Speedcubing

Buccaneer · 01-16-2006, 07:08 PM

I saw this at cnn.com

Quote:

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A 20-year-old California Institute of Technology student set a new world record for solving the popular Rubik's Cube puzzle, turning the tiled brain-twister from scrambled to solved in 11.13 seconds.

Leyan Lo is part of Caltech's Rubik's Cube Club, a student group that hosted the competition at the Exploratorium museum in San Francisco. Lo's record-setting time came early Saturday, among his first five tries in the preliminary rounds.

The record-setting solve caught competitors and Lo himself by surprise.

"It's kind of scary now that I set it, because I have two more (attempts) to go," Lo said humbly afterward. His time of 11.13 seconds broke the previous record of 11.75 seconds, set by Frenchman Jean Pons at the Dutch Open competition last year.

Still, the world record alone didn't gain Lo the overall champion's title at the event, which was determined by averaging three of five solution times in the final round. For that title, Lo went up against the teenager widely considered the fastest Rubik's Cube solver on the planet -- Shotaro "Macky" Makisumi, a 15-year-old from Pasadena.

Makisumi prevailed, clocking in with an average time of 14.91 seconds in the final round to take first place.

Besides blindingly fast fingers and a head for memorizing algorithms used by most top competitors to solve the cube, what is Makisumi's secret?

"I don't know. Faster first two layers," he surmised, referring to solving the first two layers of the cube's colored tiles before moving on to the last.

For his victory, Makisumi won a Rubik's Snake puzzle, one of several variations of the basic cube which has sold more than 100 million worldwide, according to the manufacturer.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

I went to www.speedcubing.com and I'm still having a hard time grasping this. There is only a finite number of moves one can physically do in a second so I figured it had to be an easy or a popular algorithm in order to do it that quickly. We don't even talk about blind cubing. Any of you familiar with this?

Maple Leafs · 01-16-2006, 07:27 PM

I don't believe you can use a Rubik's Cube for 11 seconds without it breaking.

Raiders Army · 01-16-2006, 08:02 PM

Impossible.

Quote:

It's not impossible. I used to bull's-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters.

stevew · 01-16-2006, 08:16 PM

Wow, i watched some of those videos on that site. Talk about quick fingers.

Senator · 01-16-2006, 08:19 PM

Later he collected all Cabbage Patch dolls in under 45 minutes.

Greyroofoo · 01-16-2006, 08:55 PM

Rubix Cube Club?

Rizon · 01-16-2006, 09:17 PM

STEROIDS.

Crim · 01-16-2006, 09:41 PM

I got a nostalgic chucke out of this. When I was in the 6th grade (1980-81), my step-dad and I figured out together how to solve it (...mostly him, but I really did help! Really! Shut up, you guys!). Anyway, my best friend was an entrepreneurial sort who realized that people would pay to get their cubes solved... So for a magical span of a couple of weeks or so, there'd be a line of kids 30 deep waiting to give Danny a quarter so Crim would solve their cubes for them before 1st period... I'm pretty sure I was knocking them out in a little under a minute, through repetition, but that 11 point whatever time is diriculous!

Crim the former geek.

P.S. Err, I play football text sims. Please disregard the word "former" above.

Julio Riddols · 01-17-2006, 07:53 AM

http://strangepuzzle.com/

Plenty o' vids here.. I'm boggled in the mind, especially with these 5X5X5 videos.. WTF?

Kodos · 01-17-2006, 09:04 AM

Hmmm. I can solve it at will, but not that fast. Sounds like they use a different method. I get all the corners right first, and then deal with the rest of the cube.

rkmsuf · 01-17-2006, 09:26 AM

I usually take it apart and put it back together. Takes more than 11 seconds though.

cuervo72 · 01-17-2006, 09:43 AM

The only way I've solved it is by peeling the stickers off and rearranging them. You can only do that once or twice though.

Ksyrup · 01-17-2006, 10:37 AM

Did anyone see the first episode of Beauty and the Geek 2? One of the guys is a Rubik's Cube freak and can solve these really fast. During the episode, he had the girls mess it up and he solved it in like 20 seconds behind his back.

01-16-2006, 07:27 PM	#2
Maple Leafs Coordinator Join Date: Jan 2002	I don't believe you can use a Rubik's Cube for 11 seconds without it breaking. __________________ Down Goes Brown: Toronto Maple Leafs Humor and Analysis

01-16-2006, 08:19 PM	#5
Senator FOFC's Elected Representative Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: The stars at night; are big and bright	Later he collected all Cabbage Patch dolls in under 45 minutes. __________________ "i have seen chris simms play 4-5 times in the pros and he's very clearly got it. he won't make a pro bowl this year, but it'll come. if you don't like me saying that, so be it, but its true. we'll just have to wait until then" imettrentgreen "looking at only ten games, and oddly using a median only, leaves me unmoved generally" - Quiksand

01-17-2006, 07:53 AM	#9
Julio Riddols College Prospect Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Bryson Shitty, NC	http://strangepuzzle.com/ Plenty o' vids here.. I'm boggled in the mind, especially with these 5X5X5 videos.. WTF? __________________ Recklessly enthused, stubbornly amused. FUCK EA

01-17-2006, 09:26 AM	#11
rkmsuf Head Coach Join Date: Dec 2001	I usually take it apart and put it back together. Takes more than 11 seconds though. __________________ "Don't you have homes?" -- Judge Smales

01-17-2006, 09:43 AM	#12
cuervo72 Head Coach Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Maryland	The only way I've solved it is by peeling the stickers off and rearranging them. You can only do that once or twice though. __________________ null

01-16-2006, 08:16 PM	#4
stevew Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: the yo'	Wow, i watched some of those videos on that site. Talk about quick fingers.

01-16-2006, 08:55 PM	#6
Greyroofoo Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Alabama	Rubix Cube Club?

01-16-2006, 09:41 PM	#8
Crim College Benchwarmer Join Date: Dec 2003	I got a nostalgic chucke out of this. When I was in the 6th grade (1980-81), my step-dad and I figured out together how to solve it (...mostly him, but I really did help! Really! Shut up, you guys!). Anyway, my best friend was an entrepreneurial sort who realized that people would pay to get their cubes solved... So for a magical span of a couple of weeks or so, there'd be a line of kids 30 deep waiting to give Danny a quarter so Crim would solve their cubes for them before 1st period... I'm pretty sure I was knocking them out in a little under a minute, through repetition, but that 11 point whatever time is diriculous! Crim the former geek. P.S. Err, I play football text sims. Please disregard the word "former" above.

01-17-2006, 09:04 AM	#10
Kodos Resident Alien Join Date: Jun 2001	Hmmm. I can solve it at will, but not that fast. Sounds like they use a different method. I get all the corners right first, and then deal with the rest of the cube.

01-17-2006, 10:37 AM	#13
Ksyrup This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off. Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: In Absentia	Did anyone see the first episode of Beauty and the Geek 2? One of the guys is a Rubik's Cube freak and can solve these really fast. During the episode, he had the girls mess it up and he solved it in like 20 seconds behind his back. __________________ M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete."

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