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Phone Rubik Cube Solver Is Pure Genius
- dangrover 18y agoSweet. Looks like the guy used my app PhoneFinger to create the demo video! http://wonderwarp.com/phonefinger http://wonderwarp.com/phonefinger
- jcl 18y agoShould be "iPhone" in the title. (I had visions of an automated answering service: "What is the color of the top of the upper left edge cube? Press 1 for red, 2 for green...")
- Tichy 18y agoFail to see how this is so much more genius than the existing web sites for rubik cube solutions.
- axod 18y agoGood to see someone else not caught up in the hype of a new platform... I guess the only real bonus is that you can use it when not near wifi etc.
- mattmaroon 18y agoI would say the real genius is the ability to do it via the camera rather than inputting 54 squares. Seems a lot easier.
- boredguy8 18y agoNot to pooh-pooh, but when I saw him manually enter the squares, I thought "this is embarrassing, the phone has a camera!" And you have to load the photos, you can't take the photo from inside the app. Maybe a real limit of the iPhone, I don't know...but ultimately it's hardly genius.
- Tichy 18y agoThat's a plus, agreed.
- brandnewlow 18y agoSome pretty slick graphics in that app.
- paul7986 18y agoHuh - use an iPhone app to solve a rubik's cube? Why not just create an iPhone rubik's cube app that uses the accelerometer? I'd prefer an intangible version!
- latortuga 18y agoAnybody else feel a little strange with all the references to "Rubik cube" instead of "Rubik's cube"? I spent Christmas break about two years ago learning to solve a Rubik's cube. It took me about a week of practicing no more than an hour or two a day and I had it down. I've forgotten the last few steps now but I can still solve about 2/3 of the cube pretty easily. This strikes me as one of those moments where I realize that this my Rubik's cube strategy was totally a programmer solution. 1. "Neat puzzle, there's gotta be an algorithm I can apply to solve this." 2. Learn algorithm and gain 10 sexy points while solving it in front of your friends. versus 1. Google for software to solve it for me. or better yet: 1. Take off all the stickers 2. reapply to fit desired pattern or color-coordination
- smanek 18y agoI actually did the same back during my freshmen year of college (although it took me a few weeks - that last layer was tricky). But I don't think you gain sexy points for it ;-) Geek Cred != Sexy, unfortunately.
- Timothee 18y agoThe thing is that, unless you actually come up with a solution yourself, you "cheat" by either learning someone else's solution or by one of your two other solutions. But only the former can really be interesting and something that you can "show off". I'm not judging you though. I did the same thing but practiced on speed instead of the algorithm :) Surprisingly, it does have some sexy points. Recently, I was pushed to solve one during a party and, while I was feeling like a total nerd, people looked sincerely impressed.
- wallflower 18y ago> 1. Take off all the stickers When I was young, I annoyed my alpha sister by creating an unsolvable Rubik's cube (by swapping some stickers around). It was by accident, though, I was simply trying to get one side of the cube to be solid. I still have that cube somewhere.
- jodrellblank 18y agoIt can't be "genius" because I had the same idea independantly a few weeks ago (an iPhone photo-Rubik's-cube-solver). (I was thinking of it taking two photos, each pointing at opposite corners of a cube and encompassing three sides).
- boredguy8 18y agoWhy can't I take a picture from a "corner" and get 3 sides of the cube at once?
- critic 18y agoIf I had thought of such an idea, I would have rejected it on the grounds of practicality: who needs Rubik solvers? Isn't the point of it to solve it yourself? And how popular are Rubik Cubes these days anyhow? Would I have been wrong? Does this app appear to be headed for commercial success?
- tlrobinson 18y agoWho needs a fart simulator? Apparently some of the most successful iPhone apps that are totally frivolous, but fun enough that people show their friends to the point where they become viral.