CubeExplorer
Member
Hi everyone,
Few weeks ago I found an old cube in a big box of toys I keep ready for my grandchildren. I wondered wether I can solve the thing and searched for an instruction. The beginners method worked but it made me curious to understand what really happens, when I turn the faces of the cube. I just need to look at it and see what is going on. Thats what I thought. But far wrong. I look, I see and get confused. It made me even more courios and I want to understand more. Something working in front of me and I do not understand how it happens is extremely dissatisfying to me. I wanted to explore.
I looked around, and found this forum. I chose the Nick "CubeExplorer" before I saw there is a Program named Cube Explorer by Herbert Kociemba. This coincidence is a honour to me.
Now I am doing the cube with beginners method and got below 3 Minutes. Speed does not matter for me but I like to move the parts fluently so I experiment with the fingering like I did on guitar decades ago. This is slowing me down currently but it will pay back. I want to do the moves subconsciously to get my mind free for watching and thinking of strategy and tactics in the progress of the current solution. In the Beginners Method I use some streamlineing to avoid too many repetitions of maneuvers.
Im an old tinkerer and retired mechanical professional. Its interesting to look inside the cubes. The plastic parts are of high quality. My old cube is some 40 years old. There has been substantial development. But the new ones I bought recently, have severe drawbacks built in. No washers beneath the springs and sharp burrs at the springs ends. They carve into the plastic and will lead bad usability after a short time and to self destruction over the years, if the user does not stop using them in disappointment. To avoid this, it is not necessary do buy a "flagship" - a little service to the simple cube is sufficient. No magnetic suspension is necessary, the springs are perfect, if the construction and the treatment are done well.
What I find really interesting ist the mathematics of permutation behind the cube. I havent been in contact with this part of math for decades, so I have to learn a lot again. Jamie Mulholland wrote this wonderful book. He is a great didactic professional and the lectures help a lot. For exploration I use SAGE and Cube Explorer. In Sage I see the algebra and in CE I have pictures of the corresponding Cubes.
Im looking forward to an interesting exchange of experiences, knowledge and ideas.
Few weeks ago I found an old cube in a big box of toys I keep ready for my grandchildren. I wondered wether I can solve the thing and searched for an instruction. The beginners method worked but it made me curious to understand what really happens, when I turn the faces of the cube. I just need to look at it and see what is going on. Thats what I thought. But far wrong. I look, I see and get confused. It made me even more courios and I want to understand more. Something working in front of me and I do not understand how it happens is extremely dissatisfying to me. I wanted to explore.
I looked around, and found this forum. I chose the Nick "CubeExplorer" before I saw there is a Program named Cube Explorer by Herbert Kociemba. This coincidence is a honour to me.
Now I am doing the cube with beginners method and got below 3 Minutes. Speed does not matter for me but I like to move the parts fluently so I experiment with the fingering like I did on guitar decades ago. This is slowing me down currently but it will pay back. I want to do the moves subconsciously to get my mind free for watching and thinking of strategy and tactics in the progress of the current solution. In the Beginners Method I use some streamlineing to avoid too many repetitions of maneuvers.
Im an old tinkerer and retired mechanical professional. Its interesting to look inside the cubes. The plastic parts are of high quality. My old cube is some 40 years old. There has been substantial development. But the new ones I bought recently, have severe drawbacks built in. No washers beneath the springs and sharp burrs at the springs ends. They carve into the plastic and will lead bad usability after a short time and to self destruction over the years, if the user does not stop using them in disappointment. To avoid this, it is not necessary do buy a "flagship" - a little service to the simple cube is sufficient. No magnetic suspension is necessary, the springs are perfect, if the construction and the treatment are done well.
What I find really interesting ist the mathematics of permutation behind the cube. I havent been in contact with this part of math for decades, so I have to learn a lot again. Jamie Mulholland wrote this wonderful book. He is a great didactic professional and the lectures help a lot. For exploration I use SAGE and Cube Explorer. In Sage I see the algebra and in CE I have pictures of the corresponding Cubes.
Im looking forward to an interesting exchange of experiences, knowledge and ideas.
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