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- Aug 9, 2010
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i realize it's been discussed, but wanted to share my thoughts on the online calculator after taking my test yesterday while it's still fresh in my head.
i have programming and interface design experience, so i was interested to see what people were talking about. in the tutorial you have the chance to play around with it, so i took some time to test it out as my heart rate came back to tolerable levels from the initial adrenaline rush of taking the DAT
my opinion? im convinced that the thing was programmed with intentional flaws in it to slow you down. i confirmed what people have said about it. first, the button delay is for real. i tried to get a feel for it, incrementally inceasing the time between clicks of the same button to see how long it takes to get a response, and it really does require a pause or you'll miss numbers, so watch the textbox as you click to see if it registered.
second, the clear button does not always clear everything (seriously) so again, watch the textbox to see if it "heard" you.
finally, as you've probably read elsewhere or from Chad if you watch his videos, you cannot use your keyboard to input, you must click.
call me a skeptic, but i find it hard to believe that these quirks were accidental or just due to a crappily written program, or even due to a slow computer (a pentium II running windows 98 can handle a java based calculator just fine). the only thing it's good for is the square root function if you're in a pinch. other than that, it will only serve to frustrate you and slow you down when you're already at your wits' end.
best of luck on your test!
i have programming and interface design experience, so i was interested to see what people were talking about. in the tutorial you have the chance to play around with it, so i took some time to test it out as my heart rate came back to tolerable levels from the initial adrenaline rush of taking the DAT
my opinion? im convinced that the thing was programmed with intentional flaws in it to slow you down. i confirmed what people have said about it. first, the button delay is for real. i tried to get a feel for it, incrementally inceasing the time between clicks of the same button to see how long it takes to get a response, and it really does require a pause or you'll miss numbers, so watch the textbox as you click to see if it registered.
second, the clear button does not always clear everything (seriously) so again, watch the textbox to see if it "heard" you.
finally, as you've probably read elsewhere or from Chad if you watch his videos, you cannot use your keyboard to input, you must click.
call me a skeptic, but i find it hard to believe that these quirks were accidental or just due to a crappily written program, or even due to a slow computer (a pentium II running windows 98 can handle a java based calculator just fine). the only thing it's good for is the square root function if you're in a pinch. other than that, it will only serve to frustrate you and slow you down when you're already at your wits' end.
best of luck on your test!
