Hi to all, I'm new here.

If you are referring to (9,12,7,4) they are individual tally for each move as in (face moves, quarter moves, slice moves, and antislice moves). Whereas R²U Fs R²Bs U R² is the algorithm for that particular permutation, last layer, assigned as U.

I think U and A are worth remembering since both have highest chances of occurrence with lowest number of moves required among all permutations. At least, this is my interpretation of it.

Hope I'm correct.

Quackery in speedcubing?

How many of you agreed that before speedcubing a solved cube must be first scrambled before the audience of your choice - mostly for youtube viewers or other means - as part of the video evident to convince?

A lots of showcase I saw on youtube neglect this important aspect of speedcubing. Most would just pick up seemingly randomised cube to begin with. The reason for doubt here being you can practice offhand to memorise, and improve moves efficiency the same scrambled cube used for the video recording without change.

Not doubt with the same scrambled cube practiced relentlessly improvement over personal best in time can be recorded.

For me, although I’m still new in speedcubing, the ideal methodology is to use some facility online to scramble a solved cube before speedcubing. Starting from the scrambling step, as provided by any facility, until the final solution should all be recorded in one continuous video. Here, the given scrambling algorithm and actual scrambling of a solved cube must be seen before one can start speedcubing. There should be not black out scenes, etc. the same cube must be visible all the time till the end.

Just my thought. If you have any valid view to disqualify it, please share.

They said ignorant is bliss but willful ignorance is unheard of…

Never heard the high profile case of Milan Baticz vs. Matyas Kuti in the competitive cubing worlds before? The general consensus goes with Milan Baticz that Matyas Kuti is a cheater. Following was taken from Milan Baticz own words.



…be very careful. They also said your words are your final stand. They either fly or permanently grounded.

You have to disassemble the cube into pieces - separating the metal parts from the plastic ones.

Dissolve 1 tablespoon of baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) with the plastic pieces altogether into clean water container. Give the covered container a good shake and stir for a through rinse before changing to clean water next. You might need to repeat this step few times.

The mixture of water and baking soda will acts as cleaning agent to remove all dirt and oil/grease from the plastic surface. It is non-abrasive solution or toxic to your plastic. If you find there are still minor oily residues left behind – then cut some plain writing paper into small bit pieces, immerse these scraps with the plastics into clean water container. Give them another good shake and stir for a through rinse before changing to clean water. The paper will absorb the residue oil from the plastic.

Last, when you are satisfied that all oily and dirty stuffs were removed give the whole plastic pieces another bath with cleaning detergent. Rinse them thoroughly before drying with clean tower. Leave them at room for air dry. Don’t sun bath them.

Alternatively, you may want to try Plexus Plastic Cleaner & Protectant if it is available in your market places to clean off the cube's plastics. This product is good at cleaning plastic material from oil and dirt.

Use WD40 to clean sprays all the metal parts. This will remove any oil or dirt from them. Make sure no excessive residue of WD40 remains on the metal after drying with clean paper/tissue. Don't use WD40 on the plastics.

Lube and assemble back your cleaned cube as usual. You may want to replace the old stickers, etc.

This post has been edited by NxNSquares: Dec 1 2008, 10:51 AM

Bad idea to spray WD40 (or CRC808 Silicone Lube) onto the core's thread as that wouldn't give you a good grip over the screws resulting inconsistent springs tension.

Both WD40 and CRC808 Silicone Lube are both - lubrication and protectant - on proper intended surfaces respectively. WD40 is widely used for metal while the CRC808 is for plastic. Both should only be used on the recommended materials as instructed.

Liquefied petroleum gas in WD40 is not the main cause of damaging the cube's plastic if applied on. It is the solvent (White spirit) in WD40 that infused onto porous plastic material and there it remained doing its lasting damages. Usage of WD40 just to break-in tight newly brought cube is not advisable even for a short while - your typical cleaning detergents can't reach the porosity of the plastic already made resident by the solvent.

A screw and its complementary thread mate are designed as fastener to hold objects together - the greater the friction the fastener has the better and consistent it will holds the object. Any sort of lubrication on either surface - screw or its complementary thread - will defeats this engineering purpose. More so when all the spinning axial are directly perpendicular to the core+screw mechanisms that hold the pieces together - a good reason why neither the core's threads or its screws should be lubricated.

An improvement of the current core + screw + spring design is to infuse the core and screws into a single unit. The infused screw is now by itself a single piece wrapped by the core - imagine all the screw glued altogether at their caps. Each thread from the "screws" should be protruding outward now from the core instead into the normal center pieces. And nuts are used to adjust the spring tension instead. The resulting improvement gives better consistency (no interplay among the screws and core), pieces hold up well as the core is now equally spaced apart and longer lasting of the core. The rest is only a matter of adjusting for equal tension and choosing the right springs, etc.

...and not get any idea of applying for patent for this newly improved core and screws design that's not your originally.

---

Added on December 2, 2008, 3:38 pmSo how many of you out there would like to see this newly improved core and screws infusion be put into production? I leave it among your own to do the polling.

...maybe Made in Malaysia's cubes on their way.

This post has been edited by NxNSquares: Dec 2 2008, 03:43 PM

Majority of propellant used by aerosol sprays is LPG but that doesn't mean the propellant is harmful to your plastic if the intended application on materials list clearly stated otherwise. Just check with the instructions carefully if it's suitable for plastic or not.

If you insist on against using LPG as propellant despite being safe with plastic materials, CRC has - though you might still want to check out other brands - the Food Grade Silicone as substitute to lubricates your plastics. It uses hydrocarbon (still a sub-component of petrol chemical) as propellant. The only downside with this alternative is that you have endure slightly unpleasant smell.

It's a no win situation if you really want to lube the cube. The important thing is to check with application suitability.

Just proved that you don't know the differences between rubber, vinyl and plastic.

Is all plastic vinyl? How about acrylic, is it plastic?

Rubik's 360


Rubik's Cube Champion, Dan Harris, tries his luck with a Rubik's 360

31 Jan 2009, Two-time British Cube-solving champion Dan Harris, 24, from Gorleston, Norfolk, has tested Rubik’s 360 for the Sunday Telegraph.
CLICK TO READ -> Rubik's 360: the first review