# Practicube.com cube practice website



## Cubiquitous (Nov 4, 2013)

I would like to introduce practicube.com, a new speed cube practice website.

One of my main goals in making this site is to provide some new ways to recognize and recall OLL algorithms. I have come up with a handful of names and images to help with this. I don't have an image for every OLL case, and I am very open to suggestions.

Another goal was to make the site mobile friendly, using responsive design. The practice timer can be activated with the space bar, but for phones and tablets a large button allows you to start and stop the timer. The timer allows you to track times for different cubes or puzzles separately, and it also provides some overall stats for all of your cubes.

Please note that this is a pet project I work on in my spare time, and it is currently untested on Internet Explorer. The site will always require a modern HTML5 browser, so IE 8 and earlier will never be supported.


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## Stefan (Nov 4, 2013)

It claims it's _"*the* speed cube practice website"_. What happened to all the others? Also, do you have permission for using that notation picture?

Edit: Also, clicking "Practice" doesn't do anything for me except putting "#practice" at the end of the URL (using Chrome (which is ironic cause it works in Firefox and there it tells me _"Please try updating, or use Google Chrome."_)).


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## Cubiquitous (Nov 4, 2013)

Thanks for the feedback, I have reworded the heading on the home page. I did not intend to leave the notation resource up. Eventually, it will be replaced by something animated and interactive, and there will be no need for an entire page. But since I was called out on it so quickly, I have linked to an outside resource instead.


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## Cubiquitous (Nov 4, 2013)

I got that bug in Chrome fixed. Thanks again. Your Firefox would need to be updated to support certain HTML5 features; you will also find that the OLL page does not have the diagrams, which require the HTML5 canvas. I will be using the canvas for the animated notation diagrams as well, so there is pretty much no point in providing a cookie fallback for the HTML5 local storage used by the practice timer.


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## legoanimate98 (Nov 4, 2013)

it doesn't seem much better than the place you copied it from.

http://badmephisto.com/oll.php


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## Stefan (Nov 4, 2013)

Cubiquitous said:


> Your Firefox would need to be updated to support certain HTML5 features; you will also find that the OLL page does not have the diagrams



I have Firefox 25.0, the newest stable. The OLL page looks fine to me.
Could be the NoScript extension, though I did "turn it off" ("Allow Scripts Globally").

And I confirm, timer works in my Chrome now.


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## Cubiquitous (Nov 4, 2013)

I did indeed use algorithms from badmephisto.com. I like the way the triggers are highlighted. But there are some differences among my algorithms and groupings, not to mention that practicube is a client side application (not a webpage) that allows for easy sorting of the OLL cases. While learning them, I was motivated by the shortcomings of the available resources. In particular, being able to sort the OLL cases by the number of cubies oriented up is indispensable and not found elsewhere. Also, badmephisto.com is unusable on my iPad and iPhone. I am not claiming that I invented the Rubik's cube; I am trying to improve how people can learn. It is kind of lost on seasoned veterans. I get that. I did think this discussion might be more constructive.

Stefan, I will try to look into it. But you get that message if there is no native JSON parsing or if local storage can't be accessed, but an updated Firefox should have both.


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## Cubiquitous (Dec 23, 2013)

I have just updated my notation page, and I added popovers for the notation in the scramble. The scramble is abbreviated such that R2 L2 would just be M2, etc. The popover is a quick reference for people who aren't used to that. I will be adding the popovers to all of the algorithms as well.



I am considering adding a login feature that will allow you keep all of your times in one place, as opposed to the browser's storage. I am also considering adding a facebook feature that let's you post your times.


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## Lazy Einstein (Dec 23, 2013)

OLL Practice is great. I like how you organized Bad Mephisto's OLL algs to show which OLL alg creates which from a solved cube. It will be very useful in practicing. Facebook feature would be neat.

Ideas: 

1. Badmephisto's site should be sourced with links provided to the original source content.

2. I have seen so many sites with one or two preferred algs for PLL. You should find several other tried and tested alternatives and provide them as well. Don't make a wiki or anything but it is always nice to have several to try to see which works best for you. Maybe provided video links too. 

(i.e J(a) perm F2 L' U' Rw U2 Lw' U R' U' R2 Sa967St's J (a) perm & E perm z U2 R2 F (R U R' U')x3 F' R2 U2 z' just to name a few)

Good start so far.


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## BillyRain (Dec 23, 2013)

Great idea with the OLL images!!!

Please make a separate list with just the 2-Look OLL algs. This would be massively helpful for my students!

Billy


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## Cubiquitous (Dec 23, 2013)

There is already a tab for 2-look OLL, unless I am misunderstanding...


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## Cubiquitous (Dec 23, 2013)

Lazy Einstein said:


> 2. I have seen so many sites with one or two preferred algs for PLL. You should find several other tried and tested alternatives and provide them as well...



Thanks for the input. I am certainly open to adding these things you've suggested. I also am happy to treat this as an open source effort, and acknowledge and link to discussions here. I have no need for the site to advertise or make money. It's just there to be helpful, same as anything here.

Edit: I don't mean open source as in code. I just mean, it's open for people to contribute ideas.


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## BillyRain (Dec 23, 2013)

Cubiquitous said:


> There is already a tab for 2-look OLL, unless I am misunderstanding...



Apologies! Didn't spot that


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## Cubiquitous (Dec 23, 2013)

No problem. I think I need to change the 2-look pll to have the same tabs (and work on the tab's appearance). I am glad you like the idea of the oll images. I am interested to know which ones work or don't work for you.

Update: I just added a name an image for 33 and 43, Chairman of the bored (He'd rather be cubing). It looks like a guy sitting on a chair.

BOLO: I am looking for a good image for 21, Chameleon. And maybe something to do with bats for 28 and 29.


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## Cubiquitous (Dec 24, 2013)

Cubiquitous said:


> The scramble is abbreviated such that R2 L2 would just be M2, etc...



This might interest some people. R2 L2 cannot actually be shortened to M2. It is really M2 x2. To be able to shorten it to just M2, everything that comes after it must be rotated by x2. For example:

L' R F2 R F2 D L R U D B' U2 F D2 U2 B R' B' R2 F D2 U2 R2 B2 F

is shortened to

M D2 R D2 B L R F B U' F2 D S2 D L' D' L2 U S2 R2 U2 D

If you perform both scrambles on separate cubes and then return the second to its original orientation (do x rotation), you can see it is the same as the original scramble. In this example, it saved you three rotations. Some scrambles cannot be shortened, but most are shortened by 1-3 rotations, some are shortened even more. This is not a huge time saver for a single scramble. But suppose it saves you one second 25 times per day or if you are faster 0.25 seconds 100 times per day (same math), then it adds up to over two and a half hours in a year.


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## Cubiquitous (Dec 28, 2013)

Lazy Einstein said:


> Badmephisto's site should be sourced with links provided to the original source content...
> (i.e J(a) perm F2 L' U' Rw U2 Lw' U R' U' R2 Sa967St's J (a) perm & E perm z U2 R2 F (R U R' U')x3 F' R2 U2 z' just to name a few...



I put up links on the main page to badmephisto's site and a few others.

I added the algorithms you suggested. Thanks again for the input. I liked the J(a) algorithm you provided so much that it is now listed first.


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## Cubiquitous (Dec 29, 2013)

I have added notation popovers for all algorithms and four new images.


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## Lazy Einstein (Dec 29, 2013)

Not sure if it is just my computer but the OLL practice isn't working right. The images are not showing; same with the algs.
The OLL and PLL tabs work fine however.


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## Cubiquitous (Dec 29, 2013)

Thanks for letting me know. I somehow forgot about that section when adding the notation popovers. The algorithms should show up now.

I didn't find a problem with the images, although some of the cases don't have images yet. If none of them are showing, could you tell me what browser/OS you are using? Thanks.


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## Phillip1847 (Dec 30, 2013)

Just saying, U/D is E and F/B is S.
I really like what you did with the OLLs as someone said earlier, makes it much easier to practice.
As said, more alternate algs for PLL would be nice, such as U-perms from the back, french G-perms and A(b) as the inverse of A(a).


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## Lazy Einstein (Dec 30, 2013)

Cubiquitous said:


> Thanks for letting me know. I somehow forgot about that section when adding the notation popovers. The algorithms should show up now.
> 
> I didn't find a problem with the images, although some of the cases don't have images yet. If none of them are showing, could you tell me what browser/OS you are using? Thanks.



Works again. Thanks! I use Google Chrome.


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## Lazy Einstein (Jan 29, 2014)

Bump for superior OLL practice. I'd pm'd regarding more alternate OLL algs to add.

Also have you considered adding F2L algs and advanced LL algs? 

Another idea I think would help make the site more intriguing to use would be to make the timer much more dynamic like http://www.qqtimer.net/ or the ever improving http://www.cstimer.net/timer.php.


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## Cubiquitous (Feb 1, 2014)

Lazy Einstein said:


> Also have you considered adding F2L algs and advanced LL algs?



Yes, I want to eventually add F2L and beginner's method. I am considering an OLS primer that presents a small subset of VLS and HLS that are fast and easy.



Lazy Einstein said:


> Another idea I think would help make the site more intriguing to use would be to make the timer much more dynamic...



I know the timer needs work. The big thing I want is to be able to access my times from any browser, which would require a login. I am thinking a "Login with Facebook" would be best, since this would also allow you to post achievements to Facebook. However, the timer definitely needs other improvements, and I will check out these other sites.


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## Cubiquitous (Oct 12, 2014)

At long last I have added an F2L section to practicube.com!

It features animated solves and a 3D cube representation that you can rotate. No Flash required, but it does require a modern browser.

I am aware that there is not a practice-friendly way to visually find a specific case. I plan on adding something like that in the near future.

As always, it is mobile friendly but I don't have iOS touches working for the cube rotation yet. I will add it eventually.

Here is a link to the F2L section.

Enjoy!


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## Cubiquitous (Oct 15, 2014)

I have now added a Cross section. Here is what it does.

- Generate a scramble.

- Calculate shortest cross for white, then yellow, then green, blue, red and orange. For each color, it only calculates the same number of moves as the previous or less; any solves with a higher number of moves are ignored.

- It will show you a 3D representation of the scrambled cube, and it can animate the solves on the cube. You can rotate the 3D cube.

Here is the link.

Have fun!


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## marinerabhi (Oct 15, 2014)

Excellent work, neat presentation.
Would definitely help many. 
The idea of popping a pic upon MOUSEOVER of every single move is very attractive.
And it seems like a wonderful place for beginners.
Expecting to see more improvements in the layout and strengthening in the content.
All the best.
Kudos


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## Cubiquitous (Oct 16, 2014)

Thanks, it is always encouraging to get positive feedback.

I will also welcome constructive criticism for the new cross solve generator. I believe that if I added an "inspection" rotation at the beginning that would transpose the entire algorithm and cause the cross to be on the bottom at the end, it might help. Although, if one is not concerned with the notation but rather the visual component of the solve, then it doesn't really matter because the cube can be rotated manually.


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## rebucato314 (Oct 18, 2014)

Cool website. 1 inportant thing to change:

Please

Use

WCA

Notation.

And 

Only

Using

Outer

Layers

For

Scrambling.


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## Cubiquitous (Oct 18, 2014)

Thanks for the feedback. Did you read the discussion about the scramble in this thread? Is there a reason you would prefer a non-abbreviated scramble?

How would you feel about a having a preference setting that turned the scramble abbreviation off? I could do the same for the longer WCA notation, but I think that will be a lot of hassle because the notation I used barely fits in the mobile friendly layout as it is.

As a quick update, touch events to rotate the cube on mobile Safari are now working. Touch events on Windows 8 in IE 11, should be working as well but this does not mean older versions of IE are supported.


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## comedyfish (Aug 18, 2020)

What happened to the practicube website?

is it gone for good anyone know?


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