Let's see how far we've come

[3dnf]

Hey everyone,
I'm Ted, an ex-cubist that started cubing in 2007. I was really slow at cubing (1:03 is my best competition time for 3x3x3) and only knew layer-by-layer. Prior to Nationals 2007, there was no average record for pyraminx in North America. After finishing with a horrible time of 2:xx, I was ranked ninth in North America for a single solve. Now I'm 247th in America and 1358th in the world. My best 3x3x3 time of 1:03 placed me at #1294 in the world in June 2007 out of about 1500. Now I'm 7706th out of 9140. This sport (or activity? You tell me) has taken off over the last few years at an exponential rate, with speedsolving videos reaching millions upon millions of views. Pogobat's instructional video has over 15 million views: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQIoPyfQzM and a solve by Yu Nakajima of 10.56 has over 6 million: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHZ9fsusMGc. From about 85 people in 2003, we have expanded to over 100 times that. Though I stopped cubing, I miss it. I solved my first one-handed solve in 8:43 or so at the 2007 Nationals while Dan Dzoan set the world record behind me. I met cubing greats and some of the smartest people in the world there. It was truly fun. Anyway, I just want to say congrats to all speedcubers on bringing the sport of speedcubing to where it is today.

Ted Barrett,
Ex-Cuber

 

[StachuK1992]

Ohai, Ted.

 

[Dene]

CUBING RULZ!

 

[DaijoCube]

It's a gay hobby, but I love it!

 

[SuperNerd]

It's a gay hobby, but I love it!

Would you freakin' stop saying that? If it's so "gay", why don't you quit?

 

[Luigimamo]

My personal opinion of why that cubing has taken off is because of the internet and its vast resources.

Also people are smarter so homework gets out of the way faster so people have more time to google stuff.

 

[3dnf]

O hai, Stachu. Oh, and I had the world record on tape... The only copy... My comp crashed but my dad may have a backup. I'll look for it.

 

[miniGOINGS]

Also people are smarter

>.>

 

[DT546]

Also people are smarter

>.>

only a tiny amount smarter

 

[DaijoCube]

It's a gay hobby, but I love it!

Would you freakin' stop saying that? If it's so "gay", why don't you quit?

Calm down, Ponyboy. It's a noob hobby. Trying to match colors as fast as you can, seriously

I do love it, because I love what I'm good at. It needs dexterity, speed and fast thinking and deduction. Also helps 3D visualization.

Also people are smarter

>.>

This.

 

[Johan444]

My personal opinion of why that cubing has taken off is because of the internet and its vast resources.

Also people are smarter so homework gets out of the way faster so people have more time to google stuff.

Internet existed in 2003.

 

[coinman]

Nothing wrong calling it a gay hobby, i'm always having a gay time cubing

And 3dnf - you are actually third from last in the pyraminx singel rankings
I was ones second from last on the pyraminx avg list.

 

[Escher]

It's a gay hobby,

It's a noob hobby.

Gay =/= noob.

Anyway, yeah, it's amazing to see just how fast things progress. I remember being incredibly happy when my 11.36 single PB was 99th in the world, and now it seems so slow, yet that was only last July.

 

[DaijoCube]

It's a gay hobby,

It's a noob hobby.

Gay =/= noob.

Anyway, yeah, it's amazing to see just how fast things progress. I remember being incredibly happy when my 11.36 single PB was 99th in the world, and now it seems so slow, yet that was only last July.

I know I'm not anywhere near being homophobic. In Québec, saying that something is gay means that it is noob/useless/boring etc...

 

[Samania]

It's a gay hobby, but I love it!

Would you freakin' stop saying that? If it's so "gay", why don't you quit?

its a gay hobby that he loves.

HEY TED.

 

[Escher]

I know I'm not anywhere near being homophobic. In Québec, saying that something is gay means that it is noob/useless/boring etc...

It's exactly the same in England, and I still completely disagree with the use of gay as a negative/pejorative term.

 

[SuperNerd]

It's a gay hobby, but I love it!

Would you freakin' stop saying that? If it's so "gay", why don't you quit?

Calm down, Ponyboy. It's a noob hobby. Trying to match colors as fast as you can, seriously

I do love it, because I love what I'm good at. It needs dexterity, speed and fast thinking and deduction. Also helps 3D visualization.

Oh yeah, cause every noob can use 3d visualization to speedsolve a cube. A noob would totally devote hours of hard work towards something like solving a puzzle.

... I'm not anywhere near being homophobic. In Québec, saying that something is gay means that it is noob/useless/boring etc...

And you may try to not come out as a homophobe, but by throwing around those terms like "ponyboy", and using "gay" as a word to describe something "noob/useless/boring" makes you seem like you are even more of a homophobe.

The people I know that say "Oh that's gay" are the people who I am seeing get expelled from school for dealing drugs.

 

[DaijoCube]

It's a gay hobby, but I love it!

Would you freakin' stop saying that? If it's so "gay", why don't you quit?

Calm down, Ponyboy. It's a noob hobby. Trying to match colors as fast as you can, seriously

I do love it, because I love what I'm good at. It needs dexterity, speed and fast thinking and deduction. Also helps 3D visualization.

Oh yeah, cause every noob can use 3d visualization to speedsolve a cube. A noob would totally devote hours of hard work towards something like solving a puzzle.

The thing that is noob or idiot in some kind of way is to devote hours of hard work to match colors fast...

... I'm not anywhere near being homophobic. In Québec, saying that something is gay means that it is noob/useless/boring etc...

And you may try to not come out as a homophobe, but by throwing around those terms like "ponyboy", and using "gay" as a word to describe something "noob/useless/boring" makes you seem like you are even more of a homophobe.



The people I know that say "Oh that's gay" are the people who I am seeing get expelled from school for dealing drugs.

LOL. Ponyboy refers to an extremely known book : The Outsiders... Nothing gay there.

Don't forget we live in two different location where ''popular slang'' words differ in meaning. Even my friend who is gay, says : ''C'est trop gay!'' (It's so gay!). Homophobic people in Québec will say : tapette, fif, branleux dans le manche etc. In Québec, most of the time gay does not mean gay.

 

[Kirjava]

Language evolves. I don't see why it should be offensive at all, the word is being used with a different meaning.

 

[Escher]

Language evolves. I don't see why it should be offensive at all, the word is being used with a different meaning.

Gay = Homosexuality.
Gay = Something bad.

Both statements are true, so isn't it logical to think that homosexuality = something bad? Which is obviously false?

Sure language evolves, but completely ignoring the importance of it and way terms are used is just stupid.