Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 25, 2015

“The Write Idea”“Left To My Own Devices”“Not Going Down With The Penman-Ship”“Swipe And Type Hype”“Tech Marks The Spot”“Power Windows” (♫)“Fingers On The Pulse Of Digital” “A Carpal Tunnel On The Information Superhighway”“Fine Tethered Friends”“The Write Stuff” “A Social Life And A Dead Battery”or “Connections And Disconnections”

Makes you wonder when was the last time you hand wrote a term paper instead of typed it on a computer keyboard.

Luann, doing things the old fashioned way like a clueless n00b.

I write contracts for a living. The company has editable pdfs available, but I still do it longhand.They often uses copies of mine for training new employees.

Writing by hand improves brain/hand coordination…

I’m a was a compulsive note-taker both in school and on the job. On the job, I realized that note-taking was often as not a tool to help me stay focused, rather than a tool for producing a useful summary of the meeting or whatever. I was in college before the age of the laptop computer, e-tablet, and smart phone. It never occurred to me that people might now just record a lecture rather than taking notes on it! I’m not sure what good that would do – unless of course you’re recording it for somebody else. I mean, what are the chances that you’d actually play the lecture back, and that you’d get more from it the second time than you did originally? And how many people, once they’ve pulled out the device, wouldn’t succumb to the impulse to check email or surf the internet instead instead? That said, I did have one very successful co-worker who almost never took a note during even the longest and most involved meetings. I wish I knew his secret!

The reason Reagan was such a “Great Communicator” was because he was a writer. He wrote an essay a day, plus letters and speeches. Putting ideas on paper allows you to see objectively ideas that were fluid in your brain, and you can correct them. It is no archaic notion that reading wRighting and Rithmatic were what made Americans great.

Good point, Greg! I still handwrite lots, and yet, even so, I have noticed a severe deterioration in my handwriting with all the typing I also do. I’d add that kids do need to practise handwriting, but that might make me sound even older than I am! ;)

…and I just noticed- Luann is left-handed, like me! (Left-handed people are always in their right mind.)

“What to do when the batteries go dead.”Ah, yes. Like once, when working in a department store, the computerized tills went down and nobody seemed to know what to do. Answer: pick up a pen and start hand-writing the bills, enter the data later.

That’s when you power up your spare battery finder, then once you found it, plug in your battery charger, go into your phone, turn on your battery minder app, then repeat steps 1-3.. After all that hard work, you deserve a nice break!!!

Well, I’m off…..have a good evening, all.

One of my elementary school teachers told my mom that my handwriting was horrible. My mom told her to shove it, and I would eventually be typing everything anyway.

Now, I am a good typist. But, my current job requires me to hand-write things instead of typing them. Shove labeling tiny vials!

Templo S.U.D. -I last wrote a term paper (by hand) 12 years ago. Laptops weren’t allowed in the class, and most of the profs didn’t want to be recorded. So you wrote, or you used your memory (poor option on my part -and by the looks of those around me, well…) -problem is, my handwriting isn’t very legible (this despite several penmanship classes (I always wanted to learn calligraphy but gave it up as a lost cause) -so after class, by the time I’d managed to decipher my handwriting, I knew the material like the back of my hand. Getting aces was not very hard. Getting anything less was a bit upsetting -it did happen, but not often.

Poor Luann! I used to take very full notes (and with my left hand, too). Then, some people started using small tape recorders, and now we see the smartphones and tablets recording in place of handwritten notes. Technology advances, and there is nothing to gain by being a Luddite. But I still like the feel of paper, and the reassuring availability of paper notes even if batteries are dead, power is out, or the cloud is hacked….

welcome to the truly “modern age!” where no one writes anything anymore! except ms. DeGroot

Well, I’m not impressed by Gunther’s attitude toward his mother dating. Gunther thinks it’s OK for him to go to another country with his girlfriend for months, yet he’s shocked by the idea that his mother might go out to dinner with a man.

Overall Gunther may not be that bad, but he really needs to get his attitude about his mother under control.

True that. But these days, young people would rather wait for hours for their “toys” to come back on line than to revert back to the low tech like we old schoolers used to do!

I was amazed once by an article I read about a trial. One of the witnesses was asked to read a hand written note and said she couldn’t because it was in cursive. I just now understood why.

the smarter way would be(specially for those who are not so fast in writing) is to record the teacher, than at home listen, pause, take notes of key points, and keep doing that until recording ends………than now you reread the notes you just took, and “shorten those notes to the main core of what you need to learn” that helps you make it easy to know the right answers in a test

a t THAT TIME, I liked his ideas as I thought that his no tariff for imports would help the salaries of other countries to get closer to the salaries of the 1st world nations, is silly to expect all nations to have same salaries, but was better if USA minimum wage (at that time) was 5 bucks per hour and ones in china changed to 2.75 per hour………………. but instead of what I thought would happen, we got the industries and stores of the USA switch their merchandise being made in the USA to hiring and making factories abroad and cutting the jobs in the USA, and today we got the USA minimum wage as 9,50 per hour, and China minimum wage being 25 cents per hour and most retails having 90 % of their products being made in China and less than 2% made in the USA

When I was in college (years ago – I’m 39), I handwrote my notes in four colors. When I needed to learn, a glance on a page was enough to know the structure of the lesson. taping and listening would not work with me. I tried an online course, where the material was in videos, and boy, was it impossible to concentrate. At least I could turn on the subtitles and read those instead of listening. I never check out videos that people share for this same reason.

Fingers are digits…writing uses fingers…handwriting is the original digital form of communication!

Looks like Dirk’s younger brother can’t even use a phone, tablet, etc. let a lone a pencil.

Just noticed Luann’s left-handed.

Aw, DON’T Sweat It, Lu. We’ll SEE Who’s at the “Head of the Class” when the Nation’s Power-Grid Finally Goes Down.

must be a small class if the prof/instructor knows students by the last name

My son is a former submariner, one of the guys who ran the engine room. He is attending college and is appalled at the level of academics displayed by the students. The US Navy is absolutely ruthless in training the sailors. Why? Because the ocean is absolutely unforgiving. So, now he is in college, the kids use their gadgets too much, don’t know how to study. My son is getting a near 4.0 GPA and shakes his head. His peers are clueless.

Left-handed, or maybe ambisinister?

I have the same name as a famous author. Once in high school, teacher was reading off names and got to mine. She said “Oh, do you write?”. I quickly said yes because I often printed rather than writing in cursive, which I thought she meant. Boy, was she heartbroken when she got my first book report!

She’s left handed.

Luann fans: Has she always been seen to be left handed?

Luann the weirdo

They don’t even teach cursive in schools anymore!!!!!!!!

My memory works better if I hand-write rather than type. If I have to remember something from a class I need to take manual notes.

When one has eight years in a parochial school, and penmanship was an actual class, and a nun was patrolling the aisles (with wooden ruler in hand) checking as we practiced our letters,what one learned stayed with you for good!

Warning: The machine is taking over. The brain will atrophy.

Why are the back row people all holding their devices conspicuously in the air?

its not “except” Miss DeGroot- its “besides” Miss Degroot

From a lot I see in the comments… much is to be said for WRITING SKILLS as opposed to commenting or digital input regarding use of grammar.

SAT and ACT testing still includes writing portions, but I guess that doesn’t matter since it’s a chance for Evan’s to pad how super special Luann is.

re: data input to your brain.Not all data paths are created equal.Visual – readingAural – listeningTactile – writingYou must find which input or combination of inputs works best for you.For more info:research or google:Learning DisabilitiesLearning DisordersSpecial Educationor talk to a Special Ed Teacher – finding a workable path for remembering can be fascinating.

I actually converted, in college, from manual note writing to a “walkman like” cassette recorder (for those profs that would allow it) and a re-transcription. Of course, one had to copy the black board diagrams etc. manually (they still had those). I had to get good at it because it did take extra time to transcribe the recordings. Of course, there was only one electrical outlet in the huge lecture hall. I was able to arrive early and find the seat, but quite often, the prof’s aide would usurp that outlet to run the slide projector for the prof. :-(

I found that, for most profs that did not permit it, it was a “copyright” issue. After all, they live under the “publish or perish” mindset. And many of them do perish. Anyway, lot’s of things are different now. Most texts are electronic – PDFs…. Wish I had them back then. I got physically fit carrying those books around.

Girl to the right of Luann can pass for Tiffany’s mousey cousin!! Same eyes and lips!

Right there with you. I graduated high school in 1975. In my sophomore year, I took a class called “Business Machines.” One of the more fun units we learned was the Rotary Calculator. Anyone recognize this?

Of course! These were plastered all over the open office area of my uncle’s first company in the 60’s. The mechanical calculator. They had more modern ones that were almost like a typerwriter (with a wheel that would spin). I recall being able to send them in an “infinite loop” as a kid. :-) Fortunately, they had and emergency kill switch. My uncle used it a lot when I visited the office. ;-PPP

Recent studies show writing your notes instead of recording or typing, increases the likelihood of getting that good grade on your test.

Sadly, the answer to the prof’s question is probably “NO”.

Well, I wouldn’t think it a problem to use a laptop or tablet to type the notes instead of hand writing them. I do that with some training I take these days. Better than my chicken scratch and accomplishes at least the same if not better results. One could (if permitted), take tablet cam pics of the white boards for that part of it.

Perhaps that’s Lu’s professor’s point. How many people hand write anymore these days?

there was an episode of “The Outer Limits” where everyone in the world was hooked up to a kind of wi-fi that streamed any and all information directly into their brain whenever they needed it. When the stream got shut down it was revealed that almost everyone on the planet was actually illiterate. I think that was one of the more accurate predictions of the future that show came up with.

Th point of hand writing notes is to put the information into long-term memory. Recording a lecture will not do that unless you intend to listen to it over and over again. Like a play list? I doubt it!

I remember being caught talking in typing class. Mean ’ol Mrs. Smith gave me an assignment where I had to type 100 times, without error, that I would not talk in class. Piece of cake, right? Well, here is the sentence I had to type 100 times:.

“Unless, henceforth, specifically called upon by the teacher, I will refrain from elucidating upon the copiousness of my vocabulary within the confines of this classroom.”

And, of course, a manual typewriter with ribbons, etc. etc.?

We had a typing teacher/class in the public school I attended. But it wasn’t a “mean ol’ Mrs. Smith…” That was my 6fh grade Math Teacher… ;-) If, like me, you joined the computer club, you didn’t have to take typing because you got enough practice/experience on the old ASR-33 Teletype machines.

ASR-33 Teletype

What was interesting about these was the printing head. It was almost the same as an IBM “Selectric” typewriter –

Selectric Typeface ball

but more utilitarian (looked like an automobile gear).

Oh, really? You know, during the week that Greg Evans was running the story arc in which Luann admits to not voting, several people here were making disparaging remarks about the Democrats and the president. Why didn’t you flag THEIR comments?

Sadly, you are wrong. Both the ACT and SAT have portions that require written answers.

“Good artwork? Check.School classroom? Check.Luann achieving something? Check.No more jerk Gunther? Check.-I give today’s comic an A+. Good job Evans.”

I have a feeling Gunther is taking sunday off & will be back tomorrow.

Still have the machine, and it still boots up. Still have my Imsai 8080, too. They make excellent paperweights…

I have the Altair 8800. :-) 8" hard sectored floppies, addressable front panel, etc. etc. etc.

Our ASR-33’s were to one of the first PDP-11/40’s in our area. 32K of Copper mesh RAM, two one platter “Dec Pack” Disk cartridge drives and one Dec Tape drive.

But tell me, though, do you recall the WD “Pascal Micro-engine?” ;-PPP

And :::: gasp! :::: she’s probably doing it in cursive !

Yes, because students type out their notes on their cell phones. *Sure, there are a lot of LAPTOPS in the classroom, but you’ll also spot many with notebooks, and power-point printouts.

Or they’re filming their professor, and because they’re in the back row they can hold it up high to get a good angle.

This part of your comment it right on, except it’s not so much can hold it up as have to hold it up to get clear input, whether it’s visual, audio, or both.

That’s what I tell myself anyway, mental gymnastics to cover up Evans reaching too far for a joke.

Here I would say it is you reaching too far for an insult.

This seems so obvious to me I’m surprised it was even mentioned, let alone deemed worthy of discusion.

?“I give today’s comic an A+. Good job Evans.”?.Who are you and what have you done with…

“My hand writing was so bad even I couldn’t read it sometimes. I do prefer typing.”.The expression we use is, “I can’t read it once it gets cold.”.I write as well as my mother does and my father did. Which is to say, not well.My shorthand is better than my longhand, but nobody can read shorthand.I can type much faster than I can write and typed words are much more legible, can still read them when cold.

I work at a newspaper. No, newspapers have not died yet!Anyway, I had a co-woker who used to teach at my old high school. I got along with her, even though I was not in her classes. After a few years, she went back to teaching. Why? Because with texting devices becoming so popular, she felt she needed to remind students how to write and spell.…I wish her the best of luck. I fear she may have her work cut out for her.

You don’t suppose Luann is about to be recommended as a writing tutor, do you?

“Unfortunately, his “great communication” drove our country into the ground and introduced us to the ugly breed of American known as the religious right.”.Nah, we’re still a wonderful nation, the envy of most of the world and rightly so.Further, any harm he may have done wasn’t due to communication but to decisions regarding actions. Some of those decisions he didn’t even communicate to the Amercian people at the time..Finally, the “religious right” were (was?) well known long before Reagan was in politics or even born. They sided with him over President Carter but were deeply upset when he refused to let them tell him whom to nominate. He explained, “The American people elected me, not you.”.I loved that man.

“Arkansas just passed a law to bring cursive writing back to public schools. Several other states are considering it.”.Mostly a waste of time and money.

Hey… Is that “Dirk’s brother” in the front row far left? ;-PPP

I had a college statistics instructor who absolutely needed to be recorded for review later; he was (maybe still is) a tall Englishman who spoke in a monotone, and his favorite phrase when looking out over a classroom of students with quizzical looks on their faces was “we are now at 30,000 feet, and descending.” -—-P.S. I am primarily left-handed for writing and eating, but ambidextrous in all other things. When the occasion arose that a coworker needed to use my office PC, my (wired) mouse being on the left always confused them, but I could work their right-handed ones with no problem.A wireless mouse took all the fun out of their momentary brain freeze.

I think we need to focus more on Luann’s triumphs and travails as a college student rather than wasting time on arcs like the one we just had to suffer through with Gunther.

I can still write notes in a notebook, it’s less distracting.

(“Bic”, etc.) Good work!!!

I notice that people point out about the grammar (and sometimes rightly so!) but if one thinks about it, many parts of society have fallen into a “relaxed” state. – People used to dress up to go to movies, people would wear their best for a music concert, or even an appearance in the audience at the taping of a TV show.– But now, formal and dress wear are looked upon as "stiff, uncomfortable and too constrictive (in the sense of feeling as though one is “putting on airs”). – And writing and speaking has also suffered from this. Think back to the language used in Jane Austen novels, or even the speeches/historic data from the late 19th/early 20th centuries. The language was more expressive, flowed in a more “graceful” manner, and was full of expected/implied courtesies, etc. – Now it’s more curt, with fewer words (sometimes even to the point of perhaps “unintended bluntness”), and less “formal” presentation (such as replacing “For he had taken ill for a few weeks, with a dreadful air” with “He was straight sick, it was whack! Laid up for weeks, all moanin’ and what not…” ) and filled with many ill-used expressions such as my all time pet peeve: “For all intensive purposes”, as well as texting to the point that you think that’s how the word is spelled, among other things.– And too, new methods and ways of expression are being found. – And now it’s shown in the TV shows, names of companies, slogans, you name it. So these days, of course, grammar may not always be correct, and writing doesn’t always show a cohesive flow of thought….but with these things permeating throughout our society, who can really say they are the master of language and expression, as they pick up their “donut” from “Dunkin’ Donuts”, or listening to “Ain’t That A Shame”? (♫) or "Flippin’ through the tube to see what’s on’?

“Nowadays that would be a very dumb thing to do. Unless that teacher has tenure, you’re basically asking the school to let you go and hire someone much cheaper in your place. The new, less experienced teacher would have all your classes/exams to watch/read and then mirror your craft.”.I can’t see why they would want to do that.Most classes are already online from major universities along with associated tests. Yet professors are still useful for teaching and extending human knowledge..Further, his tests weren’t ones in which you could just remember if the first five words began one way, the answer would always be C.You had to comprehend to pass, just like with open book tests. There is no reason to have a closed book test for most things because you mainly need to know where to go and where to look and what it means and how to apply it — much like out in the real world

@live2read" he used rhetoric to achieve his narrow, backwards agenda, making us—contrary to his famous 1980 campaign slogan “Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?”—WORSE off than we were under Carter.—-you like the guy; I hate him".Hate him all you want, it won’t hurt him..Some became more prominent because they focused on developing organizations to achieve certain goals. They quickly became disaffected when he didn’t really listen to them. He went his own way..I’m not sure how backwards his agenda was. He looked forward to a nation safe from the threat of all out thermonuclear war. He preached the truth that Communism was headed toward the dust heap of history, that the Berlin Wall was a monument to their failure because they needed it to keep the people captive, that personal freedom and accountability was important..He broke the law and should have been impeached for selling weapons to Iran to finance Contras in Central America, but that was because he was willing to risk it rather than let the Communist imperialists threaten us..His “ Are you better off than you were 4 years ago ?” campaign ploy was based on the Carter device to unseat President Ford by creating a Misery Index, the sum of the inflation rate and the unemployment rate. Using President Carter’s own criteria, he showed President Carter should be put out to pasture. I considered it unfair when first applied but fair when applied to the one who misdeveloped it..A big thing about RWR was that he believed in America, unlike so many others. His confidence covered a multitude of sins..If he had only gotten inflation under control…..

“Miss Degroot has the write stuff, the rest need java”^As long as there’s enough for Mordock….

Are you serious? There’s NEVER enough for him!"Love it!

“Anyone recognize this?”.Yes, it is a comptometer. An adept operator could add columns of numbers up to 9 figures wide in a fraction of the time you would need with a desk calculator.Just don’t ever try to divide by zero- puts them into a perpetual cycle and the only way to reset was to pull the plug!

For once, Luann is doing something right.

It is the physicians who scribble…the pharmacists have to interpret the physicians’ scribbles… ;)

Re: Rotary Calculator. In one of the most prestigious companies that I worked for, they had one under a nice nest of dust. Never thought I’d see one again! As far as I know, no-one ever used it. Must have been from WW II times…hence the dust… ;)

SPOILER ALERT:Gunther DOES NOT get his comeuppance.Maybe in May/April.

Re: illustrator…my husband used to do illustration for IBM… ;)

“Brought to you” by…The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles….. “Creatin’ new ways to kick butt”….

My handwriting is a total wreck, thanks to using computers, tablets and phone. When I look back at old notes from high school, i see that beautiful handwriting and wonder, “what happened?”

BESIDES Miss DeGroot.

Sigh. Another technophobic strip delivered electronically.

In most of my classes I’m the only one with a laptop out and typing instead of writing out long hand. In fact, I have to. I am dyslexic, and use audio software to study. I don’t think this is a realistic depiction of school.

Tiddy boom.

Tiddy boom.

Sometimes I was in the spotlight during class. For good AND bad reasons.

Sometimes I was in the spotlight during class. For good AND bad reasons.

Sometimes I was in the spotlight during class. For good AND bad reasons.