Recent content by CarlBrannen

Thanks for replying. I'm not suggesting changing the system, I'm suggesting adding a very simple layer of redundancy. Redundancy is how engineers design safe systems. I've made a good living doing this for longer than you've been alive. <<The first major problem is that many competitors don't...

It's important that the person who announces the cube be loud enough that they can be heard by the competitors and understood. This was done pretty well this competition. Some crazy ideas for improving heats: How about having some identification of the box hiding the cube so the cuber knows...

I also had difficulty distinguishing colors, especially in dim light. So I kept track of my failed solves due to misreading a color and concluded that red is too close to orange, yellow is too close to white, and blue is perhaps a bit too close to green. So I experimented around and went to...

I've found that repeatedly solving gives me ideas on how to improve my method. Typically, I notice that something isn't efficient. For example, because I didn't learn all the 2-look PLL algorithms, I sometimes do two algorithms in a row. One ends with R the other starts with R'. I feel kinda...

I've got four prize cubes for the consolation round completed. I printed an instruction sheet to go along with them. To give people an electronic copy, I'll reproduce it here:

Decals are on, next step is to see if the clear coat is compatible. I'd have tested this on a piece of plastic but I'm sort of rushed. Here's the 4 cubes: http://brannenworks.com/Gravity/NC4.JPG and a close up of a decal: http://brannenworks.com/Gravity/NC1.JPG Clear paint seems to be...

It appears that, assuming paint dries and I don't have any major disasters, I'll have two f/s ShuanReng's and two MoYu HuanYing 57mm cubes as prizes. These are painted and will have logos for the WCA 2013 championship. Right now I've got the paint down and sanded, ready to accept decals and...

I almost always leave $5 for the cleaning people each day I stay in a hotel. I don't see what the point is in only leaving a small amount at the end. If you're staying several days you want them to treat your room nicely each night you stay there. Why surprise them after you leave? I don't get...

Doing the cube while a guy rings up some paint at an auto supply store. He tells me that his kid is amazingly fast with the cube and can solve it in "like 3 minutes". I'm thinking, something like "his son must be reallly young". So I solve it in my usual around 35 seconds and he says that his...

If you're showing a member of the attractive sex a solve, always say "it's harder to solve the cube when a pretty girl[boy] is watching". This way they'll understand why you fumbled.

Attempting 150 to 200 solves per day until a week before the world competition in Las Vegas. I want to start getting sub 30 ao12s when my hands are hot. First 27 days: 5354 solves, mean: 38.57, Best: 15.83, Ao12: 30.29, Ao100: 34.09 Day 27: 200 solves. Best was 19.59, only my 2nd sub 20...

Y'all are making me feel clean, by comparison.

I'm now 55 and have been speed cubing for a year. Most of the trouble is not getting enough time to practice. And then there's days when my fingers are just slow. They feel fast today... Right now my best Ao12 is 30.29 seconds which would be a world record at age 55 by about a second. My PB...

Today was beautifully cloudy. This kept the temperatures down. We did some work on the roof. This is an afternoon view towards the strip from south Las Vegas: If you look really carefully, you'll see why it is that we get really good cell phone reception.

Another weird thing about this place. You get strange results when googling for local businesses. Example: https://privatelee.qrobe.it/search/?q=Las+Vegas+carbon+14+dating+service&s=sbv2 The hits are either companies that aren't in Las Vegas, or they're in Las Vegas but not the kind of...