November 21st, 2007
#382 - Cubed
I was a kid during the Rubik’s cube craze of the 80’s. With the help from a book I got at the library I could solve it in about 20 minutes. I think I lost interest after I figured how easy it was to just take apart and put back together solved. Back in 2001 I got interested in the cube again and bought one to see if my adult brain would be better at it. I got my time down to under 2 minutes. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Just some pattern memorization. Under 2 minutes was good enough for me though, trying to get faster than that seemed more like math homework than something fun to do while waiting for the stoplight to turn green.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:02 am
I love Rubix cubes! I once got a 5×5 one for my friend…
November 21st, 2007 at 12:07 am
I found a ‘how to solve rubix cube easily’ on youtube…not the greatest, but it has some tips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lss4rR8N8as&mode=related&search=
November 21st, 2007 at 12:08 am
Oh, so that’s biff’s heart… o_o
Rubix cube? Seen but not played.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:19 am
So..what, he just cut out his heart? Might as well call him Biffy Jones…
Or did he just take it out through the VCR slot? Has he upgraded since then?
November 21st, 2007 at 12:23 am
Rubik’s cubes are not fun. What could be fun about Rubik’s cubes? Nothing.
They’re not fun.
Ever.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:24 am
Sleepingorange just sucks at Rubik’s cubes.
Well, I do too, but I make pictures with them!
November 21st, 2007 at 12:49 am
Give it to the Tinman. It’s the perfect holiday gift.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:59 am
It’s not just that I suck (which I freely admit I do); it’s the fact that it’s like fighting with a plastic box, with no reward. Maybe if you got candy for solving it, but NO! They
just
suck.
endtask:C:/rant.exe
November 21st, 2007 at 1:33 am
I cant believe it! Blood! And here I thought that Biff was just ink.
Hmm… Could it possible be red ink?
November 21st, 2007 at 2:05 am
Oh, now I get it. You always buy those crappy dollar store cubes that break right away, is it? Only the real Rubik’s Cubes are any good.
November 21st, 2007 at 2:58 am
I eventually smashed mine “To see how it works”
…
…
…”TAKE THAT YOU ******************************!”
November 21st, 2007 at 3:35 am
I once solved a Square One, a hellishly difficult variant of the Rubik’s Cube: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_One_%28puzzle%29
I haven’t dared touching it since.
November 21st, 2007 at 5:58 am
I have two Rubik’s cubes: a smoothly jointed one with stickers and a cheap clunky one with fixed tiles. to choose between comfort or if people will believe me when I complete it.
November 21st, 2007 at 6:39 am
Biff will be the first to admit
To trying many ways to stay fit
But he wasn’t impressed
about failing this test
Guess his heart’s just not in to it
November 21st, 2007 at 6:41 am
My haerts stress test is to solve a 700 step equatio with variables, decimals, and power, withn 5 minutes, and still be able to keep my blood a flowin
November 21st, 2007 at 6:43 am
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/games/9766/ try this thing on for size
November 21st, 2007 at 7:12 am
dragonbrad - That’s also known as the Square 1. That one took me a few days to solve the first time.
November 21st, 2007 at 7:49 am
I wish pattern recognition was
that easy for the heart…
November 21st, 2007 at 10:00 am
@dragonbrad
Those Square Ones are great for keeping kids quiet. (=
November 21st, 2007 at 11:04 am
u guys make me feel pathetic. Ive had rubix cubes b4, but ive never solved 1.
November 21st, 2007 at 11:39 am
I can’t even solve a Rubix cube jr. It’s like a Rubix’s cube, but with only four squares on each side instead of nine.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I looked at the square one thingy just now and almost peed myself.
It looks incredibly hard.
I could never get the rubik’s cube…
My classmates always made me feel stupid, because in grade school I was in gifted classes. The minimum IQ for entry was 140, (to set a baseline for the intelligence of my classmates) and I was the only one who couldn’t do it. I got teased mercilessly over it.
Maybe looking at those youtube videos will give me some pointers… The 10-year reunion will be my time for revenge!!!
MUAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!
November 21st, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Aww, Gobbledegook, I have a high IQ and can’t solve Rubik’s Cube either.
Only instead of merciless teasing I got the disappointed look from my dad. The “I though you were my smart child” look.
………..it was worse when my little brother solved the thing on his first try.
Ah, well. I’ve never been good at patterns. So now I stick to sounding smart by being able to spell hard words and give definitions.
The Rubik’s Cube is my dark secret……
Shhhhhhhhhhh.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:18 pm
I have held a rubik’s cube, only get two sides the same color, and haven’t really had any trouble with it. I have however, tried a Rubik’s snake and found it more fun. Probably just because you don’t necessarily “solve” a rubik’s snake.
November 21st, 2007 at 1:43 pm
This weeks theme seems to be childhood memories =o
I have a rubik’s cube laying around in my bedroom somewhere. It’s really shoddy though and falls apart. Actually, the reason it falls apart is because the plastic on the inside is a little broken up. There’s this guy at one of the malls I go to who was usually there during my spare at school. he was Autistic and really good with rubik’s cubes. His hands would move so fast when he did it. So one day I brought mine so that he could do it. But he did it so quickly that it started to break in the middle lol. It was pretty amazing though!
November 21st, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I was working my way through one, when one of my siblings decided to rearrange the coloured stickers. Thus I wound up with two sides that were supposed to be orange. Had to peel all the stickers off and ’solve’ it that way if I ever wanted it to make sense again. Haven’t touched the thing in years.
November 21st, 2007 at 4:59 pm
I’m one of the high IQ types myself, but I can never seem to pay attention long enough to actually figure it out. I suppose if I could pay attention for that long I’d probably say the hell with the cube and just go cure cancer or something instead.
November 21st, 2007 at 6:16 pm
I was watching “The Pursuit of Happyness” a few weeks ago and they had a bit with the Rubik cube [it is set in the 80’s, after all], and all of a sudden they’re back. It’s almost alarming. I SET IT OFF! OH GODS!
I can’t handle anything like Rubik cubes. We stare each other down until one of us explodes.
Usually it’s me, and it involves throwing and a few choice expletives.
November 21st, 2007 at 7:44 pm
I’m surprised that–in this day and age of ADD and ADHD–*anyone* bothers spending the time to finish these things, much less the time to find a solution themselves, rather than looking it up on the internet.
When I was a kid I think the most I got was one side of a Rubik’s cube done, then I’d be too afraid to break it up and I’d leave it at that.
November 21st, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Heheh, and to quote Tyler above:
“I can’t even solve a Rubix cube jr. It’s like a Rubix’s cube, but with only four squares on each side instead of nine. :(”
I bet both you and I could solve the Rubik’s Monkey Cube. It features only one square on each side!
November 21st, 2007 at 9:24 pm
i have never solved one before, but i have solved one of those extreemly hard wooden puzzles
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:55 am
Are you sure it isn’t a circle? I’m pretty sure it’s a circle.
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:20 pm
I got one of the rubix pyramid things… the only one i can complete without breaking it and putting it back together.
November 23rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
Okay Biff…PUT IT BACK IN!
Seriously, it seems he’s more like Buster, the dummy on MythBusters.
November 25th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Well.. I once manged to solve a 1×1x1 cube
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:23 am
I have a Rubik’s cube and I have tryed to solve it for about 4 years, still no progress…
November 30th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
To my discredit, I do not have the patience to figure out a solution to Rubik’s cube type puzzles on my own. I honestly don’t know whether or not I could develop a generalizable solve method on my own. To everyone’s annoyance, however, I found a “good enough” solution online, so I will get the cube solved. . .eventually. (estimated time: very roughly ten minutes cold, three minutes with recent practice) To my own annoyance because now I can’t leave a cube unsolved; to the cubers’ annoyance because they can do it soooo much faster; and to the non-cubers’ annoyance–probably because I come across as a bit of a show-off when I’m doing cerebral activities. Actually, there are some people I don’t annoy–those who just want the stupid thing solved because the mixed-up cube is ugly and they can’t figure it out themselves, but they can’t leave it alone, either, until it finally is solved.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
I can do the rubiks revenge (4^3) and the pyramid, but with the cube I simply bash it until a corner piece pops off, then disassemble and reassemble it in its entirety.