The Rubik's Cube

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Does anyone here own a Rubik’s Cube and still play with it? I picked mine up a while ago, learned to solve it, and now I am constantly messing around with it; especially these last few days, because I caught a pretty bad cold over the weekend and have been at home pretty much the entire time.

I feel like a total geek for always playing with it, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t feel good to solve it, again and again. :dopey:

Wiki Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik's_cube
 
I had one when I was a kid. I couldn't solve it, so I used to peel the sitckers off and stick them back on to make it look like I solved it. Eventually the stickers lost their stick and I had a black cube
 
My friend, Teddy, (Yes, he's a person, not a stuffed bear.) has memorized the formula to solve it. I tried to, but I couldn't figure it out.
 
I stuck a flathead screwdriver in the blocks and popped them apart. Then, reassembled them solved.

I still have my original RC from the early 80's. I also still have the original key chain version, too.
 
I've got a 2x2x2 pocket cube that's a cinch to solve.

I have a 3x3x3 that I'll sometimes bother myself with while watching TV. I used to have a very simple method for solving it memorized (solve corners, edges, then midges) that a math teacher in highschool taught me... it took a lot of moves to accomplish, but there weren't many patterns or sequences to remember. Despite that, I've since forgotten it.
 
I was actually just playing with one the other day and I almost had one side figured out. Problem is, I'm not good at it at all...
 
I had one. It is broken. It came in contact with a wall :guilty:.

I didn't know you could still buy these things!?
 
Pretty sure it's alive and kicking Kikie :dopey:

2007RWC.jpg


As for me... it's probably collecting dust in the attic :guilty:

I'm sure I also did one of the above, I might have figured it out once but I can't remember.
 
I have an original Rubik's cube and used to have a couple of mini key-ring sized ones. I only ever completed it once, and that was pretty much by mistake. I could usually manage 2 or 3 sides, but that was my limit! There's a great song by Australian group The Lucksmiths called "Under The Rotunda" which has a lyric about not being able to do the Rubik's cube (which I can sympathize with greatly!): "I relied on blind faith and dumb luck/But eventually the stickers came unstuck"..

kikie
I had one. It is broken. It came in contact with a wall :guilty:.
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:lol: At high speed no doubt!
 
kikie
I had one. It is broken. It came in contact with a wall :guilty:.
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Funny - Same thing seemed to happen to mine - Weird gravitational mishaps no doubt....

We have one in chromed steel now, used strictly as decoration - It's a dog to keep shiny though :-| (Plus it weighs close to a metric ton)
 
Do you think that Ernő Rubik became very rich with his invention?

I remember I had a piece of paper with the solution on it. Turn it this way 4 times then the other way 3 times and so on. I never had the chance to try it out. Remember that wall? Well it messed up all my futur attempts.

I bet Famine had/has one and solved within 5 minutes.
 
Perfect Balance
Eventually the stickers lost their stick and I had a black cube
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At least that made it easier to solve :D

I got my hands on a new one last year, with the solution packaged with the cube. I solved it using the prescribed solution, but don't really have a clue what I was doing except following a bunch of fixed instructions. It was a bit like following directions to someone's house. "Turn right at the roundabout, then second left. If you see the Bull and Horseradish pub, take the next left." etc.

I had a Rubiks type puzzle that wasn't cube shaped when I was a kid. Had a lot of trouble solving that one. It was square when viewed in plan, but octagonal when viewed in elevation.
 
I never had a Cube, but for a while (until one of my mom's friends broke it :grumpy:) I had a Rubik's Magic Puzzle.

180px-Rubiksmagic.jpg
180px-Rubiksmagic_solved.jpg


I loved that damn thing. I got it down to around 20 seconds to solve. Obviously it wasn't nearly as difficult as the Cube.
 
That solution was so easy, and it ruined the whole thing for me. I had two because I 'broke' one and got a replacement (free, I think) but didn't have to give the old one back, and we managed to get it untangled again. But if there's one thing more dull than a Rubik's Magic, it's two Rubik's Magics...
 
I spent the most part of my free time between the age of 10 and 13 doing not much besides the rubik's cube. Never bothered to look at the books or sheets. Here in Japan it is experiencing a resurgence. I see television shows where 9 year old kids solve it in less than 20 seconds.

A japanese company has even built a robot than can do it in under 30 seconds, IIRC.
 
Haha, this was great fun back then. Its easier when you pealed the sticker and paste it back together. :lol: But i don't play the rubik's cube, i played the Rubik's Triamid. 👍 (i think it was the pyramid type) was easier to play with than the cube, and easier to solve as well. :dopey:
 
Wikipedia
The world record for the Rubik's Magic was set in 2003 by Jaap Scherphuis in 3.06 seconds. It was broken by Stefan Pochmann at the 2004 European Championships in 1.49 seconds. Pochmann's record was beaten by Bob Burton in 1.28 seconds at a tournament in Dallas in 2005, but reclaimed two months later by a 1.23 second solve. Quinn Lewis broke that record at the 2005 World Championships in 1.14 seconds. Craig Bouchard then broke it at the United States National Championships in 2006 with a time of 1.07 seconds. The current record is now 0.86 seconds set by Mátyás Kuti of Hungary at the 2007 Belgian Open.
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:eek:
 
My awesome Swedish science teacher showed me how to solve it. He was a substitute teacher so the class was a breeze and we always had tons of extra time. It was mostly the pot heads in the class who showed me how to do it though, we even had our times posted on the board.

I still play with it from time to time. For the most part I'll bring it along just to impress people or piss them off :P

You don't know how many times ive heard the "I'd just peal the stickers of blah blah blah..." It pisses me off beyond belief whenever anybody says it, especially when they look like they're trying to get a laugh out of me :grumpy:

EDIT: I also find it very amusing when people think that if they mix it up just right i won't be able to solve it. It doesn't work that way :lol:.
 

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