Older cubers discussions

[MarcelP]

Great, maybe Marcel could also try again Roux if he is bored of CFOP

I just did two solves.. 1) 27.04 2) 54.78 LOL.. Roux does not come natural to me.. I like Roux a lot. I might switch again. I was sub 30 in 3 months about a year ago. I think I will be around 35 secs now. The problem is I hardly do not practise at all. I recieved the MoFang Ge Square-1. It is on my bucket list t learn that also.. I want to get into BLD etc etc LOL..

 

[JanW]

I got inspired yesterday and made myself a little tool for training 3-cycles.



Start with a solved cube, the software gives the letterpair for a random 3-cycle and starts a timer. Solve the cycle with any method of your choice and hit spacebar to stop timer. The software will show your time and update the cube to show what it should look like if the cycle was solved correctly. For the next cycle continue from that state of the cube (or reset if 3-cycle was badly screwed up). It should work for OP and M2 solvers as well.

Is there some similar software already out there, or should I continue making this a bit more customizable and share it?

So far I've added the option to select any stickers as buffers, but if I want to share this, it should also allow for different letter schemes. Speffz is the most common, right? Are there any other standard letter schemes that I should put in there as default options? Then there should probably also be some option for making and saving custom letter schemes and it should support different cube rotations (not that it matters much as you are supposed to solve blind anyway). I've already thought of a ton of other things I could put in there to improve it, but it might take some time. Anything specific you can think of that would enhance a software like this?

When I first tried this out, I was totally surprised by how fast I was, but then I realized that the VB timer is useless and ticks too slowly. Now it uses the system clock for timing and my times are not that flattering anymore.

 

[Jason Green]

I got inspired yesterday and made myself a little tool for training 3-cycles.

View attachment 5689

Start with a solved cube, the software gives the letterpair for a random 3-cycle and starts a timer. Solve the cycle with any method of your choice and hit spacebar to stop timer. The software will show your time and update the cube to show what it should look like if the cycle was solved correctly. For the next cycle continue from that state of the cube (or reset if 3-cycle was badly screwed up). It should work for OP and M2 solvers as well.

Is there some similar software already out there, or should I continue making this a bit more customizable and share it?

So far I've added the option to select any stickers as buffers, but if I want to share this, it should also allow for different letter schemes. Speffz is the most common, right? Are there any other standard letter schemes that I should put in there as default options? Then there should probably also be some option for making and saving custom letter schemes and it should support different cube rotations (not that it matters much as you are supposed to solve blind anyway). I've already thought of a ton of other things I could put in there to improve it, but it might take some time. Anything specific you can think of that would enhance a software like this?

When I first tried this out, I was totally surprised by how fast I was, but then I realized that the VB timer is useless and ticks too slowly. Now it uses the system clock for timing and my times are not that flattering anymore.

I love .NET, have you done any C#? That's what most of my career has been.

 

[JanW]

I love .NET, have you done any C#? That's what most of my career has been.

Last time I wrote code was about 15 years ago, that was mainly Java. This was my first experience with Visual Studio, and I think I've run into a small problem... I lost all the code!!! I changed the directory of the build output and built a release version. Then I noticed it was still wrong location so I deleted that directory and when I opened up visual studio again, it can't find my .vb file, which it is looking for in the build directory which was deleted. Apparently I must have used shift+del to delete the directory, because there is nothing in my recycle bin. I ran file recovery software which could find some of the deleted files, but no .vb file. Visual Studio backup files folder is empty, because someone has apparently thought it's a good idea to delete all those whenever a project is saved.

I still have a working executable in the project/bin folder and the project folder also has all kinds of other files, like .snl, .vbproj, .pdb, applicationdesigner.vb and such, but the main .vb file is nowhere to be found. No idea what to do now. I tried some decompilers on the exe, they can get the basic structure of the code, but apparently not the code itself. I could rewrite the whole thing, should be faster than the first time around as all the thinking is done (and also no need to constantly refer to youtube tutorials anymore). But still, that thought is not very tempting right now.

 

[Jason Green]

That stinks! I don't know why the file would be in the build directory, but who knows with VB. yeah you might try .NET Reflector to decompile the code, but I'm not sure how readable it will be. I've only used it for play a couple times.

I'm technically a software manager now, but I still code about 25% of the time.

 

[newtonbase]

2 cubes in one breath puts me within 1000% of the UWR which is my usual target.

 

[JanW]

That stinks! I don't know why the file would be in the build directory, but who knows with VB. yeah you might try .NET Reflector to decompile the code, but I'm not sure how readable it will be. I've only used it for play a couple times.

Yeah, something strange is going on. I tried replicating this with a test project, but couldn't. There is an option to copy .vb file to build directory (which I hadn't checked to my knowledge), but even with that checked it still leaves a copy in the original project folder. All I know is that the .vb file does not exist anywhere on my hard drive and the file recovery software, which found thousands of files deleted within the last year, could not find any trace of those files either. It's like the files were never deleted, but vanished in some other way.

I'm technically a software manager now, but I still code about 25% of the time.

Coding is kind of fun. And apparently a bit like riding a bike. Even after 15 years it was surprisingly fast to get the hang of it.

 

[Jason Green]

Is it possible you never saved it? I don't think, I'm probably proving that I'm a manager here. [emoji14] I think there is an ability to create a temp project without actually saving it, but can't remember if you can build it even.

I said after 2 years of C++ going to .NET was a negative learning curve. The libraries are so robust and easy you can pretty much guess what class you need to do most stuff (I guess good naming helps too).

Edit: I was right!
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/zfzh36t7.aspx

 

[JanW]

Haha, nope, not possible. Did most of it yesterday, turned off computer for the night and continued today. And throughout the day I had VS shut down several times and reloaded when I opened again. I don't remember exactly what I did just before it disappeared. I did try to rename the project, which wasn't as simple as in most other programs... Maybe I somehow accidentally found the secret self-destruct button.

 

[EvilGnome6]

I got a 2:13.84 on 5x5 in this week's Sunday Single attempt. It's a hair better than last time. I'm looking forward to the day I post my first sub-2 5x5 on this series. I know I can do it. I just need to eliminate a few of those pauses while searching for pieces and I'm there.

Cube used was a YuXin 5x5 which I have made my new main.

 

[Jason Green]

My first resticker - Gans 356

My boys and I resickered my Gans 356 today. It turned out pretty nice.

The original stickers on the Gans seemed easier to tear than they should have. The stickers today are just the second set it came with, so I do not know if they will be similar. Are the stickers you can buy from the cubicle a lot better? The first set was strange, it was like the first day I was using it they felt very rough and pokey edges. The new ones seem better so far.

 

[EvilGnome6]

The original stickers on the Gans seemed easier to tear than they should have. The stickers today are just the second set it came with, so I do not know if they will be similar. Are the stickers you can buy from the cubicle a lot better? The first set was strange, it was like the first day I was using it they felt very rough and pokey edges. The new ones seem better so far.

TheCubicle stickers are nice but the fluro colors are more durable than the standard ones. The standard red and white tend to get beat up pretty quick.

Sticker removal tip: If you have a guitar pick and a nail file, you can hone the tip of the pick with the file. Just sharpen it like a knife blade at the angle you would use to scrape off the stickers. It makes an excellent sticker peeler and won't mar the cube.

 

[Jason Green]

TheCubicle stickers are nice but the fluro colors are more durable than the standard ones. The standard red and white tend to get beat up pretty quick.

Sticker removal tip: If you have a guitar pick and a nail file, you can hone the tip of the pick with the file. Just sharpen it like a knife blade at the angle you would use to scrape off the stickers. It makes an excellent sticker peeler and won't mar the cube.

Thanks, yeah after doing this I felt dumb for not getting some kind of plastic. Thankfully I didn't jack it up too bad.

 

[MarcelP]

My boys and I resickered my Gans 356 today. It turned out pretty nice.

The original stickers on the Gans seemed easier to tear than they should have. The stickers today are just the second set it came with, so I do not know if they will be similar. Are the stickers you can buy from the cubicle a lot better? The first set was strange, it was like the first day I was using it they felt very rough and pokey edges. The new ones seem better so far.

I loved the out-tro of your little boy

I order my stickers from thecublice.us. They are very robust. My Gans has had them for many thousand solves and they still have not chipped. Also the shades that I use http://thecubicle.us/stickers_user.php?cid=5664 are way cooler I have this plastic razorblade from Cubicle (they sell for 0.50 dollar of so). It is a breeze to take the stickers of with that.

 

[Jason Green]

I loved the out-tro of your little boy

I order my stickers from thecublice.us. They are very robust. My Gans has had them for many thousand solves and they still have not chipped. Also the shades that I use http://thecubicle.us/stickers_user.php?cid=5664 are way cooler I have this plastic razorblade from Cubicle (they sell for 0.50 dollar of so). It is a breeze to take the stickers of with that.

Thanks I'll tell him. He likes to watch toy videos on YouTube, and I'll here him do the "thanks for watching please subscribe" when he's just playing.

I was hoping you would answer about the stickers... I may have to order your colors and try them out. I think we have similar cube tastes (based mainly on I love my Gans)! My new ones feel a lot better still after a couple hundred solves today, but I already notice one or two tiny edge tears.

 

[mafergut]

I loved the out-tro of your little boy

I order my stickers from thecublice.us. They are very robust. My Gans has had them for many thousand solves and they still have not chipped. Also the shades that I use http://thecubicle.us/stickers_user.php?cid=5664 are way cooler I have this plastic razorblade from Cubicle (they sell for 0.50 dollar of so). It is a breeze to take the stickers of with that.

It's almost fluro-everything. You're only missing fluro-blue, which is a bit light for my taste. The only difference with my scheme is that I use regular red and it chips A LOT! Maybe I'll use fluro red next time.

My boys and I resickered my Gans 356 today. It turned out pretty nice.

The original stickers on the Gans seemed easier to tear than they should have. The stickers today are just the second set it came with, so I do not know if they will be similar. Are the stickers you can buy from the cubicle a lot better? The first set was strange, it was like the first day I was using it they felt very rough and pokey edges. The new ones seem better so far.

For this to be your 1st ever re-sticker you have done a great job. Did you find it easy to use application tape? I always put the stickers one by one with a cutter or knife because I'm worried I will put the whole side incorrectly misaligned with the tape but it looks like yours were very nicely aligned.

 

[muchacho]

For sticker removal (and applying) I use this:

It's a broken plastic propeller, it's ergonomic and costs nothing, I would just need to crash my tricopter once more to make more of these, and that's easy

 

[muchacho]

And my nails also work just fine to remove stickers, that's because they are usually a bit long (and that's the reason my stickers are already not in good shape). Mines are worst than the ones you have just replaced, and I won't change them until they are way way worst than that (or I'll go broke buying stickers), I should start to cut my nails more frequently.

Great out-tro haha

 

[mafergut]

For sticker removal (and applying) I use this:

http://im0.org/al/sticker-peeler-applier.jpg

It's a broken plastic propeller, it's ergonomic and costs nothing, I would just need to crash my tricopter once more to make more of these, and that's easy

I just bought a plastic razor blade from The Cubicle for $0.50, much cheaper than crashing my R/C heli.

 

[muchacho]

Never broken a prop?