DaYan 6 (PanShi) Announced

Adventures in CubingLeave a comment

I’m a big fan of Dayan cubes, and, for 3×3, use them exclusively. For a while, I thought the Zhanchi (Dayan 5) was the bee’s knees — in all incarnations (white, black, stickerless, 42mm, 50mm, 55mm, or 57mm). Recently, I’ve revisited my Guhong v2 — Zhanchi’s older brother, which has a somewhat blockier/thicker/clickier feeling. Cubing forums are riddled with hyperbolic, vitriolic debate on which is better. Personal preference, I’d say. Both are damn good.

There’s long been talk about a Dayan 6 model that would combine the best traits of the Guhong and Zhanchi (and even their older brothers, DaYan’s Lingyun and Lunhui). Based on this speedsolving.com thread, which gathers pics and quotes that DaYan’s designer (Daqing Bao) posted to the MF8 forum, the rumors now appear true. In fact, pre-orders are now being accepted at 51morefun.com.

Pics, Videos

Here are some pics that circulated a few days ago as part of the original threads:

And here is a video slideshow Continue reading →

2x2s Revisited

Adventures in CubingLeave a comment

I haven’t spent much time at all on 2x2s. I actually think they’re fun puzzles, but just never really got that into them. I basically got a V-Cube 2×2 a month after getting into cubing, landed a 27-second on-video solve on my first try, got a 16-second solve a few days later, and then shelved it.

2×2 OLL GUIDE HERE: DOWNLOAD

When Crazybadcuber posted his excellent 2×2 tutorial (embedded below) the other day, I decided to order a better 2×2 (a WitTwo Type C v1) and try again. The last time I played with a 2×2, I treated it as a 3×3 with no edges. Which, of course, is right. But applying 3×3 algorithms is not very efficient. For example, I used to treat this 2×2 case like this 3×3 case . Of course, the 3×3 algorithm will work. But it takes 12 QTM moves with a couple D layer moves (which I find hard on a 2×2). By contrast, the 2×2-specific an alternate 3×3 algorithm takes only 6 QTM moves — and is crazy easy: an F turn to setup, a Sexy Move, and a F’ to finish. EDIT: The key is that these three are equivalent: . Once you ignore edges, there are multiple 3×3 OLL cases to choose from for each 2×2 OLL case. Continue reading →

43 quintillion possibilities

Adventures in Cubing2 Comments

Short post today, my first from the WordPress iPad app. Sometimes you see something done so well, so elegantly, so cleverly that you can share it with little commentary. Such is the case with Kenneth’s (RedKB) “Why is the Rubik’s Cube So Hard?!?!!” video below. The answer, of course, is that there are 43 quintillion possible cubie combinations on a 3×3 cube, only one of which is “solved.” But 43 quintillion is impossibly hard to understand. Until now:

Kenneth also has a follow up episode on the probabilities surrounding a 7×7, with conclusions that are hard to believe.

This makes me want to do a post on the math behind 43 quintillion. Soon….

39-Second Aof5 entry, analysis (cyoubx/mitchell lane competition)

Adventures in CubingLeave a comment

Competing? Really?

golf-swing-analysisYou don’t skip the company’s annual golf tournament because you’re a double-bogey golfer. You go, drink a few beers, have a good time, and learn a thing or two from the guys who live on the course. At least that’s what I do.

And, metaphorically, that’s what I did when I decided to submit an entry into an online competition administered by cyoubx and Mitchell Lane. They provided scrambles for several events (2×2, 3×3, 4×4, pyraminx) and invited people to “compete” by submitting video responses showing their solves. It would be based on the honor system (no way to prevent people from filming themselves multiple times and submitting only their best), and there would be no prizes. The express purpose was “to ‘meet’ other cubers,” “to encourage personal improvement,” and to strengten “a sense of community” among cubers.

I knew there was zero chance I could win this thing, averaging around 42 seconds (with my better solves in the mid-thirties). But I dug the concept and the chance to try something different as part of the community. Minimally, like folks who film their golf swing for analysis, I figured that I could learn something about my technique.

Video Submission, Results

Here is the 3×3 video I submitted, with a best solve of 37 seconds and an average of five of 39 seconds I realize that the edits between each solve give the appearance of multiple attempts. And there were. But not the cheating of multiple solve attempts; worse, it was multiple scramble attempts!?! Half-way through each of the scrambles, I caught myself reversing (or at least worrying that I had reversed) the inverse/non-inverses for Ds, Ls, and Bs. So I had to keep starting over to make sure I got each scramble right. Trust me, if I were going to cheat, I would have submitted better solves without glaring mistakes!?!

Continue reading →

Happy New Year!

Adventures in Cubing2 Comments

happy-new-year-champagne-clinkingSo, it’s that time of the year when people reflect. Resolutions and what not. I’ve been doing my own reflecting and have lots of thoughts. But I already have plenty of long, dense posts on this blog. So, I’m going to keep it really simple:

My first video solve of 2012 came in this post, in which a 34-year-old with two months of cubing experience and a GoPro sample sitting in his office was proud to capture on video two 69 second solves:

 

Continue reading →