How many prepared memory locations?

How many total prepared memory locations do you use?

  • I don't memorize using prepared locations

    Votes: 25 42.4%
  • 1-25

    Votes: 13 22.0%
  • 26-50

    Votes: 3 5.1%
  • 51-75

    Votes: 5 8.5%
  • 76-100

    Votes: 1 1.7%
  • 101-125

    Votes: 2 3.4%
  • 126-150

    Votes: 3 5.1%
  • 151-175

    Votes: 2 3.4%
  • 176-200

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • > 200

    Votes: 5 8.5%

  • Total voters
    59

cmhardw

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How many total prepared locations do you use for your memory method? Please count all locations that you use actively for any part of your memory methods for any cube or puzzle. Prepared locations can come from either journey methods or roman rooms. These relate to the method of loci.

--edit--
If you use Roman Rooms, please count the total number of locations inside all rooms, not the number of rooms.
 
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I have 135 regular ones (9 per room * 15 rooms), but 15 spillover locations scattered among the rooms (some have several, others have just a few), so I figure it's 150. But I guess it doesn't matter anyway, since it's in the same category for the poll either way.

I had a bunch of spillover locations in a couple of rooms for megaminx; I needed a lot more than 9 locations in those rooms. :)

Pedro, I like to keep track of my rooms used so I can use them all approximately equally. So I don't have any little-used rooms - I use them all two to three times each week.

Edit: I'd also like to point out that, for me, 4 rooms * 9 locations plus 1 room * 3 locations is plenty of room to hold a 7x7x7. So my 135 locations are enough for 3 7x7x7s. So it will probably be a while before I need any more. ;)

Chris, are you the one with over 200?
 
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When I do use memory locations, I use a roman room variation, I have a library (I picture my own public library) and I remember each individual shelf. (Although to make it simple, I duplicate and removes shelves that aren't really in the library so each has 10) That would be:

Nonfiction: 10
Fiction: 10

And that's all I really need. I memorize one book per shelf, starting with a specific letter that coresponds to my lettering system (A-X) on the cube. So that would be 20 for 3x3, 4x4 I don't really use memory locations.
 
Edit: I'd also like to point out that, for me, 4 rooms * 9 locations plus 1 room * 3 locations is plenty of room to hold a 7x7x7. So my 135 locations are enough for 3 7x7x7s. So it will probably be a while before I need any more. ;)

I challenge you to beat that at nationals. If I happen to win the couple of 7x7s I expect to, I will let you keep every 7x7 you solve in a 7x7 multi attempt ;)
 
Chris, are you the one with over 200?

Hey Mike, Yeah I voted that category (not sure if others will before this thread dies though).

I have 4 journeys with 30 locations each, 4 journeys with 28 locations each, one partial journey with about 20 locations, and one partial journey with about 10 locations. That totals to 262 locations altogether. Ironically, I feel like I definitely don't have enough locations. I am trying as best as I can to avoid interference, and I feel that sometimes I can still remember bits and pieces of my previous solve when using a journey, even if it is 24 hours old or more.

I am thinking about doubling my number of journeys, but that is a *lot* of work for me. It took me a long time to get as many locations as I have now. I wanted to get an idea of how many locations others have before I start to undertake this effort. Part of my problem is that my journeys are cube specific. So for example I have 3 journeys for 5x5, 3 journeys for 4x4, 1 miscellaneous whatever I want to use it for journey, 1 journey for 3x3, the two partial journeys I am not quite done with and I only use them for 3x3x3 or for experimenting with memorizing more/less than 3 images per location.

My issue is that if I want to focus on say 5x5, then I only have 3 journeys for that. If it's close to a competition then it's safe to say I am resting my best locations for the competition, so I can only do 4 solves before reusing locations. I'd like to be able to go much longer.

Do others here have problems with interference when reusing locations after you exhaust all your locations and have to start over?

Chris

--edit--
I challenge you to beat that at nationals. If I happen to win the couple of 7x7s I expect to, I will let you keep every 7x7 you solve in a 7x7 multi attempt ;)

Dude Mike, that's awesome! You should totally take Dan up on that offer!
 
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Do others here have problems with interference when reusing locations after you exhaust all your locations and have to start over?
I really don't have much trouble as long as it's more than 24 hours. Actually I should change my category in the poll now; I grabbed a 4x4x4 today and did a couple of solves, and I didn't want to use any of my regular rooms, so I made a new one this morning on the spot in about 2 minutes based on the room I was in (putting me up to 159 locations). And I got an 8:56 and a 10:20 using the same room twice back-to-back; I had a little interference on the second one, but it wasn't too bad, maybe partially because it was a brand-new room so there was only the one other solve ever in there.

But if I wait more than 24 hours, it's very rare that I ever have trouble with interference from previous memorizations. Maybe my "gift" at BLD solving, such as it is, is that I can forget more easily than some other people. :) But seriously, I think maybe it's that my memorization isn't usually quite as vivid as most people's. There's a video out there (I don't have time to search for it now; maybe I'll go back and add it later to this post when I have time to search) of Ben Pridmore describing his thought process as he's memorizing a pack of cards. He puts 3 images together into a picture at each location. The pictures are a little bit vivid, but not nearly as much as what you and Daniel often talk about in your memorizations. Ben's "pictures" seem very much like mine, the way he describes them. I'm thinking that finding the right balance between too vivid and not vivid enough is the secret to being able to recall quickly, but being able to forget quickly after the solve. I suspect I lean on the side of not vivid enough; Chris, you seem to be on the too vivid side; I guess we'll both have to admit that Ben seems to have found the perfect balance in between. :)

I challenge you to beat that at nationals. If I happen to win the couple of 7x7s I expect to, I will let you keep every 7x7 you solve in a 7x7 multi attempt ;)

Dude Mike, that's awesome! You should totally take Dan up on that offer!

Wow, that's tempting. Dan, I would really love to take you up on that. The only problem is logistics, unfortunately. If we wait until you win those 7x7x7s, that means Sunday night, and we're having to leave the apartment we're staying in on Sunday morning. I was planning on heading out of town that night, so we'd have to get a hotel room in town that night so I could do it. I'm just not sure we can afford it. :(

Not to mention that a 7 hour attempt (which is probably what it would take for 4 7x7x7s, which I assume is what you mean - I hope you didn't mean more than that - I can't remember how many you own) sounds rather exhausting at the end of Nationals. :)
 
I have at least 300 locations along multiple paths. My house itself has 108 locations and I have 5 other paths that I have made mainly just as potential space. I don't do multi-BLD but I do use the start of a path for regular BLD. I don't have a certain number of points per room either, I just went along and did things that stand out. The original purpose of the paths was for memory challenges and not cubing. But now it has become a nice way to do both.
 
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Well, in and near my house, I have 11 locations over two routes. At school, I have 7 locations. At relatives houses, I have 19 (7+6+6). At the house from The Simpsons, I have 6 locations. At a mall I have 6. And back at school I have another 11 locations (but it's only 1 route).

So I guess that is 9 routes with a mere 60 locations. I try to put 4 or 6 letters (2 or 3 images) are each location, though.

I desperately need more routes.
 
Well, in and near my house, I have 11 locations over two routes. At school, I have 7 locations. At relatives houses, I have 19 (7+6+6). At the house from The Simpsons, I have 6 locations. At a mall I have 6. And back at school I have another 11 locations (but it's only 1 route).

So I guess that is 9 routes with a mere 60 locations. I try to put 4 or 6 letters (2 or 3 images) are each location, though.

I desperately need more routes.

The mall is a great idea! I could easily get over 100 locations from that place.
 
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