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Geek Culture / I love Rubik's Cubes.

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Happy Cheesecake
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Posted: 27th Feb 2014 23:48 Edited at: 27th Feb 2014 23:52
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Hi, my name is Happy Cheesecake and I am addicted to twisty puzzles.



Lately I've been getting this itch to buy new puzzles and learn how to solve them. It started with a normal 3x3 Rubik's Cube where solving it was a challenge. But then after solving it so often, I started to focus on times. Managed to cut my times down to two minutes or so with the simple beginners method of solving the cube, and started to look into advanced methods. Still learning and I've cut my times down to an average of 24 seconds with my best time being 18 something odd seconds. Really not too fast if you consider the true veteran hobbyists, but I'm proud of it. Eventually I started to branch out and buy a bunch more and now I'm sitting at 11 cubes and I can solve them all. You hardly see me in public without a puzzle of some kind in my hand.

Any other cubers at TGC? I imagine a geektopia such as this would have one or two who can solve, maybe even competitively. Cubing is a great stimulus and I'd consider it the equivalent of something like crosswords or sudoku puzzles concerning how addicting it is.

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easter bunny
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Posted: 28th Feb 2014 00:26
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ummmm, I managed to get the first line done, once


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xCept
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Posted: 28th Feb 2014 00:58
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Somewhere I have a box full of these more obscure twist puzzles... One is a pyramid, another a sphere, can't recall the rest but I know I had at least a dozen of them. I was never very good at them, only being able to solve the regular 3x3 cube.

But I'm still trying to wrap my head around what idiot at Rubik decided to come out with this laughable product...



"Hey, I know what will make a Rubik's cube more fun. Let's take away the entire puzzle aspect and make it a fixed non-rotatable cube with buttons in the center that users can press when they light up."

That still bothers me that they would release something so dumb.
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Jeku
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Posted: 28th Feb 2014 04:50
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I too have an addiction to the Cubes! I have about 10 of them with various designs, but they're all 3x3x3. I've been solving them for about 10 years, but I'm not fast... about 2 minutes on average. It's slow but I'm not trying to break any records or anythings!

At one point in my life I tried to learn how to solve them blindfolded, but gave up!


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Dark Java Dude 64
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Posted: 28th Feb 2014 05:47
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Quote: "At one point in my life I tried to learn how to solve them blindfolded, but gave up!"
I wonder if one could put grips or surfaces of varying texture on the different colors of squares, so that solving the cube blindfolded would be possible.

Well looky here, a braille Rubik's Cube:



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easter bunny
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Posted: 28th Feb 2014 06:31 Edited at: 28th Feb 2014 06:36
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Wow haha, I'd hate to try and solve that! I wonder what the record it?


Vids:





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Van B
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Posted: 28th Feb 2014 10:23
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I like them, but I've never actually solved one... I remember when they first came out, they were like the first ever killer app, before apps were even a thing

I have your perfect bathroom floor, Rubiks fans... how awesome would this be!



I am the one who knocks...
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Happy Cheesecake
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Posted: 28th Feb 2014 15:30
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@Jeku

Blindfolded solves is definitely something I've looked into before, but like you, I gave up after seeing how difficult the methods were. You should try some higher order cubes! I ordered my 4x4 for $11.

For anyone that is interested but doesn't know how to solve a cube, really it isn't so difficult after a quick Google search. Just a little motivation goes a long way, for it is all memorization.

The great thing about it is cubing is a cheap hobby. The most expensive cube I've bought was $14, and that was the 2x2x2.
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Phaelax
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Posted: 28th Feb 2014 16:15
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Quote: "but I'm not fast... about 2 minutes on average"


Since there's plenty of us who can't even solved the thing, screw your slow 2 minutes!

Will Smith can solve it (actually there's several clips where he solves it other shows too)


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Nickydude
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Posted: 28th Feb 2014 18:34
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Is there an 'official' mix that the cube must be set to before being solved? Otherwise wouldn't it depend on how mixed the colours are on how fast you can solve it?

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Jeku
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Posted: 1st Mar 2014 00:32 Edited at: 1st Mar 2014 00:33
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Yes in competitions they're mixed up with X numbers of random twists as far as I know... no more and no less. Interesting!

They get each contestant to solve it 10 times and remove the fastest and slowest times, then average out the other 8 to get a base time.


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Phaelax
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Posted: 1st Mar 2014 05:58
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Supposedly, the human record for solving the rubik's cube is 5.66 seconds, but the roboto CubeStormer II did it in 5.35 seconds. I don't see how it's possible to do this in 5 seconds. Any any cube can be solved in 20 moves.

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Thraxas
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Posted: 1st Mar 2014 10:42
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I used to pull all the stickers off and then stick them back on in the right place. That's the only way a cube I have owned has been 'solved'.

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easter bunny
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Posted: 3rd Mar 2014 06:59 Edited at: 3rd Mar 2014 06:59
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I buy one then never mix it up so I can show them off and it looks like I finished it


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Kezzla
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Posted: 3rd Mar 2014 08:31
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Quote: "I used to pull all the stickers off and then stick them back on in the right place. That's the only way a cube I have owned has been 'solved'."


I broke mine apart and reassembled. still took me more than 5 secs.

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Van B
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Posted: 3rd Mar 2014 14:21
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Or mix them up in a set sequence, so you can un-mix it really quickly, so it looks like you solved it super-quick

I remember my dad when they first came out in the UK - spent a week trying to solve it then discovered how to break them apart, that was as good as a solution to him.

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Happy Cheesecake
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Posted: 3rd Mar 2014 15:43
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It's so funny, cause a few of my buddies know how to solve cubes along with me and we always tend to hear the same sort of comments from people no matter what, like some sort of natural law. It's such a funny observation to me, but they'll always say "I just peel the stickers off" or "I just took it apart and put it back together."

Obviously I don't think any less of people when I hear something like that (cause I did it myself when I was younger), but it still gives my buddies and I an ironic chuckle whenever it inevitably happens.

People always get kicks out of performing the same sequence of moves over and over and eventually the cube will go back into a solved position. They're amazed, but what they don't realize is that any sequence of moves is just a rotation of the pieces involved. Eventually every repeated sequence no matter how complex will return to its original state because it's just a cycle. Err, I think so anyway.
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BiggAdd
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Posted: 3rd Mar 2014 22:34 Edited at: 3rd Mar 2014 22:39
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Quote: "Is there an 'official' mix that the cube must be set to before being solved? Otherwise wouldn't it depend on how mixed the colours are on how fast you can solve it?"


For some reason Nickydude, I read this as:
"Is there an official amount of time you have to let a Rubik's cube rest after it has been mixed, before it should be solved?"

My brain was like: "Nickydude, what on Earth is going through your mind right now?"

And then I realized I was the insane one.
Still, I like the idea of giving a Rubik's cube time to rest after its been mixed up. Like somehow it needs time to settle into its new configuration.

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Jeku
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Posted: 5th Mar 2014 08:01 Edited at: 5th Mar 2014 08:02
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I was fairly insane about these cubes back in the day. I even put Vaseline in mine to make it turn faster, because when you first get them they're kinda stiff.

My very first cube was so worn out it literally popped open and "exploded" in my hands. I think it was wound up something awful and I was turning it too fast without realizing.. the elasticated insides just popped out and the whole thing popped out of my hands into pieces on the ground.

EDIT:

Anyone here remember my old forum avatar?



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Seditious
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Posted: 5th Mar 2014 08:38 Edited at: 5th Mar 2014 08:40
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Quote: "I even put Vaseline in mine to make it turn faster, because when you first get them they're kinda stiff."


Gross.

Quote: "it literally popped open and "exploded" in my hands."


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Happy Cheesecake
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Posted: 5th Mar 2014 22:16
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@Jeku

I've since upgraded from Vaseline to good old fashioned high viscosity weighted lubricant made especially for cubing.

Sounds fancy, but it's almost exactly like Vaseline. If I wasn't such a nutter I'd probably just stick with Vaseline for my twisty purposes.

I don't bother lubricating anything that isn't a 3x3x3 since it is the only type that I go for times. The rest of my cubes I'll slap on some Vaseline if I feel like it isn't turning comfortably enough.

Onlookers can call me insane, but I'd say it's like changing the strings on a guitar or the tip on a soldering iron on how important lubricating your cube is.
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Jeku
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Posted: 6th Mar 2014 07:02
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Yah, everyone always thinks putting Vaseline on the cube is gross, but it's actually quite handy!

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Dark Java Dude 64
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Posted: 6th Mar 2014 07:13
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Lube that cube.

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Nickydude
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Posted: 13th Mar 2014 17:12
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BigAdd wrote: "For some reason Nickydude, I read this as:
"Is there an official amount of time you have to let a Rubik's cube rest after it has been mixed, before it should be solved?"

My brain was like: "Nickydude, what on Earth is going through your mind right now?"

And then I realized I was the insane one.
Still, I like the idea of giving a Rubik's cube time to rest after its been mixed up. Like somehow it needs time to settle into its new configuration"


Guess this would depend on how fast it's been mixed, gotta let the plastic cool down a little first... lol!

I reject your reality and substitute my own...
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Green Gandalf
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Posted: 15th Mar 2014 11:43
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Quote: "I used to pull all the stickers off and then stick them back on in the right place. That's the only way a cube I have owned has been 'solved'."


That's what my son did many moons ago - but he lost one of the stickers in the process and somehow the magic of the cube got lost with it.



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Happy Cheesecake
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Posted: 19th May 2014 20:28 Edited at: 19th May 2014 20:30
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Hey, just a bump to say that it's the 40th anniversary of the invention of the Rubik's Cube today!

Google actually commemorated the event by publishing a fully functioning Rubik's Cube. Check it out here or just go to google today and click on the cube.

Here's the screen it gives you should you solve it.

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Chris Tate
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Posted: 20th May 2014 16:37
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I like watching other people play. Never solved one, but what I can achieve with one is frustration.

Had an interesting subway (underground) experience on a train where a lady was solving her Rubix cube, quite interesting to see 50 or so people with their eyes watching her play; not quite the same kind of experience if she were playing a mobile video game.

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TheComet
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Posted: 20th May 2014 16:42 Edited at: 20th May 2014 16:43
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I can solve a 3x3x3 in about a minute, and a 4x4x4 in more than a few minutes.

I'm currently learning how to solve a 2x2x4. Really ugly thing, but the algorithms seem to be similar to a 2x2x2.



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