What's missing?

[cubetimer]

I'm curious...

Aside from interfacing with the stackmat (I can't think of any clean way to really do that with a web app) and being downloadable, what would you guys say that CubeTimer.com is missing that CCT and JNet have? What features would stand the most chance at really grabbing your attention?

I have a lot of features in mind already, and a lot that are submitted by people who use the site regularly, but I'm curious to hear from the people who DON'T use the site what it would take to make them believers

 

[TobiasDaneels]

Rankings, maybe with a video-option.

 

[Erik]

Pyraminx scrambles

 

[Mike Hughey]

Sorry to be not properly responding to your request (since you explicitly excluded this), but I'll just go ahead and say anyway that the thing that CubeTimer.com lacks most is being downloadable. I'll keep using JNetCube until I can have another standalone program to take its place. There are some things I don't like about it, but I need to be detached from the Internet most of the time at home, so CubeTimer.com isn't an option.

However, when I really want to time splits (sub-times for individual phases of the solve), I am willing to sacrifice being connected (only because I don't have a downloadable option) and I use this:
http://rubiks.tw/timer/timer.php

If you allowed splits like that, I'd probably use yours when I did splits. Especially if you had the ability to configure the number of splits you want. The one above only allows splits for certain methods, and it's limited to something like 4 steps. I'd like to have as many as 9 or 10 splits for big cubes BLD.

Another feature I want is the ability to include DNFs, so I can use it to keep track of BLD results. And to properly handle DNFs for averages (first one counts as the highest time and is thrown out; additional ones within a given average of 10 cause the average to be DNF; running averages can start over when you're down to just one). But realistically, I probably won't care about this one if it's not downloadable, so you might want to just ignore this one. The splits thing might get me to use your site sometimes, though.

 

[fanwuq]

show best average. show scramble after the solve. show how the scrambled puzzle should look like....

 

[shelley]

I like the fact that it's not downloadable. If I want to use a standalone program JNet or CCT suits my needs. Cubetimer is for when I'm at work (or otherwise not at my own computer at home) and want easy access to a timer without having to mess with downloads.

I do wish it had more features for statistical purposes. Like showing your best rolling average or standard deviations. Also, I wish it had an easy export function to format your times similar to the way JNet does it. Currently, if I set a good average and want to save it or want to submit it to the Sunday Contest or something, I have to copy and paste my times into a text editor and then manually format it.

 

[Lotsofsloths]

I say this plain and simple:
What use is a time log, if you don't know when you did it?

My suggestion:
Make it so that it puts a date next to each average you took.

 

[immortalcube]

suggestion:
add a +2 sec option, for when you don't completely finish solves

 

[Bryan]

Have the preinspection ding at 12 to make it in line with the new regulations.

 

[Hadley4000]

Being able to enter your own times would be great.

 

[cubetimer]

Have the preinspection ding at 12 to make it in line with the new regulations.

I'm not familiar with what regulation you're talking about. Could you explain more about what you mean?

A bit about not making it downloadable: I think Shelly hit 85% it on the head. I'm a web developer first and I'd rather stick to what I'm good at, and there are already some popular downloads. Also (to be 100% transparent), the other 15% of it is that the little bit I get from the Google ads at the bottom help offset my efforts on the site, and I get none of that if CubeTimer is being used offline.

Besides, I'm a bit partial to web apps - I prefer not to mess with downloads at all. I like things running on the web.

One other thing I should throw out is that CubeTimer has been a constant balancing game between features and simplicity. While my inner geek is always wanting more stats, more features, etc., I believe strongly that a large part of CubeTimer's attractiveness is in it's simplicity and I try really hard to protect that. It's a tough balance to strike. I've actually removed features once or twice to try and keep things looking simple.

Still, there is a lot I still want to do, and these suggestions are really great. The trick is always finding a way to put the features in without making it feel bloated and ugly.

HUGE thanks to everybody for these great ideas. I hope you keep them coming. Trust me, I really do consider every one of them.

>> Completely off topic - hope to see some of you at the San Diego Open next month!

 

[pcwiz]

A3) Inspection

* A3a) Before starting the solve the competitor may inspect the puzzle.
* A3a1) The competitor has a maximum of 15 seconds for inspecting the puzzle and starting the solve.
* A3b) The judge resets the timer and stopwatch.
* A3b1) When the judge and the competitor mutually agree within one minute that the competitor is ready to begin the inspection, the judge says 'READY?'.
* A3b2) When the competitor replies with 'OK', the judge uncovers the puzzle after 1 second. At the same time the judge starts the stopwatch.
* A3c) During the inspection the competitor is allowed to pick up the puzzle.
* A3c1) The competitor must not apply moves. Penalty: disqualification of the solve.
* A3c2) If the pieces of the puzzle are not fully aligned, then the competitor may fix it, only to align the faces (for cubes the alignment must not exceed 45 degrees).
* A3c3) The competitor may reset the timer before he starts the solve.
* A3d) At the end of the inspection, the competitor must place the puzzle back onto the Stackmat, in the orientation and position he wishes.
* A3d1) When the inspection time reaches 8 seconds, the judge calls '8 seconds'.
* A3d2) When the inspection time reaches 12 seconds, the judge calls 'STOP'.

That explains about the new regulations time inspection thing.

 

[Bryan]

Yup, pcwiz posted the relevent section from http://www.worldcubeassociation.org/regulations/

Basically, for a "WCA-style" inspection, it would be like this:

Hit the space bar once and the inspection starts
At 8 seconds, "8 Seconds" is played.
At 12 seconds, "Stop" is played.
The user hits the spacebar to signal the start of the solve. The timer starts. If the second hit of the spacebar (that signals the start of the solve) occurred more than 15 seconds after the first (that signaled the start of the inspection), apply the appropriate penalty.

 

[QB]

Separate channels for the same puzzle. Me and a friend race on the same computer, so it would be good to be able to split it so we get our own averages while doing the cube in turns.
And for the same reason, a chance to keep the same shuffle would be nice. Though we can do that in notepad, so that's okay.

 

[shelley]

Rankings, maybe with a video-option.

Only problem with rankings is that unlike Ryan Heise's cube simulator there's no way to verify solves. Back in the day rubiks.dk used to have an online timer which let you submit times and be ranked against everyone else. But what's to prevent people from stopping the timer at 9 seconds or whatever to get a high ranking? The rubiks.dk rankings eventually got cluttered with so many fake times that it became meaningless, and the site owner eventually removed that feature.

 

[cubetimer]

Rankings, maybe with a video-option.

Only problem with rankings is that unlike Ryan Heise's cube simulator there's no way to verify solves. Back in the day rubiks.dk used to have an online timer which let you submit times and be ranked against everyone else. But what's to prevent people from stopping the timer at 9 seconds or whatever to get a high ranking? The rubiks.dk rankings eventually got cluttered with so many fake times that it became meaningless, and the site owner eventually removed that feature.

Interesting. I've often thought this would be a great feature and have gotten the impression that, for the most part, the cubing community was pretty honest. This is the first time I've heard about another site actually doing this and having a problem. Perhaps I should reconsider...