4Chan
Premium Member
Ive heard that the tabs which hold the edges in break easily.
Wow, a blast from the Past!
- Thread starter varasano
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Ive heard that the tabs which hold the edges in break easily.
Your pizza photos make me salivate...
WHERE WERE YOU LAST YEAR WHEN WE HAD THE US COMPETITION IN ATLANTA????? DARN!!!!!Any speed cuber bringing me a cube will get fair value in pizza
Wow. Didn't hear thing one about it. I'm just out of the loop. Obviously I've moved on to other things, but I would definitely have come. I'm 10 minutes from where it was held.
So which one then? I thought this one was highly recommended in that long hardware review thread (http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12659)
Feanaro
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You should get an old type a. I don't know exactly which places sell it, but here's a link to the former pentrixter's thread about the cubes and where you should be able to find them.
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12659
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12659
qqwref
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This is a really cool topic. I'm interested in early cubing history - despite not having been around then, and despite the extreme lack of information about that period - and so it's awesome to have another person who cubed in the 80s here on the forum. I did recognize your name as I've seen your book before, but I don't think I'd had a good look at your method. (Oddly, although there were perhaps hundreds of cube books published in the 1980s, they seem to be very rare now, and people in the cubing community don't seem to have access to any books they don't own. It's too bad because I think there could be a lot of stuff worth learning or looking at in those books.)
Interestingly, your method is almost the exact same way I solve the cube when I do corners first - except for the last 6 edges, since I found it very move-intensive to flip edges in the middle layer. I find it really interesting that you came up with the corners method that we now call Ortega... much respect for that. I use that method for 2x2x2 solving and recently came in 2nd place in that event at a competition.
By the way, as far as cubes go, almost any DIY will be good. I personally suggest the cube4you DIY and the Type F, but any type that gets good reviews will turn very well. Cubes have advanced a lot in the past few years, and even without any lubrication I'd wager that a typical DIY can turn out better than anything that was around 25 years ago. (As for lubrication, most people nowadays use silicone spray, which is not greasy and dries quickly.) One of the key things separating DIYs from other cubes is that you can take the centers off and adjust the tightness of each side - I personally suggest putting it just tight enough so that the cube feels like a piece won't come out in normal use.
Interestingly, your method is almost the exact same way I solve the cube when I do corners first - except for the last 6 edges, since I found it very move-intensive to flip edges in the middle layer. I find it really interesting that you came up with the corners method that we now call Ortega... much respect for that. I use that method for 2x2x2 solving and recently came in 2nd place in that event at a competition.
By the way, as far as cubes go, almost any DIY will be good. I personally suggest the cube4you DIY and the Type F, but any type that gets good reviews will turn very well. Cubes have advanced a lot in the past few years, and even without any lubrication I'd wager that a typical DIY can turn out better than anything that was around 25 years ago. (As for lubrication, most people nowadays use silicone spray, which is not greasy and dries quickly.) One of the key things separating DIYs from other cubes is that you can take the centers off and adjust the tightness of each side - I personally suggest putting it just tight enough so that the cube feels like a piece won't come out in normal use.
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Stefan
Legend
You won't find a cube we all agree on. Every decent cube has both lovers and haters.
Right now I suggest the Ghost Hand because it already comes assembled and lubed and turns great right out of the box, and because it's cheap:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280356322745
TheJoker
Regular
wow!!! reading your post was almost makes me cry. it is the same time i started solving rubik's cube. i had two of them with crystal round case. one is a FRUIT (grapes/orange/apple etc) and the other is card suite (spade/club/diamond etc)... i never had the opportunity to have the regular rubik's cube... but lot of my classmate had one so i actually borrow from them...
and i am the first in my school to solve 2 colors in 1981. back then that was great. and i was 9 years old. but it took me 2 years to be able to solve the whole cube. i'm pretty sure i had a pattern to solve 2 colors back then so all my classmate were worship me. but they didn't know i was trying to solve the whole cube on my own. tinkering but i gave up.
after 2 years someone taught me to solve the whole cube. i didn't know what it is called back then but it is called LBL now. here is the way i solve the cube and still using it since last year where i started speedcubing and learning CFOP/fridrich.
1. solve the first layer. intuitively.
2. solve the second layer.
3. orient edge. the cross. one algs 3x if needed.
4. orient corners. using sune and anti-sune if needed.
5. permute corners. swap two corners. 2x if needed.
6. permute edge. using sune and anti-sune. 2x if needed.
that's how i solve the cube. and teaching it to all my daughters. and now my eldest daughter is getting married and expecting a child. and i will be a GRANDFATHER next year. wow. here in my country i'm the oldest speedcuber. i'm 39 years old.
i'm not hijacking your thread but i can't refrain myself from replying seeing someone like me is very much love to play and solving rubik's cube way back then.
very glad to meet you sir. thank you very much for this thread.
and i am the first in my school to solve 2 colors in 1981. back then that was great. and i was 9 years old. but it took me 2 years to be able to solve the whole cube. i'm pretty sure i had a pattern to solve 2 colors back then so all my classmate were worship me. but they didn't know i was trying to solve the whole cube on my own. tinkering but i gave up.
after 2 years someone taught me to solve the whole cube. i didn't know what it is called back then but it is called LBL now. here is the way i solve the cube and still using it since last year where i started speedcubing and learning CFOP/fridrich.
1. solve the first layer. intuitively.
2. solve the second layer.
3. orient edge. the cross. one algs 3x if needed.
4. orient corners. using sune and anti-sune if needed.
5. permute corners. swap two corners. 2x if needed.
6. permute edge. using sune and anti-sune. 2x if needed.
that's how i solve the cube. and teaching it to all my daughters. and now my eldest daughter is getting married and expecting a child. and i will be a GRANDFATHER next year. wow. here in my country i'm the oldest speedcuber. i'm 39 years old.
i'm not hijacking your thread but i can't refrain myself from replying seeing someone like me is very much love to play and solving rubik's cube way back then.
very glad to meet you sir. thank you very much for this thread.
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tfkscores
Regular
verasano just look at the sticky thread in the hardwear section. its really detailed and you can find something you like. i hope you learn fredrich, oll and pll to. check those out on youtube.
LNZ
Premium Member
Now that is from the past. My parents tried by buying a 3x3x3 cube and a solution book to have me solve it in 1981. But I could not. I could solve the first 2 layers well but just froze up on the top layer. About 28 years later, I buy the same solution book from Ebay and try again. An this time I do actually solve a 3x3x3 cube. This was in mid April 2009. My only mistake from 1981? Confusing D for D' and B for B' . Apart from that, I did quite well. Now I have solved every cube from 1x1x1 to 7x7x7 (though the 6x6x6 was done on Gabbasoft, as I don't own a real 6x6x6 cube yet). And in about 2 weeks time, I'll be solving a 1x3x3 floppy cube (of which I just ordered yeaterday of Ebay).
And I remember the hype that the cube did get in the 1980's too.
And I remember the hype that the cube did get in the 1980's too.
cmhardw
Premium Member
Wow, Jeff it is very nice to meet you and I'm very glad that you have found this forum! I too have heard your name mentioned as a favorite for being one of the top cubers when the cube first came out. I started cubing in 1998, and at one point tried to research some of the early cubing history, which is where I read your name.
It is an honor to meet one of the people who truly pioneered this hobby that we all have come to know and love. Very cool, I'm so sorry we missed you in Atlanta for US Nationals last year! There is a small group of us who regularly hold competitions in the Atlanta area. Hopefully, the next time we hold a competition in Atlanta you will be able to attend? I can almost guarantee that we can designate your restaurant as the official "after party" restaurant. A pretty much required tradition for nearly all cubing competitions is to take as many cubers as possible and all meet up at the same restaurant after the competition.
PM me if you're interested in attending a competition in Atlanta. We'll try to keep you posted as we find out more info on when the next one will be.
Chris
It is an honor to meet one of the people who truly pioneered this hobby that we all have come to know and love. Very cool, I'm so sorry we missed you in Atlanta for US Nationals last year! There is a small group of us who regularly hold competitions in the Atlanta area. Hopefully, the next time we hold a competition in Atlanta you will be able to attend? I can almost guarantee that we can designate your restaurant as the official "after party" restaurant. A pretty much required tradition for nearly all cubing competitions is to take as many cubers as possible and all meet up at the same restaurant after the competition.
PM me if you're interested in attending a competition in Atlanta. We'll try to keep you posted as we find out more info on when the next one will be.
Chris
Absolutely, let me know. My email is not too private since my restaurant is all over the web. It's just [email protected]
*LukeMayn*
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a method which you may want to learn could be waterman. It's just a more optimized version of your method it goes:
1. 1st layer (using anything you can for it to be done in a little amount of moves)
2. Corners on the top face
3. finish top layer while orienting middle edges
4. middle layer
it goes:1. 1st layer (using anything you can for it to be done in a little amount of moves)
2. Corners on the top face
3. finish top layer while orienting middle edges
4. middle layer
I ordered a few Ghost Hand cubes.
When I was nearing the end of my run, I started experimenting with the idea that while doing the last 2 pieces on the opposite sides, I should make sure I wasn't setting myself up for a 4 flip on the middle layer. 2 flips are almost as fast as no flips, so that didn't bother me. But getting a 4 flip was a killer and ruined my average. I think I remember what I did. I don't have cube here, there are all at the restaurant. i'll have to check it tomorrow. It's similar to what you are suggesting Luke. I'll look at waterman.
I probably don't have the bandwidth to really try a lot of things though. I'm running a new business.
When I was nearing the end of my run, I started experimenting with the idea that while doing the last 2 pieces on the opposite sides, I should make sure I wasn't setting myself up for a 4 flip on the middle layer. 2 flips are almost as fast as no flips, so that didn't bother me. But getting a 4 flip was a killer and ruined my average. I think I remember what I did. I don't have cube here, there are all at the restaurant. i'll have to check it tomorrow. It's similar to what you are suggesting Luke. I'll look at waterman.
I probably don't have the bandwidth to really try a lot of things though. I'm running a new business.
I'll also post up a powerpoint presentation I wrote up a few years ago with a method that I'm sure has a name nowadays. I developed it a few years after my main days. NOT a speed method at all, but I love it cause it's the only method you can explain to lay people that lets them demystify the cube. It's not just a pattern and a move to match. It's a single concept that can be used to move or orient either edges or corners. I'm sure it's known. I use it when i want to match a solved cube to a random scramble. Does anyone time that kind of thing, btw.
DavidWoner
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We do this as an event in the forum's weekly unofficial competition. You should check it out here.
Started? Rowe already learned it all.
Jeff: It's great to have you on the forum! I stumbled upon your method more than a year ago when I was just cruising around the internet. It was fun to play around with for a day, but it just wasn't my thing.
I had no idea you were such a hotshot back in the day (I actually had no idea until I read this thread). It's cool having another one of the original speedcubers on the forum. Guus Razoux Schulz (2nd at '82 World Champs) pops by every now and then, although he mainly does fewest moves solving these days. If you have any other great stories, videos, or pictures from back in the day it's be awesome if you would share them.About your speedcube situation: If you're planning to primarily use them in your restaurant, I'd suggest one that rarely pops. Crowds tend to be rather unimpressed with an exploding cube. Go through the thread and maybe buy a couple of different ones to see what you like.
Here's that doc:
http://www.varasanos.com/docs/Cube_v1.6.pps
Again, NOT a speed method, but the only solution I've ever seen that involves pure logic. It also has a lot of interchangeable pieces. It's really my favorite method. I explain it to people all the time. I've gotten super good at explaining it and most people leave feeling that the cube is demystified, even if they are not quite ready to go home and do it themselves. Maybe I'll video my explanation one day.
> I had no idea you were such a hotshot back in the day
I had the record for the entire time it was the hot thing. I had the fastest time, 36 at the first competition ever on July 25, 1981 and I broke my own record on Oct 3 with 24.67. Even though I lost the nationals, I maintained the record until the international competition in June 1982. But by then the hype was pretty much over. So the entire year it was hot, I had the record. I do regret not going to the international competition. By then I was averaging just under 22 and would have had a solid chance (the winning time was 22.something. I almost went cause Minh Thai had visa problems. Ideal Toys even had me get on line to get an expedited passport. But in the end Minh went and won.
I even did an IBM commercial. I wonder if I have that somewhere.
http://www.varasanos.com/docs/Cube_v1.6.pps
Again, NOT a speed method, but the only solution I've ever seen that involves pure logic. It also has a lot of interchangeable pieces. It's really my favorite method. I explain it to people all the time. I've gotten super good at explaining it and most people leave feeling that the cube is demystified, even if they are not quite ready to go home and do it themselves. Maybe I'll video my explanation one day.
> I had no idea you were such a hotshot back in the day
I had the record for the entire time it was the hot thing. I had the fastest time, 36 at the first competition ever on July 25, 1981 and I broke my own record on Oct 3 with 24.67. Even though I lost the nationals, I maintained the record until the international competition in June 1982. But by then the hype was pretty much over. So the entire year it was hot, I had the record. I do regret not going to the international competition. By then I was averaging just under 22 and would have had a solid chance (the winning time was 22.something. I almost went cause Minh Thai had visa problems. Ideal Toys even had me get on line to get an expedited passport. But in the end Minh went and won. I even did an IBM commercial. I wonder if I have that somewhere.
SlapShot
Regular
I'd like to take a moment to say Hi Jeff, and Thanks !!!!
I too am old school. I learned how to cube from your book way back
when, and I still have it. The corners are dog eared, but it is in fair
condition.
I too am old school. I learned how to cube from your book way back
when, and I still have it. The corners are dog eared, but it is in fair
condition.
IamWEB
Legend
I'd like to see the IBM commercial, pleasse tell if you find it. 
I'll have to ask my mom if she has it. 1981 was back when only one rich kid in the neighborhood had a VCR. He taped all my shows for me, but he was lame and taped over a few things. I know I have one composite tape somewhere. But I don't even have a player anymore.
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