A mod that turns TI-84 calculators into GPT-based cheating device | Hacker News Reader

A mod that turns TI-84 calculators into GPT-based cheating device

github.com

50 pointssschueller13 comments

By the time you've figured out how to install and run this, you've probably learned more than the class your cheating in had to offer.

At least, the one techy guy selling them to the other students has.

This is what happened to me in middle school. I wrote a bunch of programs to “help” me with algebra II tests and ended up inadvertently learning an insanely marketable skill in the process.

Same but high school. I ended up porting the Drug Warz game onto my TI calculator and playing it while in class instead. Now some ~23 years later I'm a python wizard.

Similar story here. I wrote programs in TI-Basic to help with some exam questions, and wrote summaries in TI NoteFlio. I ended up getting so many few-euro donations for them from everyone who used them. 30 minutes before the exams, exchanging these things over the TI-link connection.

Of course, nowadays all these TI calculators have exam mode, which blocks the internal memory and a bright LED to indicate this mode is enabled. And the older calculators, with practically the same feature-set (TI-83, TI-84) are now forbidden (should clarify still the same TI-8x calculators are allowed - but only if they have exam mode). Nothing is fun anymore these days.

I vaguely recall some children's book in which the protagonists spent hours and hours poring over their math textbooks and copying all the important things onto hidden cheatsheets, only to realize--to their horror--that they'd actually studied after all.

This brings back memories of writing hundreds of lines of TI Basic to cheat on chem tests. My most complex program could tell you the shape of atomic orbitals. I wonder if it’s still on the calculator.

I wrote a program in high school for my calculator to balance chemical equations. Ran the idea by my teacher and he said if I could make it myself I could use it. Probably was more work for me in the long run than just studying equation balancing, but I did get it working well and then had access to it for my AP Chem test.

Did some others I don't remember as well, definitely some physics, some trigonometry and other convenience functions for math, etc. I didn't have the cable to plug it into a computer and it was pretty annoying typing it all using the calculator keys, but it was my first experience with programming and I did end up making some stuff that was personally useful for my classes.

I wonder if my old calculator still has all the programs I did in memory too. Not sure if it still works, since it was over ten years ago, but I'm pretty sure I have it in a closet box and saw it when I moved last.

How did you not learn how to calculate orbitals yourself in the process of writing the program?

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41550907

If students would put the same amount of effort into learning as they do into cheating, they wouldn't be ignorant as well as morally bankrupt.

Students will need to take their exams inside of a Faraday cage at this point. Oh wait, even that isn't enough [1][2].

[1] https://x.com/josephfcox/status/1854618571231408237

[2] https://www.404media.co/police-freak-out-at-iphones-mysterio...

Next level awesome

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