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How to draw dotted lines on chalkboards, MIT style (2021)

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Re: How to draw dotted lines on chalkboards, MIT style (2021)

#71
post #10
post #6

I have to ask. Why is it "white"-board vs. "chalk"-board? Back in elementary school, I learned to call the former "black"-board.

Regional variation? When I was growing up (in California, in the 1970s and 80s), we called them chalkboards because, you know, you used chalk to write on them. Also, they were often green. Do you call it 'soda' or 'pop'?

Or "tonic" (which was already a somewhat archaic term for soda generally in the Boston area when I was going to school). Boston had a number of those. Frappe was another--which you still see now and then at old-timey ice cream places. (A "milk shake" was just flavored milk.)

Re: How to draw dotted lines on chalkboards, MIT style (2021)

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Is this just because my grade school used cheap low-grade chalk? Most likely yeah. I remember reading here about the fairytale that is Japanese chalk and that US professors were hoarding it. I assume it must feel orgasmic. We didn't have that kind of opulence in Eastern Europe. Chalk and blackboards here sucked ass, including the cleanup process students were responsible for. Schools switched to whiteboards and mark…

Hagoromo does feel pretty nice to write with. It’s thicker and it writes smoother than standard chalk. It also has some sort of coating on the sides so it doesn’t get everywhere. It doesn’t break easily when dropped. It’s good but not hilariously better than decent chalk. I find that because of the coating you have to pick a side that you’re going to write with, and this small amount of mental energy is a small roadb…

As a Hagoromo-using professor: its biggest advantage to me is that it erases much more cleanly, so that after a few passes over the board you can still read the new writing instead of it looking like writing over half-erased writing.

Re: How to draw dotted lines on chalkboards, MIT style (2021)

#73
post #59
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hypersensitivity to the word "black". Comments about "chalkboard" being more accurate should only be accepted if the proponent also uses "penboard".

I think you are projecting your own hypersensitivity into your understanding of the topic. Green chalkboards, like my schools had as a kid, were not black. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackboard points out "Green porcelain enamel surface, was first used in 1930, and as this type of boards became popular, the word "chalkboard" appeared. In the US green porcelain enamelled boards started to appear at schools in 1950s…

Blackboards are not black, they are grey; robin red-breasts do not have red breasts, those are orange; Redheads do not have red hair, they have orange-brown, and so on. So why is it that black is renamed on the grounds of accuracy?

> I think you are projecting your own hypersensitivity

I'm puzzled by this, could you elucidate? I'm with James Brown "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud", I don't see black as a negative, so I don't see why the word should be avoided.

Re: How to draw dotted lines on chalkboards, MIT style (2021)

#74

I still find blackboard + chalk to be a heinous combination. Is this just because my grade school used cheap low-grade chalk? I do have a weird physiological reaction to 'fffffffff' friction sounds. A hard cheap pencil against cheap paper, making a similar raspy sound as chalk-on-blackboard, with cause me to reflexively (and uncontrollably) suck my lips in tight, as if protecting my teeth from the vibrations. Back in…

Good chalk on a good board should sound like a light hiss, not a lot of 'ffffff'.

Re: How to draw dotted lines on chalkboards, MIT style (2021)

#76
post #32

Check out explanation by Walter Lewin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhawwXcQsUs

I was surprised there was no mention of him in the text. There's more of him on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=walter+lewin+do...

Re: How to draw dotted lines on chalkboards, MIT style (2021)

#77
post #13
post #6

I have to ask. Why is it "white"-board vs. "chalk"-board? Back in elementary school, I learned to call the former "black"-board.

To me at least, the different types are easy to understand. White-board - the color of the board is white, it is used for dry erase markers. Black-board - the color of the board is black, it is used with chalk. Chalk-board - the color of the board doesn't matter, it likely uses chalk to write with and is therefore a "blackboard" as well.

Chalkboards are green, it just happens that the name also encompasses blackboards.

Re: How to draw dotted lines on chalkboards, MIT style (2021)

#78
post #58
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All Hagoromo chalks are well coated to prevent hands from coming into contact with chalk dust when using. Never have to worry about stained, dusty hands when using chalk ever again You mean not having messy hands after writing on a blackboard is a thing ? You mean my whole life was a lie?

FWIW, there are such things as chalk holders, also called chalk chucks. (As a tongue-twister, do you now have chalk chuck shock? :)

I vaguely remember some pieces of chalk in my school having paper wrappers on them. Those were a bit less messy.

Re: How to draw dotted lines on chalkboards, MIT style (2021)

#79
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regional variation? When I was growing up (in California, in the 1970s and 80s), we called them chalkboards because, you know, you used chalk to write on them. Also, they were often green. Do you call it 'soda' or 'pop'?

'Obesity juice'

"Fat-free"

Re: How to draw dotted lines on chalkboards, MIT style (2021)

#80

I still find blackboard + chalk to be a heinous combination. Is this just because my grade school used cheap low-grade chalk? I do have a weird physiological reaction to 'fffffffff' friction sounds. A hard cheap pencil against cheap paper, making a similar raspy sound as chalk-on-blackboard, with cause me to reflexively (and uncontrollably) suck my lips in tight, as if protecting my teeth from the vibrations. Back in…

In primary school I couldn't win; blunt pencils were a bad time, and trying to sharpen my pencil would lead to the tip breaking pretty soon after. Pens also get to me sometimes, I have one which is really nice to use and it puts out a lot of ink, but I'm not sure if that's it.
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