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Anybody 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 s

Anybody 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 ago
I 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 ago
The 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.

smanek 18y ago

I 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 ago

The 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.