Older cubers discussions

[newtonbase]

Thanks again for all your help. I got a near-success today writing down targets and executing under the table. All my corners were correct, as were 2 of my M-slice targets, plus a flipped buffer. 3 total edges out of place and 3 flipped in place. I'm not sure if it was a matter of "memorizing" the wrong letters or of executing the wrong targets. It'll be a while before I'm any good, but I really appreciate the help and I'm moving the right direction.

Well done on the progress. As @Jason Green says, retry the scramble if you have it. If you can't work out what went wrong then we could have a look at it. Message my inbox if you don't want to clog up the thread with it.

 

[h2f]

Did I come into the blindfold discussion thread? I feel so out of place. Of course I don't have anything constructive to say. I still cube though.

I got MF7S. Guess what I'm thinking now?

 

[mark49152]

Yes. CE is 11 moves in M2. ID is an easy 8 move comm.
But also, OE is easier than OD. I'd do OD with M2 in 18 but OE is a setup to a 7 move comm (9 moves total). I could get OD down to 10 but not in a timed solve.

Trouble is, if you spend those few seconds thinking about it during memo, you cancel out any advantage of nicer comms later .

 

[mafergut]

Yeah, this BLD virus is highly contagious

I am resisting myself only because I don't have that much time to cube any more...
Anyway I wanted to say hi again to all my friends here, I don't want you to forget about me yet

After some months without practising and a summer where I had time to practise again but I devoted that time mainly to skewb this week I did, for the first time in months, a couple Ao50s. First one with GTS2 was bad, around mid 19s and I thought I was rusty but then yesterday I did another one with my GTS2M and got a 17,84 just 0.05 slower than my PB Ao50 and with only 3 solves over 20 seconds. Conclusion: I need magnets Taking into account that one or two magnets became loose at the beginning of the average and during some solves they were making distracting noises (but not affecting much the performance of the cube) that was a great average for me. Now I'll have to disassemble the cube, locate the rogue magnets and glue them... and I hate that. I would have been better off paying extra for a cubicle labs one

Now thinking about maybe getting a Yuexiao Pro M. And maybe a WuXia M 2x2 too.

Oh, and my son, who started practising again a couple weeks ago, after a long time since I taught him CFOP, is now averaging sub-50 with 4-look LL and finishing the 1st PLL at sub-40 many times. Gotta convince him to finish learning all the PLLs.

 

[newtonbase]

Trouble is, if you spend those few seconds thinking about it during memo, you cancel out any advantage of nicer comms later .

Agreed. I'd certainly not look ahead to the ID pair in a real solve but I should really be choosing E after O.

 

[mark49152]

Agreed. I'd certainly not look ahead to the ID pair in a real solve but I should really be choosing E after O.

For what it's worth, I'd have chosen D too, as it's a good default choice to start a new cycle. In execution I'd have done U to set OD up to OA. In an untimed solve I'd have then done U' to set CE up to BI/BS but in a timed solve I still sometimes hesitate to set up to I/S positions so I'd probably just have done vanilla M2.

 

[newtonbase]

For what it's worth, I'd have chosen D too, as it's a good default choice to start a new cycle. In execution I'd have done U to set OD up to OA. In an untimed solve I'd have then done U' to set CE up to BI/BS but in a timed solve I still sometimes hesitate to set up to I/S positions so I'd probably just have done vanilla M2.

I like EO as it sets up nicely to EM which is a favourite comm but setting up D to A is always a good option.
There are so many good options in advanced M2. Most of which I learned from your thread. There's hardly a post on there that doesn't offer something valuable.

 

[mark49152]

I like EO as it sets up nicely to EM which is a favourite comm but setting up D to A is always a good option.
There are so many good options in advanced M2. Most of which I learned from your thread. There's hardly a post on there that doesn't offer something valuable.

What do you do for EM? M U' M U2 M' U' M'?

 

[Jason Green]

Yeah, this BLD virus is highly contagious

I am resisting myself only because I don't have that much time to cube any more...
Anyway I wanted to say hi again to all my friends here, I don't want you to forget about me yet

After some months without practising and a summer where I had time to practise again but I devoted that time mainly to skewb this week I did, for the first time in months, a couple Ao50s. First one with GTS2 was bad, around mid 19s and I thought I was rusty but then yesterday I did another one with my GTS2M and got a 17,84 just 0.05 slower than my PB Ao50 and with only 3 solves over 20 seconds. Conclusion: I need magnets Taking into account that one or two magnets became loose at the beginning of the average and during some solves they were making distracting noises (but not affecting much the performance of the cube) that was a great average for me. Now I'll have to disassemble the cube, locate the rogue magnets and glue them... and I hate that. I would have been better off paying extra for a cubicle labs one

Now thinking about maybe getting a Yuexiao Pro M. And maybe a WuXia M 2x2 too.

Oh, and my son, who started practising again a couple weeks ago, after a long time since I taught him CFOP, is now averaging sub-50 with 4-look LL and finishing the 1st PLL at sub-40 many times. Gotta convince him to finish learning all the PLLs.

My Valk M is a cubicle labs and it has had magnets come out twice. It was pretty early in the offering so maybe they've improved their technique, I still love it anyway.

 

[newtonbase]

What do you do for EM? M U' M U2 M' U' M'?

Yes, and if it's HN switch the first move for x' and last for x. I'm working on a version for GO but it's not in the muscle memory yet.

 

[pglewis]

Thanks again for all your help. I got a near-success today writing down targets and executing under the table. All my corners were correct, as were 2 of my M-slice targets, plus a flipped buffer. 3 total edges out of place and 3 flipped in place. I'm not sure if it was a matter of "memorizing" the wrong letters or of executing the wrong targets. It'll be a while before I'm any good, but I really appreciate the help and I'm moving the right direction.

If anything in your execution feels iffy then be sure to put focus on sighted execution practice. I think it's a lot easier to work on the memo side when you're confident that careful execution is a given. I've had to go back several times and dedicate a day or three to sighted execution practice.

Conclusion: I need magnets Taking into account that one or two magnets became loose at the beginning of the average and during some solves they were making distracting noises (but not affecting much the performance of the cube) that was a great average for me. Now I'll have to disassemble the cube, locate the rogue magnets and glue them... and I hate that. I would have been better off paying extra for a cubicle labs one

FWIW, I have two standard GTS2-Ms and neither have had a magnet come loose yet, though I'm sure I'll be reaching for the glue eventually. I've even dropped my main a handful of times-- watching helplessly in slow-motion horror-- and both have had hours upon hours of repeated normal shock from being dropped on the mat to stop the stackmat. I also seem to have some of that subconscious tick of tapping my cube on the mat in blind solves while thinking. I keep expecting to shake one and hear a rattle and haven't yet.

Despite the eventual maintenance of loose magnets and stiffer slices than I'd like, I really don't think I can go back after going magnetic. I think I'd prefer slightly weaker magnets than what they use in the GTS2-M but that's about the only thing I could think to change, other than some black magic that could solve the slice-resistance dilemma.

 

[mark49152]

Yes, and if it's HN switch the first move for x' and last for x. I'm working on a version for GO but it's not in the muscle memory yet.

I see. I use that sometimes but am not really comfortable with L2 or R2 setups to it, although can't explain exactly why. Grip and fingering just feel clumsy. These days I'm more likely to set up to FU. Like for EO, I'd do [U': [M', U' R2 U]] which is 9 moves with cancellation and works for bigBLD wings too.

 

[mark49152]

Here's my MBLD from last weekend along with post mortem. The second mistake was with an R2 setup similar to that mentioned in my last post. I'm even less comfortable with those now .

 

[pglewis]

Here's my MBLD from last weekend along with post mortem. The second mistake was with an R2 setup similar to that mentioned in my last post. I'm even less comfortable with those now .

That toppled can!

That could have been disastrous, unsealed drinks probably shouldn't be on solving tables.

 

[mark49152]

That toppled can!

That could have been disastrous, unsealed drinks probably shouldn't be on solving tables.

Imagine the shock of picking up cubes to execute, and finding them unexpectedly wet and sticky .

 

[Jason Green]

These days I'm more likely to set up to FU.

Rude...

Haha couldn't resist I don't know why. I'm not even drinking.

Edit: BTW great job on the video again, I love the way you edit them. Watching that makes me feel like a non cuber would feel about me being able to do a single blind.

 

[newtonbase]

I see. I use that sometimes but am not really comfortable with L2 or R2 setups to it, although can't explain exactly why. Grip and fingering just feel clumsy. These days I'm more likely to set up to FU. Like for EO, I'd do [U': [M', U' R2 U]] which is 9 moves with cancellation and works for bigBLD wings too.

You could always do it the other way to avoid the R2 but you'd be doing an F or and x so it might still be awkward.
[U': [F R F', M]] or [U' x: [U R U', M]]

Here's my MBLD from last weekend along with post mortem. The second mistake was with an R2 setup similar to that mentioned in my last post. I'm even less comfortable with those now .

You might need to get one of those card holder things to practice with. What are they called?

 

[h2f]

[U': [F R F', M]] or [U' x: [U R U', M]]

I think there should be M' instead of M. You can also do this straight [M' U' M, D']. I used to the first alg though I think about switching.

 

[mark49152]

You could always do it the other way to avoid the R2 but you'd be doing an F or and x so it might still be awkward.
[U': [F R F', M]] or [U' x: [U R U', M]]

That second one is pretty nice (I think the U direction should be switched though - [U' x: [U' R U, M]]). I've not used edge comms that insert to the buffer position before, so that might take some time to get my head around. Perhaps that's something I should try more. I do it for corners without problems.

You might need to get one of those card holder things to practice with. What are they called?

Harmonica holder. I don't think practice would help though - I'm just a forgetful person

 

[mark49152]

I think there should be M' instead of M. You can also do this straight [M' U' M, D'].

That's VE not EO.