review

Unboxing the GoCube — A Smart Bluetooth Connected Speed Cube! (#UnboxGoCube)

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Hey, everyone. So, yeah, it’s been a while. Again. Like almost exactly a year. My last post was about the Kickstarter GoCube campaign, and here I am again talking about the same thing. See, the campaign funded, they produced the cube, and I’ve got one on my desk. The technology is pretty incredible; they crammed a lot of stuff into a cube that still manages to perform pretty well.

I don’t do unboxings all that often, but I wanted to support the campaign and get back into the swing of things on this blog and my YouTube channel. So, why not? Here’s the unboxing-slash-review, with all sorts of comments following below the fold:

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First Unboxing Video (Aolong/Yulong)

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Just a quick post about the first and only unbxoing on my Youtube channel, showcasing three Moyu cubes: a black Aolong, black Yulong, and colored translucent Yulong:


It’s been a long while since I ordered new 3x3s. Although a lot of new cubes have been released lately, and the few I’ve tried have no doubt impressed me, none have displaced the Zhanchi as king of all things 3×3 (for me). The two that have come close are Cyoubx’ Maru CX-3 and the Moyu Weilong, the older sibling of the Aolong. Both are interesting, but have their flaws. The Weilong is smooth but locky. The CX-3 performs well, but is hard to tension properly and is really square, with almost no beveling on the outer edges. A picky criticism, perhaps, but it does have an odd “hand-feel” because of it. Continue reading →

Megaminx Re-Stickering (Cubicle Stickers)

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I’m not a big megaminx solver, as you can tell from my walk-through post. But I do find it a fun break from cubic puzzles. I prefer Dayan megaminxes (with ridges). Like all things Dayan, the stickerless version is excellent. I also have a black one at work, but have never liked the look of the cheap OEM stickers — with their darker shades and poor contrast between like colors. The greens, for example, always seemed too similar, as did red and orange. And cream is just a nasty color.

So, when The Cubicle added Megaminx stickers to their totally awesome sticker picker series, I ordered replacements for the OEM stickers Here’s an overproduced video showing the before/after results (complete with explosions!):

(music: Easy Star All Stars, “Any Colour You Like”; puzzle: Dayan Ridged Megaminx)

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Maru CX3 / 60-Second PLL Time Attack

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It’s been a little while since my last post — that monster parity article that still has my head hurting.  I’ve got a couple things in the works, but I put them aside when I got a Maru CX3 the other day.  I’m really impressed with the cube, and I found my turn style and speed improving with it.  On a whim, I thought I’d give a sub-60 PLL Time Attack another go with the CX3.  I came awfully close, at 60.65 seconds.  Here’s the video (with apologies for some of the out-of-frameness):

(music: Lettuce, “Outta Here”; cube: Maru CX3 w/ stock stickers)

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