

Elisabeth Lucas
Sutter Creek, CA

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Whats about these links?

Preprogrammed HP-33s / 35 s

or this one

If I had already purchased the aloud calculator, and printed programs for it, then I might cry out llowed if I now had to buy another!

Norman;
In the California LS exam, the writer of each question grades his or her question and gives partial credit if applicable. Furthermore; a failing student is shown the correct answers and what partial credit was given. One may also contest the credit given. A wrong answer due to a mathematical bust but figured with a good method can score well. However, once in the mid '80s it seemed that everyone scoring the test figured that his question should be graded hard but those other folks would make up for him and grade easy. Only about 3% of the people sitting for the exam passed that year.

Then, there is the theory that they pass one resident from each county, each year. This has unprepared but hopeful mathophobes getting an Alpine County post office box each year.

But she already told us that she is willing to pay somebody else for doing the programming of her calculator. Do you think this could be done for less than 150 bugs she would have to pay for a pre-programmed one?

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less than 150 bugs

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Freud would have a field day with this slip :)

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Freud would have a field day with this slip :)

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Furthermore, perhaps Freud would be amused with your term "field day" since the OP was about a surveyor!

Freud would probably have all of us here institutionalized for calculator induced OCD.

From Wikipedia:

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aversion to odd numbers

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Maybe aversion to odd decades as well?

Poor HP71B (Ver. 1BBBB).

I will tell him when I visit his apartment in Vienna in early October (reason I am not attending HHC 2010).

:=)

Namir

PS: Packing a time machine so I can visit with the Freud ... I have to choose what year to visit AND which calculators to take with me to impress the heck out of him ... if that is ever possible. The man IS A COLLECTOR ... of little status of various deities ... all there in his Marsfield Garden house in London!!

Edited: 24 Aug 2010, 7:29 p.m.

For freee surveying programs for the 35S, you can check out the website below:

http://homepage.mac.com/nwjh/HP-35S/index.html

How did this get in here instead of in the 71B thread?