zhanchi

lies, damn lies, and (sorta) statistics

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OK. So, maybe I’m not the archivist I claim to be. This whole notion of cataloging everything sort of died on the vine — as I became more focused on my knowledge and understanding of the cube, rather than my times solving it or collection of hardware. On balance, I prefer what came of this blog. Either way, this post is somewhat stale now.

I’m an archivist by nature. I like collecting things, sorting them, tracking them, seeing them change and grow. I believe in elaborate backup systems and in preserving all the digital information I can (photos, videos, emails, college and even high school papers, etc.). A six terabyte NAS at home, mirrored to one at my office, stands as proof.

I enjoy sifting through data. I should have been a scientist or analyst or the like. Anything but a lawyer.

I also have a strange affection for Google. They seem to get it right more often than other companies. Google is to the internet what Apple is to hardware.

So, when I started cubing six months ago, I missed no opportunity to record, track, and preserve as much info as I could. That is, in a nutshell, this blog’s raison d’être. From the beginning, I kept two Google spreadsheets for myself — one tracking my personal best solve times and the other tracking my feverishly expanding cube/puzzle collection. I added a third when I started to learn more OLLs and PLLs. Last week while running (when I seem to do my best thinking), it suddenly occurred to me that I should publish those spreadsheets and embed them here in this blog. Why not?

You’ll notice in the sidebar to the right a new “personal stats” section that is in dire need of rebranding. It links to pages embedding the aforementioned spreadsheets. (Nav sprites, in case you’re wondering.) Continue reading →

39 seconds (on camera)

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Over the past few weeks, I’ve posted a series of personal bests — culminating in last week’s 34 second solve.  But none of those PBs were evidenced by anything other than a screen capture.  So, it was nice just now to record (on my hastily set up iPad) this 39-second solve before diving into my work day.

This was on my re-stickered Dayan Zhanchi, with my custom (homemade) G‑sticker.  This nicely showcases my slow but steady evolution — with no remnants of the Beginner’s Method. Advanced cross, F2L, Antisune (OLL 26), and the just-learned Ub Perm for the PLL edge cycle.

34 seconds

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Another personal best: 34.0 seconds! Brad Mehldau’s angular take on “My Favorite Things” played in the background. Proof that jazz is good for the soul.

In my excitement at shaving a full 4.8 seconds off my last best time, I neglected to get a screen grab with that big ‘ol 34.0 in the middle. (Of course, nothing proves that I’ve actually solving anything in the times of which I boast — with requisite humility, mind you. Meaningless in terms of evidence, but still meaningful to me.)

So, I thought I’d post this chart of my last 11 days of sessions (since switching to gqTimer) instead. Nevermind the slight improvement of my averages. I’m struck by the consistency — right around session averages of 50-seconds. Freak personal bests pop up, but 50 seconds is inarguably where I am at this point.