New Cuber with questions

[mightyred]

Had a cube in the 80s (didn't eveyone) but never solved it. Got one for Xmas and can't put it down. Can do basic solve and just bought Dan Harris's book to help me speed solve. There are a couple of examples in the book where Dan specifically tells you how the scramble the cube but me cube just doesn't match. Is there a certain way to scramble i.e. Red side facing, white on top or am I being thick.

Another stupid question but does the cube get scrambled in different ways in competitions or the same way for everyone??


My target is constantly solving the cube under 1min (then 30s)

 

[Cubenovice]

Welcome to the forum!

WCA orientation for solving is white on top, green in front.
In competition all people in the same group get the same scrambles.

I reccomend using the search function a lot, there is a lot of info to be found.
Whatever question you may have it has most likely been asked /answered several times.
And some people may flame you when you ask those questions again.

 

[Zarxrax]

Generally if you are following a solution guideline, the colors dont really matter. You should technically be able to start on any side and use the same solution.

 

[Erzz]

Here is an FAQ, which you may find useful.
Also a guide for Fridrich. Not sure which method Dan Harris teaches.

 

[Magix]

Check some notation page to make sure you make the exact moves (i.e R instead of R' etc).

I've been cubing for months but I still forget how I'm supposed to turn B and D, because I never use those in my solves. So when I follow scrambles, I have to do it veerryyy slowly.

That's the reason I never use the premade scrambles on like cubetimer.com and such

 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I don't like the beginners method Dan Harris teaches. It teaches two-look ELL and CLL with commutator corners, which IMO has a pretty bad transition into conventional 4LLL. Plus, his middle layer algs aren't too good either.

I'd suggest this instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=609nhVzg-5Q

 

[danthecuber]

Personally, I don't like the beginners method Dan Harris teaches. It teaches two-look ELL and CLL with commutator corners, which IMO has a pretty bad transition into conventional 4LLL. Plus, his middle layer algs aren't too good either.

I'd suggest this instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=609nhVzg-5Q

aka:

 

[Joël]

Hello,

You are not the only one starting cubing around Christmas time.

As for Dan's examples, as far as I can tell, he usually starts with red on front and yellow on top. If you have a standard BOY colour scheme (and understand the notation), the patterns should end up the same. I have the book here, so if there's a specific example that you think contains an error tell me what page it is.

In competitions, everyone who is in the same round will get the same scrambles. Occasionally an error could slip in there during scrambling, but for finals they'll check accurately if the scramble is applied properly.

Good luck!

It teaches two-look ELL and CLL with commutator corners, which IMO has a pretty bad transition into conventional 4LLL.[/url]

The corner algs are actually not pure commutators... And, in Dan's defence: I'm sure he choose this because it's an intuitive method, and if studied it increases the understanding of how the solution works. Including it in his book just makes it more complete.

 

[Rpotts]

You are not the only one starting cubing around Christmas time.

lol

 

[notluK]

lol

Do either of you know what caused that big spike at the end of 2007? I'm fairly interested after seeing that.

 

[aridus]

Also, if you are concerned about colors confusing you (I also started with a 'non standard' colored cube and was a little confused) I recommend getting Cube Explorer. It's a neat little program for cube analysis and generating scrambles (and solutions!) and also it allows you to completely customize the cube colors of the program.

That helped me a lot before I got a standard colored Ghost Hand II. You can Google for Cube Explorer or probably find it around here somewhere too.

 

[Vinny]

Do either of you know what caused that big spike at the end of 2007? I'm fairly interested after seeing that.

Probably pogobat's tutorial, that was uploaded in mid 2007 but there's a high chance that could be it.

 

[Bryan]

WCA orientation for solving is white on top, green in front.

Looks like you made an error, but I'll clarify just so it doesn't confuse others. The WCA regulates how things are scrambled, but doesn't regulate how to solve.

 

[daftKow]

aka:

I went to school with this guy ^_^

 

[goatseforever]

Do either of you know what caused that big spike at the end of 2007? I'm fairly interested after seeing that.

Sadly, I'm pretty damn sure it's because of the Rubik's Revolution. If you do a Google Trends search for "rubiks revolution" you see the same spike at the end of 2007.

On an unrelated note, anal fisting got a lot better in 2006.

 

[Bapao]

Sadly, I'm pretty damn sure it's because of the Rubik's Revolution. If you do a Google Trends search for "rubiks revolution" you see the same spike at the end of 2007.

On an unrelated note, anal fisting got a lot better in 2006.

Now your avatar looks suspicious...