MIT Spring 2010 Live Results

haha...yeah, i'm pissed at whoever judged your second solve:
2qx1bhj.jpg


Thanks for being honest, anyway
 
Tim did a great job indeed! And Harris helped a lot as well. Don't forget Bob and Jaclyn.

Tim (and his fraternity mates) were as kind as to host me for 2 days.

Good to see so many new faces. Justin, Kyan, Kyle, Patrick, Sam, Patricia and Kellon are awesome cubers.

Everyone is improving so fast! With 14 second averages you do not make it to finals nowadays. Maybe I am getting too old for this. Although I wish I could one day make no big mistakes in my competition solves.

I had many problems with my puzzles this competition. Broken pieces and pops, especially on Pyraminx and 4x4.

Food is really cheap in US, you can have a full meal for $5 at MIT.

Have fun!
 
I had a great time competing (albeit poorly) and meeting some new people!
It was nice to finally meet you and Kyle, along with everyone else. It was fun to close my eyes when one of you two were talking. Exact same voice. :p

I had many problems with my puzzles this competition. Broken pieces and pops, especially on Pyraminx and 4x4.
I remember watching you when you got a HUGE lockup in the 4x4 finals. It took you about 30 seconds to fix lol.
Good luck with your presentation in Boston, Ron.
 
Food is really cheap in US, you can have a full meal for $5 at MIT.

I think that saying food is really cheap in the US because you can have a full meal at MIT for $5 is like saying food, in particular, pizza and beer, is really cheap in Europe because you can get a beer for 2.10 Euros at the Youth Hostel.

Don't tell a New Yorker that food in the US is cheap. Did you know that in New York, there's no such thing as a "dollar menu" in McDonalds? The double cheeseburger I think is $1.79.
 
Well, there were at least a few things for a dollar in some wendy's and burger kings in the city, but in Paris, the "euro saver menu" is like 3 bucks, for the same sandwiches, at least on the champs-elysees. I got a Big Mac meal for about $9, which is painfully high. Anyway, it's a fact that, in general, food in the United States is cheaper than almost everywhere else.

And I thought the tournament went very well, and had fun meeting new people. Beating Bob is a pretty lofty goal Kian, pretty much can't happen, especially in big cubes ;)
 
The food isn't just cheaper in the US; cars, petrol, electronic goods such as PCs + high-end components, games consoles, televisions... the average house purchase price is roughly the same in the US and UK, but look how much more room you get.

The GDP is also higher in the U.S., so you probably have more money to spend on the cheaper goods you get...

I have to say, I think the National Health Service and low University costs are the only things that save the UK :P

on-topic: well done Anthony (no. 17!), Justin (no. 2!), and Pro Wrestler on the 17 OH avg (no. 3!)... :)
 
I've reconstructed what my Fewest Moves solve was supposed to be. I would have tied for 3rd place if I had gotten it written down correctly.

Scramble: L' F2 D' L' F' L' U2 F R' L' D2 R2 D2 F D' B D2 L'
Solution:
F' R' B' F D' L2 D R F2 U2 R2 U R' U' D' F2 D F R' F U F U'
R' D R' D' R2 F' R' F R' F' D2 F' R' F D2 B' L B' L' B2

Explanation:
2x2x2: F' R' B' F D' L2 D (7)
2x2x3: R F2 U2 R2 U R' U' (14)
F2L: D' F2 D F R' F U F U' R2 F' (25)
Orient edges: F R D R' D' F' (31-3 = 28)
Orient corners: F R2 F' R' F R' F' (35-2 = 33)
PLL: D2 F' R' F D2 B' L B' L' B2 (43)
 
Well, I don't know about Asia, it seems it completely depends on the product and country. I'm just basing it on this article excerpt from the Washington Post and http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/01/why-is-american-food-so-cheap/33259/
"Food is cheaper here than almost anywhere else. In 2007, only about 6.9 percent of U.S. consumer spending went for food at home; Germans spent more (11.4 percent), as did Italians (14.5 percent) and Mexicans (24.2 percent)."
It seems we spend a dramatically lower percentage of our GDP on food, and I'm not sure what it's like in places in Asia. This http://www.walletpop.com/specials/food-price-comparison-around-the-world, gives a glimpse at certain products and certain countries, and India seems to have, for many products, extremely low food costs, but I do see American food being much cheaper than a lot of countries, especially European ones.

"I have to say, I think the National Health Service and low University costs are the only things that save the UK"
I have to disagree on the NHS, for lots of reasons, but mainly, 5 year survival rates for cancer, specifically prostate cancer, which is the most popular among men, affecting 1 in 6 Americans at some point, has about 100% 5 year survival rate in the US, and about 77% in the UK. The quality doesn't compare, and we pay a lot for it, but if you can afford it, it's great.
 
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