Older cubers discussions

[pglewis]

X-Man Tornado: ... Deja vu, very reminiscent of my AoLong V2 stickerless ...

Correction: very reminiscent of my memory of my AoLong V2. Cleaned up and played with my old stickerless AoLong for a bit last night and the Tornado feels a lot lighter in the hands and turning. I swear, the AoLong pieces just feel like they're made of stone compared to just about any newer cube.

I got one of three blind successes Sun and a couple more successes yesterday. Breakdown on my best success was ~7:30/4:00. Execution for three of the successes were all 3:5x and a 3:30 execution on a "looks more scrambled than initially" DNF. "Decent" memo seems to be in the 7 min range to start, though I had one 5 mins and change memo on a failed solve. With a jotted down memo I did 4:09/2:22, to get a rough picture of how much my n00b memo is responsible for. I didn't even remotely anticipate that finding vivid words for letter pairs would be my biggest bottle-neck at this early stage, but I believe it is.

 

[newtonbase]

Sorry Mark, you're quite right. I've corrected the U face to Yellow on the original post.

And you're right, in Speffz BL is R and BR is T. For some reason they've gone into my head the other way. I'll need to fix this in my head as BUL is R and BDR is T for corners, which is correct. And there you have it, insight into a weary brain!

I've had a go and on your corners I think you need C between B and I. So PG WV BC IS N.

 

[Shaky Hands]

@newtonbase, thanks that explains everything. I'd remembered BI as BIcycle instead of BC as BiCycle and the rest of my memo must have been something else.

Thanks for finding that for me. I can sleep peacefully again.

So should be:

y2 // inspection

//edges
R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' // C
(L) R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' (L') // "T" (actually R)
(D' Lw') R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' (Lw D) // O
(Lw2 y') R' U L' U2 R U' R' U2 R L U' (y Lw2') // U
(Dw2' L) R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' (L' Dw2) // J
(Lw) R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' (Lw') // Q
(Lw y') R' U L' U2 R U' R' U2 R L U' (y Lw') // S
(L') R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' (L) // L
(Dw2 L') R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' (L Dw2') // "R" (actually T)

// parity
y' L U2 L' U2 L F' L' U' L U L F L2 U y

//corners
R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R // P
(F2 R') R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (R F2') // G
(R2 F) R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (F' R2) // W
(F' R') R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (R F) // V
(R D') R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (D R') // B
(F) R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (F') // C
(F' D) R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (D' F) // I
(D' R) R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (R' D) // S
(R2) R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (R2') // N

 

[newtonbase]

@newtonbase, thanks that explains everything. I'd remembered BI as BIcycle instead of BC as BiCycle and the rest of my memo must have been something else.

Thanks for finding that for me. I can sleep peacefully again.

So should be:

y2 // inspection

//edges
R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' // C
(L) R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' (L') // "T" (actually R)
(D' Lw') R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' (Lw D) // O
(Lw2 y') R' U L' U2 R U' R' U2 R L U' (y Lw2') // U
(Dw2' L) R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' (L' Dw2) // J
(Lw) R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' (Lw') // Q
(Lw y') R' U L' U2 R U' R' U2 R L U' (y Lw') // S
(L') R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' (L) // L
(Dw2 L') R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F' (L Dw2') // "R" (actually T)

// parity
y' L U2 L' U2 L F' L' U' L U L F L2 U y

//corners
R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R // P
(F2 R') R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (R F2') // G
(R2 F) R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (F' R2) // W
(F' R') R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (R F) // V
(R D') R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (D R') // B
(F) R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (F') // C
(F' D) R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (D' F) // I
(D' R) R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (R' D) // S
(R2) R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R (R2') // N

No problem. How do you memo? Some of your pairs seem very hard to visualise such as Parental Guidance, SQuery, Sierra Leone and Winter Variation - (Pig, Seth, Sail and Wave for me)

 

[Shaky Hands]

No problem. How do you memo? Some of your pairs seem very hard to visualise such as Parental Guidance, SQuery, Sierra Leone and Winter Variation - (Pig, Seth, Sail and Wave for me)

I just try and form a sentence or two. Parental Guidance can be visualised with the BBFC logo. JQuery is a programming language I work with a lot. Sierra Leone I know the flag for. Winter Variation just fits in when I'm in a cubing mindset. Any and all may well be replaced in time.

 

[mark49152]

I didn't even remotely anticipate that finding vivid words for letter pairs would be my biggest bottle-neck at this early stage, but I believe it is.

I found the same. When I started, I did not believe an image list would be necessary or beneficial, as I thought it that if I let the images naturally spring to mind they would be easier to remember. Maybe so, but it can waste a surprising amount of time finding and connecting images, and a fixed list helps that.

 

[Shaky Hands]

Big cube fans - I'd highly recommend Kevin Hays' latest video on last 4 edge pairing. Well worth 7 minutes of your time. I know most of these cases already on 5x5, but there's some really useful tips on how to use them both there and on 6x6/7x7.

 

[phreaker]

I found the same. When I started, I did not believe an image list would be necessary or beneficial, as I thought it that if I let the images naturally spring to mind they would be easier to remember. Maybe so, but it can waste a surprising amount of time finding and connecting images, and a fixed list helps that.

I can see that. Has anyone here played with PAO? (Person Action Object) I have a set of lists for that all set up... but not for stock 2 letter memo.

 

[newtonbase]

Big cube fans - I'd highly recommend Kevin Hays' latest video on last 4 edge pairing. Well worth 7 minutes of your time. I know most of these cases already on 5x5, but there's some really useful tips on how to use them both there and on 6x6/7x7.

Thanks for posting that. There's nothing particularly new there but its very useful to see it all together and explained properly.

 

[Jason Green]

Howdy folks, long time no post. Been keeping an eye on proceedings, excellent job at Manchester to all UK oldies!

I've not been timing pretty much anything, although I did have a new OLL which I successfully recognised in a sub-1:20 4x4 solve the other day. I'm successfully resisting the timer while I try to absorb my remaining OLLs, which is going... OK I guess.

I never cease to be amazed by 4BLD and, of course, @mark49152's trademarked cube-tap execution tic. Love it. If I ever start BLD, I might deliberately start doing it just so I'm "down with the kids".

@Selkie - decided to take the plunge and get a Valk M then, eh? @Jason Green - how's yours treating you? My main source of lock-ups is, funnily enough, PLLs that require cube rotations, such as A perms. If the M helps with these, it would be a god-send. Other than that, I find it hard to justify the money... I'd rather buy a new 4x4 and 6x6. Maybe.

Sorry I never answered your question. I still love my Valk M. I'm almost starting to not mind E perms with it. I also just got a WuQue and Yuxin 5x5 delivered today. Both very nice, probably mains. I got stickered, I think my recognition is better with the black edges.

 

[pglewis]

I can see that. Has anyone here played with PAO? (Person Action Object) I have a set of lists for that all set up... but not for stock 2 letter memo.

I've been pondering how to attack it.

For use with numbers, a mnemonic PAO system only has 10 symbols for 100 combinations of symbol pairs. Encoding Speffz requires 24 symbols for 576 symbol pairs. Triple that for the number of images to store per symbol pair, one each for person, action, and object.

On the opposite end of the scale, I could memorize 576 people but it would likely be harder to make fast connections... my story is now just a string of people which instinctively feels like it would be harder to memorize fast. I've been considering a basic noun/action approach as a compromise; 1152 images to collect to be complete. But I think it might be worth it, a cycle of "thing -> does stuff" feels like it lends itself to quick story building and just that much is mentally encoding 4 symbols.

 

[mark49152]

I can see that. Has anyone here played with PAO? (Person Action Object) I have a set of lists for that all set up... but not for stock 2 letter memo.

I have a list of images for all pairs but I have recently started adding additional images per pair. The reason for that is that sometimes I end up with combinations that don't work well in a scene and it's convenient to have alternatives. The situations that trip me up most are where three or more of the images in a scene are people, because I'd often mix them up (I have five images per scene). So I'm adding some objects as alternatives to people. I don't think I will carry that to the extreme of having PAO alternatives for every pair, but it's good to have a choice and mixture.

 

[pipkiksass]

So after about a fortnight of slow solves only, I decided to do some timed 3x3 solves this morning, just to see where I'm at, and I really hit the ground running - first 5 solves were 16.59 Ao5, so I carried on... first 12 were 17.25 Ao12. Decided to make it into an Ao100, and here's the PBs:

Ao5 - 15.25 (was 15.47) - this one was about 2 years old!
Ao12 - 16.50 (was 16.65)
Ao50 - 17.49 (was 17.92)
Ao100 - 17.79 (was 18.58)

Best part of a second off my Ao100, and there were still some horrendous fails in there. Only PB not beaten was single, best time of the session was 12.70.

Managed to successfully execute about a dozen new OLLs in the session as well, which is a bonus, although I did have to 2-look quite a few which I know but still can't execute at speed.

Off to update my sig!!! :-D

Spoiler: time distribution

I am a big fan of the Time Distribution tool on CSTimer, so here's a little snip:

Spoiler: 15.25 Ao5

Generated By csTimer on 2017-1-18
avg of 5: 15.25

Time List:
1. 16.12 L' F2 L D' U' R2 L' U2 L U D L D B' D' F2 L2 B2 R F' R2 D' U' L2 U
2. 14.73 D' F2 B2 R' F2 U2 F U2 B' R D' U' B D2 B' R D' L2 U2 F R' L' B2 R2 U'
3. (17.48) U L2 F L B L R2 D L R2 F' D' R L' U' L2 U D L' D2 U F2 D F' L2
4. (12.70) D F D' U F' D2 U2 F B R' F' R2 U2 L B' U2 D R D L2 U B' F2 L' U
5. 14.90 U D2 B F U' D' R' U F2 U B2 R2 D U2 R' L U' D' R D R' D' R D' U

 

[JohnnyReggae]

At the moment I'm using 2 main 3x3's. I have a GAN Air for 2H and a Valk for OH and the occasional 2H. Last week they were both feeling sluggish so I decided to clean them out completely and lube. They were both great for possibly 5 or so days and they both suddenly turned rubbish in the space of half a day. So disassembled and recleaned and relubed with a little more additional lube. That just seemed to make both rubbish. They were both sluggish and hard to turn, even the Air which has the Green GES nuts in. So last night after struggling with both cubes I disassembled again and just cleaned out everything making sure I clean each piece meticulously and then reassembled without any lube.

Today both cubes are performing better than they ever have. The Valk is smooth and fast and the Air is light and really easy to turn. I'm considering just leaving them without lube as they seem to perform better than when I do apply lube even if that lube is weight 1 (TheCubicle lube).

 

[phreaker]

I have a list of images for all pairs but I have recently started adding additional images per pair. The reason for that is that sometimes I end up with combinations that don't work well in a scene and it's convenient to have alternatives. The situations that trip me up most are where three or more of the images in a scene are people, because I'd often mix them up (I have five images per scene). So I'm adding some objects as alternatives to people. I don't think I will carry that to the extreme of having PAO alternatives for every pair, but it's good to have a choice and mixture.

I don't have a "pair" as the starting object, it is letter, letter, letter. So it would be Grover Stabbing himself with a Dagger. (I see it as in the gut like ritual suicide) (GSD) I may use *anything* starting with the first letter for each of the items. At least that's the concept today.

I can see moving to a dual letter system at each point, if I get really into it. But for a starting plan it should work. 3 images for corners, 4 images for edges. Nothing is depicted as... boredom, or lack of an object, at least that's today. I may put in an explicit nothing symbol if it makes sense.

 

[phreaker]

At the moment I'm using 2 main 3x3's. I have a GAN Air for 2H and a Valk for OH and the occasional 2H. Last week they were both feeling sluggish so I decided to clean them out completely and lube. They were both great for possibly 5 or so days and they both suddenly turned rubbish in the space of half a day. So disassembled and recleaned and relubed with a little more additional lube. That just seemed to make both rubbish. They were both sluggish and hard to turn, even the Air which has the Green GES nuts in. So last night after struggling with both cubes I disassembled again and just cleaned out everything making sure I clean each piece meticulously and then reassembled without any lube.

Today both cubes are performing better than they ever have. The Valk is smooth and fast and the Air is light and really easy to turn. I'm considering just leaving them without lube as they seem to perform better than when I do apply lube even if that lube is weight 1 (TheCubicle lube).

Lube is GREAT is VERY small quantities. I suspect my non-magnetic valk is over lubed and needs to be cleaned out, and redone.

The magnetic one is just rocking it. I'll have images from that cube's internals today. I lacked sleep last night and did an OK job with the photos, I missed one key one. The edge + corner open, actually magnetically connected. But the rest is pretty obvious.

I can not recommend a magnetic valk enough... Amazing cube!

 

[Selkie]

All this talk of BLD had persuaded me to rekindle the project that never got off the ground over Christmas due to the redundancy. Restarted on my letter pair list and will do some sighted solves today.

Managed to get my first sub 1 minute 4x4 average of 12 and on film too:-

Average of 12: 59.95

Spoiler

1. 1:00.05 u2 U B L u F' r2 u' D U' F2 B r2 U2 F2 R' r f' R' U2 f R' B R' u2 B2 D' u2 F' B' R L2 r U F2 B' L2 B2 F2 R
2. 1:00.88 B' r2 F2 U2 f' F' L' R B f2 L2 R f' R' r' F2 L R2 r B2 L f2 R U' R' B' U2 R2 f D2 F D2 U' r2 f' L' r B2 F2 U2
3. 56.08 U L U R' U' L r2 U R f U2 B2 D L f' r f2 R B2 D' f2 D L' f B L2 D u2 R2 L D' R U' L B' F' D R2 F U2
4. (1:15.91) B2 F' D r' B F2 L2 f u R2 B' u F2 f' R2 u' B2 f' F2 D' B u2 r' f D' r2 L' B' D B2 F f D2 f r2 f2 R2 L f2 U
5. 57.44 r D' L' F' B R' r' u' f2 D R U2 D2 B' r f2 R D F2 U R' F L2 U' B2 L2 U' B' f' F2 L' D u' L f u L R F f'
6. 1:02.70 r L' B u' F2 L2 U2 F2 r2 U' D' u2 L' B' U D2 f U' F f' u2 R U' L2 u R' u' r2 U2 B u2 U B2 r2 D' L2 B U2 F R
7. 1:01.78 u B2 r2 F2 f2 u f L' F f r F B f2 L' U2 F f' R2 B2 L' u' f' r2 f B2 D' r B' u' U2 R2 D2 r2 B L' F2 f B U2
8. 58.82 u2 F' B2 D R r B2 R2 L r' U' L U' D L u' f r' u f' U2 D r D U' F2 R U f D' F' L2 U2 R' D2 U2 f2 R L2 f
9. 58.09 F R' u' F' D B U R' L2 f2 F' U L' U2 R' F2 U' f' U D' r F' L2 F2 f' D' u U f' D' R' B' D2 B' U' f' R L r2 B
10. 1:05.01 r' D2 U' L2 R2 r2 u' L2 f2 D' U R F f2 R2 F r F2 u2 U2 r2 U B L D' U u' L f2 D' F' u' R' F2 f2 U D2 B r L'
11. (53.77) u2 R' r' B r L U f2 B2 L' U R' r' B' r D B' u U2 B2 F' L' r2 u r2 U2 r D' B' u2 L R' r f2 B2 r' f B2 F D2
12. 58.61 D' L u F2 U2 F f' u' L' f' U2 u2 f r B' F u F2 B L R' D F' L R B F' r' U2 B' R U' u2 r2 D F U2 F u2 B

 

[JohnnyReggae]

Lube is GREAT is VERY small quantities. I suspect my non-magnetic valk is over lubed and needs to be cleaned out, and redone.

The magnetic one is just rocking it. I'll have images from that cube's internals today. I lacked sleep last night and did an OK job with the photos, I missed one key one. The edge + corner open, actually magnetically connected. But the rest is pretty obvious.

I can not recommend a magnetic valk enough... Amazing cube!

I've ordered a 2nd Valk from Cubezz and some Magnets off eBay. I'm going to attempt to make my own Valk M. Seeing as I have an additional Yeuxiao I'm going to try doing a M version of that. I'd love an Air M but I'll wait and see how my DIY attempts go at making M cubes goes before spending $20 on another Air

 

[phreaker]

Ok, for those wondering about the Blu Tack magnetic Valk... Here's the imgur album.

I took them late last night, so I missed the obvious shot of the open corner + open edge together, magnetically. I hope people can see how it works without that .

http://imgur.com/a/cnJqq

 

[phreaker]

I've ordered a 2nd Valk from Cubezz and some Magnets off eBay. I'm going to attempt to make my own Valk M. Seeing as I have an additional Yeuxiao I'm going to try doing a M version of that. I'd love an Air M but I'll wait and see how my DIY attempts go at making M cubes goes before spending $20 on another Air

The 356v2 I did was a much harder cube... take my advice on the blu tack, for your first magnetic cube, you will not regret it... especially if you make a mistake.

Also what strength magnets did you order?