T I   C A L C S ( 8 5 / 8 6 ) I confess, I'm a calculator fan. A big one. Thus far I have owned 5 TI calculators, and currently own 3 (all of which are in working condition). I love the power of the ti-89, but am personally partial to the ti-86 (just a souped-up version of the 85, my first love). Calculators got me hooked on Assembly programming, and I still tinker with it from time to time. Elements Elements v2.3 is my most successful calculator program to date. This program is written in Z-80 Assembly, to ensure fast operation, and even power save functions. It contains the entire periodic table of elements including name, symbol, mass, atomic number, and electron shell configuration. The table is can be casually browsed, and is searchable by name, symbol, or number. The zip file includes program versions in English, French, and German. If you want this program for use on your own calc, download it here for the 85 and the 86. Q. How do I make this run? A. This is an Assembly program, which means it can't be run directly like other TI-Basic programs. You should probably use a shell, like Usgard or Rascall. Because this program has been out of development for some time, it may not work properly with some of the newer calc shells. Check the included documentation for details. Q. I thought of a really cool new feature. Can you add it? A. Unfortunately, due to other time demands this program is no longer being developed. If I ever get tons of extra time I may pick it up again. Q. I'm a 3l33t progammer dood. Can I have your source code? A. No. Physics Day One of the great things you can do with TI calcs is hook them up to a CBL. (If you don't know what that is, check out TI's CBL info page. For my senior "physics day" back in High School, we took our calcs out to collect data on roller coasters. We taped, rubber-banded and otherwise attached our calcs to g-force meters for use on the ride. I added a barometric pressure reader to my setup. When calibrated with the ground (lower limit) and the top of a tall building (upper limit), it was able to discern minor changes in air pressure and give an altitude reading for the roller-coaster hills. I have since lost the data (sorry!) but if I find it I'll post it here. You can click on either picture for a larger view of the apparatus I used.