# Things cubers want non-cubers to understand



## macky (Jun 16, 2011)

http://cubefreak.net/articles/fornoncubers.html

This is meant to be a first read for non-cubers with any interest whatsoever in cubing, not necessarily those who actually want to start cubing. Speedsolving Wiki's FAQ has information for beginner cubers, not for non-cubers. There's also General Information, but that's mostly just about the cube; there should be a shorter General Information on Speedcubing article aimed at non-cubers. But even before that, given how many misconceptions there are about cubing, I felt that something like my article above would be a better first read.

Comments? What else should non-cubers understand?


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## Erzz (Jun 16, 2011)

That the cube isn't "greased up" or "worn out" if it turns well.
Also "If you saw someone solve a cube in 20 moves, he was cheating or it wasn't meant to be a proper solve." should probably say speedsolve rather than proper solve.

Edit: Also you should mention the sticker removal thing which is pretty annoying.


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## RyanReese09 (Jun 16, 2011)

Absolutely brilliant. I loved reading it. I'm going to have all my non cuber friends read this when situations come up.

The "lying" section should be expanded, but I'm blanking on more right now.


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## cmhardw (Jun 16, 2011)

I really like this article! Thanks for putting this together Macky!


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## Robert-Y (Jun 16, 2011)

Can someone give an easy to understand definition of a lucky solve or skipping a step?


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## ~Phoenix Death~ (Jun 16, 2011)

Didn't someone make a T-Shirt with common stuff said by non-cubers or corrections on the back? It had some of the facts from that page. I want that shirt


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## RyanReese09 (Jun 16, 2011)

~Phoenix Death~ said:


> Didn't someone make a T-Shirt with common stuff said by non-cubers or corrections on the back? It had some of the facts from that page. I want that shirt


 
If you ever find it let me know. I'd buy it.


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## StachuK1992 (Jun 16, 2011)

Really nice article, and I'm liking the new format of your website; I saw it a few days ago and was happily surprised!


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## blackzabbathfan (Jun 16, 2011)

while solving, there are steps, a lucky solve is when you skip a step


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## uberCuber (Jun 16, 2011)

I really like this article, very nice idea


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## blackzabbathfan (Jun 16, 2011)

the fact that sub-30 sucks and that we have lives even though we can solve the rubiks cube


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## uberCuber (Jun 16, 2011)

blackzabbathfan said:


> the fact that sub-30 sucks


 
The WR is sub-30.


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## cmhardw (Jun 16, 2011)

blackzabbathfan said:


> *the fact that sub-30 sucks* and that we have lives even though we can solve the rubiks cube


 
*bolded part:* Wow, that's kinda harsh. I don't think that sub-30 sucks.

underlined part: Whenever someone gives me the "Well you must not have a life" attitude I just look at them like they're a moron. That type of comment doesn't event deserve a response in my opinion.


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## Kirjava (Jun 16, 2011)

Robert-Y said:


> Can someone give an easy to understand definition of a lucky solve or skipping a step?


 
I don't think there should be one.


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## Andrew Ricci (Jun 16, 2011)

blackzabbathfan said:


> the fact that sub-30 sucks and that we have lives even though we can solve the rubiks cube


 
Then you suck.


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## Sa967St (Jun 16, 2011)

~Phoenix Death~ said:


> Didn't someone make a T-Shirt with common stuff said by non-cubers or corrections on the back? It had some of the facts from that page. I want that shirt


That was Phillip Espinoza.

http://www.customink.com/designs/ru...ok&cm_ite=rubenoob&cm_pla=share&cm_ven=social


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## ianography (Jun 16, 2011)

theanonymouscuber said:


> Then you suck.


 
Fluttershy! That's not nice!


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## Andrew Ricci (Jun 16, 2011)

ianography said:


> Fluttershy! That's not nice!


 
I'm only re-stating what he said.


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## antoineccantin (Jun 16, 2011)

> Most anyone above the age of say 9 can learn to solve a Rubik's Cube.


Many people of less than 9 years old can solve a cube.


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## Owen (Jun 16, 2011)

I think I'll print this out and give it to everyone I know.


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## izovire (Jun 16, 2011)

When I demonstrate to sell a really nice speedcube (like my guhong) non-cubers often say it's too loose and used, and would rather buy a dollar cube that is 'tight'. 

Nice article... I feel like having this posted around where I sell to the regular public. I often get this comment: "My math professor can solve it in 5 seconds consistently." -Then I tell them it was a set up solve or they're not sure what they're talking about.


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## Athefre (Jun 16, 2011)

Should maybe change the word "preinspection" to prevent it from spreading further.


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## macky (Jun 16, 2011)

Athefre said:


> Should maybe change the word "preinspection" to prevent it from spreading further.


Thanks, fixed. I'd always (since 2002) used "preinspection" or "pre-inspection," by the way. It must have been the common term back in the day.

As for some of the other suggestions, I'm trying to keep items here to a minimum, as the article is really supposed to be a first (and maybe final) read for non-cubers.


Erzz said:


> That the cube isn't "greased up" or "worn out" if it turns well.





izovire said:


> When I demonstrate to sell a really nice speedcube (like my guhong) non-cubers often say it's too loose and used, and would rather buy a dollar cube that is 'tight'.


Not sure if non-cubers need to know how a speedcube feels and the difference between lubricated and worn out.



Erzz said:


> Also "If you saw someone solve a cube in 20 moves, he was cheating or it wasn't meant to be a proper solve." should probably say speedsolve rather than proper solve.


No, I do mean "a proper solve."



Erzz said:


> Edit: Also you should mention the sticker removal thing which is pretty annoying.


Yeah, but not sure how to introduce it. 



Robert-Y said:


> Can someone give an easy to understand definition of a lucky solve or skipping a step?


Non-cubers don't need to know about this. For simplicity, I'd rather just write "lucky" and not even "lucky (in some well defined sense)."


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## JLarsen (Jun 16, 2011)

macky said:


> As for some of the other suggestions, I'm trying to keep items here to a minimum, as the article is really supposed to be a first (and maybe final) read for non-cubers.


 This is probably the most important thing to consider here. The whole reason for this topic is ignorance due to lack of caring or just unfamiliarity. As I read through the page (as it is right now) I thought about how far the majority of the few that actually were bored enough to click the link would actually read. It probably wouldn't be more than the first couple of lines. 

If anything, I think the paramount subject here should be respect and appreciation for the puzzle itself, and its value to us as opposed to them. All of the other social stigmas and stupid comments don't really have any direct effect on us except some mild annoyance - but some jerk throwing your cube across the room to his friend is unacceptable. They simply don't think anything of it, as that's what the cube means to them. I'd suggest moving those ideas up to the top of the page to increase the chance of them being read.


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## Juju (Jun 16, 2011)

I think any cuber has to work reasonably hard to get sub 30. It doesn't come over night. It took me about 3 months of pretty solid cubing.

I run a cubing club at my school (I'm a teacher), and the kids who reach sub 30 have put a lot of work into it.


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## RyanReese09 (Jun 16, 2011)

Juju said:


> I think any cuber has to work reasonably hard to get sub 30. It doesn't come over night. It took me about 3 months of pretty solid cubing.
> 
> I run a cubing club at my school (I'm a teacher), and the kids who reach sub 30 have put a lot of work into it.



Depends on the method. After switching to CFOP (I learned all hte algs first) Sub30 came after like a few weeks. If you think about how much time you have per step, it's really not that bad.


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## cubeslayer (Jun 16, 2011)

bookmarked. I've got to post this on my dorm wall " If you ask, many cubers will let you scramble their cube. Don't just grab them...Don't try to (badly) imitate our turning speed and drop the cube. This can damage pieces and put the cube out of tune. Many competition-level speedcubers spend a lot of effort fine-tuning their cubes....Official rules allow up to 15 seconds of inspection beore starting a solve. We don't like it when you hide the cube, give it back, and start timing right away, especially without warning."


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## Jungleterrain (Jun 16, 2011)

You should add: A significant chunk of the cuber population is NOT asian.

And also: Us cubers think it's annoying when you ask us why it's "well-oiled" or "slick", and we say we lubricated it, and you say "EEEWW you're disgusting!"


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## Godmil (Jun 16, 2011)

I really liked the article, it was a very entertaining read. But just to note, there's no way I'd ever get a non-cuber to read it.
Imagine you had a friend who say, collected Belt Buckles... now imagine they handed you a page with a long list of all the do's/don't and social etiquette concerning the talking about and looking at belt buckles... I don't give a **** about belt buckles and I'd think the person was too full of themselves for presuming that anyone else would care.

But like I said, I enjoyed reading it.


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## Bapao (Jun 16, 2011)

Godmil said:


> I really liked the article, it was a very entertaining read. But just to note, there's no way I'd ever get a non-cuber to read it.
> Imagine you had a friend who say, collected Belt Buckles... now imagine they handed you a page with a long list of all the do's/don't and social etiquette concerning the talking about and looking at belt buckles... I don't give a **** about belt buckles and I'd think the person was too full of themselves for presuming that anyone else would care.
> 
> But like I said, I enjoyed reading it.



Same here.


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## stoic (Jun 16, 2011)

I enjoyed this too. Not sure about the opening though. Surely describing cubing as "a relatively minor hobby often associated with geek culture" isn't going to endear either cubing or cubers to a non-cuber? If it needs a description, I'd go for something more positive, like "a fast-growing sport with regular competitions held internationally". 

(There's probably a thread or ten somewhere about whether cubing is a sport or not but you get the idea.)


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## Georgeanderre (Jun 16, 2011)

:tu brilliant article, contains everything it needs to in my opinion, nice idea


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## irontwig (Jun 16, 2011)

Macky said:


> Although every configuration of the Rubik's Cube can be solved in at most 20 moves (counting a 180-degree turn as one move), a typical speedsolve can take 50+ moves. If you saw someone solve a cube in 20 moves, he was cheating or it wasn't meant to be a proper solve.



20 moves sounds like a _really_ proper solve to me.


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## chris410 (Jun 16, 2011)

Very nice read thank you!


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## Maniac (Jun 16, 2011)

Add some pictures maybe. I always find that pictures with pretty stuff holds people's attention longer.

Very good! You put a lot of work into that.


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## MTGjumper (Jun 16, 2011)

Godmil said:


> I really liked the article, it was a very entertaining read. But just to note, there's no way I'd ever get a non-cuber to read it.
> Imagine you had a friend who say, collected Belt Buckles... now imagine they handed you a page with a long list of all the do's/don't and social etiquette concerning the talking about and looking at belt buckles... I don't give a **** about belt buckles and I'd think the person was too full of themselves for presuming that anyone else would care.
> 
> But like I said, I enjoyed reading it.


 
"Hmmm, need to think of analogy here..." *looks down* "Belt buckles! Great idea!" 

Interesting read. I doubt my mates would read it though, and they'd probably still not agree with some of it (such as, they would still disagree that I get inspection).


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## Dacuba (Jun 16, 2011)

Brilliant one.
I liked the one with "You can't solve a Cube by accident", that's on of the worst things.

Just to demonstrate (warning: geek and semi-serious, just 4 fun):


Spoiler



A semi-serious documentary said, the chance, that the earth will be destroyed by the energy sent out by a supernova somewhere in the earth's life (4.5^9 years to go) is 1%
The chance that a random state of a Rubik's cube is solved, is 4.3*10^-19
The chance of the earth being destroyed in the next second is 7.1*10^-18

To sum up: The chance of the earth being destroyed the next second is 10 times higher, than the chance of a noncuber scrambling, looking down to the cube and find a solved position.
Explain that to a noncuber and get called a geek


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## Cubenovice (Jun 16, 2011)

Dacuba said:


> To sum up: The chance of the earth being destroyed the next second is 10 times higher, than the chance of a *noncuber scrambling, looking down to the cube and find a solved position*.
> [/spoiler]



NO...

Handscrambles do not provide truely random scrambles, people tend to repeat move sequences (there's even a thread on it)
For non-cubers this may even be worse; moving parallel slices back and forth doesn't really scramble the cube etc etc

If you do want to use the earthe being destroyed anology:
The chance of the earth being destroyed the next second is 10 times higher, than the chance *of a truely random generated position actually being the solved position*

Doesn' sound quite as cool I'm afraid ;-)


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## Mike Hughey (Jun 16, 2011)

The chance of the earth being destroyed in the next second is 10 times higher than the chance of a noncuber picking up a cube with a proper random scramble applied to it, scrambling it for a while, then looking down at the cube and finding a solved position.

There, now it's cool again.

[Note I haven't taken the time to check into the validity of the likelihood of the earth being destroyed in the next second; somehow the numbers there seem a little fishy to me - it would seem our knowledge is probably not great enough to be making anything resembling an accurate estimate of the likelihood of a supernova destroying the earth, and I suspect we would have advance warning of such anyway, so the probability of it happening in the next second is probably much lower.]


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## Ranzha (Jun 16, 2011)

I often hear "Do you oil/grease your cube?" and "How does your cube turn so fast?" and I reply, "There are silicone-based lubricants that you can use which make turning easier."

Additionally, should there be something about how it's not "amazing" to see 1-minute solves if the solutions are 60ish moves because their tps is low.

And about "pre(-)inspection": I would call it pre-solve inspection.


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## bwronski (Jun 16, 2011)

I don't think we would really know it was coming. Because when a supernova occurs the gasses are released and they expand, but they would not reach us. Its the release of gamma rays that we should be concerned with. And since gamma rays are 'light' and part of the electromagnetic spectrum we couldn't see it before it hit us. We wouldn't even see the explosion of gasses before the game rays hit.


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## buelercuber (Jun 16, 2011)

RyanReese09 said:


> If you ever find it let me know. I'd buy it.


 
yea me too that would be amazing, if they'd ever ask me i'd point to my shirt :3


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## Mike Hughey (Jun 16, 2011)

bwronski said:


> I don't think we would really know it was coming. Because when a supernova occurs the gasses are released and they expand, but they would not reach us. Its the release of gamma rays that we should be concerned with. And since gamma rays are 'light' and part of the electromagnetic spectrum we couldn't see it before it hit us. We wouldn't even see the explosion of gasses before the game rays hit.


 
I found this interesting discussion on the topic.

It's an interesting question. At the very least, you'd think we'd be able to see the star getting bigger very suddenly for a few minutes before the gamma rays hit. Assuming we actually have something observing and paying attention...


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## RyanReese09 (Jun 16, 2011)

buelercuber said:


> yea me too that would be amazing, if they'd ever ask me i'd point to my shirt :3


 
I made a T-Shirt last night. When it comes in the mail I'll be sure to post images of it. Based off of that shirt above, but with more content, updated records, and I added a front side . It looks amazing. JT helped me with the design.


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## bwronski (Jun 16, 2011)

Looks like a good little read, thanks for the link. And it is a great question to think about!


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## Bryan (Jun 16, 2011)

"If you solve 5 sides, the last side is automatically solved. You never managed to solve 5 sides but couldn't get the last one."

You should add that solving 4 sides and having the last two is impossible also, unless someone peeled stickers or took the cube apart.


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## Clayy9 (Jun 16, 2011)

Bryan said:


> "If you solve 5 sides, the last side is automatically solved. You never managed to solve 5 sides but couldn't get the last one."
> 
> You should add that solving 4 sides and having the last two is impossible also, unless someone peeled stickers or took the cube apart.


 
(R2 U2)3

or

(R2 U2 L2 D2)3

or

(U2 M2)2


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## Bryan (Jun 16, 2011)

Clayy9 said:


> (R2 U2)3


 
Doh, I was concentrating on adjacent sides. I suck at cube theory. Speaking of sucking at cube theory:

"Scrambling for a Cuber"

When you scramble, there's a chance (I won't venture to put a value here) that two stickers of the same color will be next to each other.


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## 5BLD (Jun 16, 2011)

In fact, it's certain that two are on the same face.


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## ianography (Jun 16, 2011)

Good article! I just think that you should mention the different names or spellings non-cubers give the cube, such as "Rubix" or "box". Those infuriate me.


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## 5BLD (Jun 16, 2011)

Absolutely. Especially when they say the 4x4 or 4 cube, referring to my 2x2x2. Which happened to be destroyed by the same guy who then took it, imitated me, and you can guess all the rest.


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## lucarubik (Jun 16, 2011)

it describes my life macky!


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## macky (Jun 17, 2011)

Sn3kyPandaMan said:


> This is probably the most important thing to consider here. The whole reason for this topic is ignorance due to lack of caring or just unfamiliarity. As I read through the page (as it is right now) I thought about how far the majority of the few that actually were bored enough to click the link would actually read. It probably wouldn't be more than the first couple of lines.
> 
> If anything, I think the paramount subject here should be respect and appreciation for the puzzle itself, and its value to us as opposed to them. All of the other social stigmas and stupid comments don't really have any direct effect on us except some mild annoyance - but some jerk throwing your cube across the room to his friend is unacceptable. They simply don't think anything of it, as that's what the cube means to them. I'd suggest moving those ideas up to the top of the page to increase the chance of them being read.


 
Thanks for the comment. I agree completely. I've added two items at the top.



irontwig said:


> 20 moves sounds like a _really_ proper solve to me.


Insisting on a technicality like this is quite useless when we don't want to explain FMC (and surely no one has seen a proper 20-move linear FMC), but ok, changed to "proper speedsolve" since yours is the second comment about this item.

[edit]
Corrected typo pointed out below. Thanks!


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## bobthegiraffemonkey (Jun 17, 2011)

I had fun reading this, good work. Only one minor correction: a typo at the bottom about inspection, on the word 'before'.


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## kinch2002 (Jun 17, 2011)

RyanReese09 said:


> I made a T-Shirt last night. When it comes in the mail I'll be sure to post images of it. Based off of that shirt above, but with more content, updated records, and I added a front side . It looks amazing. JT helped me with the design.


Can you upload a link like Sarah's, with your design on it?


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## Ravi (Jun 17, 2011)

Bryan said:


> Doh, I was concentrating on adjacent sides.


 
U2 M' S' U' S U2 M U


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## Stefan (Jun 17, 2011)

RyanReese09 said:


> I made a T-Shirt last night [...] *I added a front side*


 
I thought the point was that you could turn your back on them and continue solving, while appearing helpful rather than snobbish.


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## RyanReese09 (Jun 17, 2011)

http://www.customink.com/designs/pe...IL-40778&cm_mmc=share-_-emailb-_-button-_-end

That is JTs version of the front side. Looks nice.

The one below is what I went with.

http://www.customink.com/designs/cu...46120&cm_mmc=hotlink-_-2-_-Body_txt-_-button1


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## BlackStahli (Jun 17, 2011)

Thank you soo much for that website. @[email protected] You wouldn't believe the number of people that have asked me to scramble my cube and end up making it solvable in 4 moves...


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## Alan Chang (Jun 17, 2011)

macky said:


> What else should non-cubers understand?


 
When scrambling, it's okay to have stickers of the same color adjacent to each other! >.<


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## cubeflip (Jun 17, 2011)

When I'm solving a cube:

I'm not peeling the stickers off. :fp

I'm not a crazy genius. :fp


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## teller (Jun 17, 2011)

Ravi said:


> U2 M' S' U' S U2 M U


 
Awesome...I didn't think of that. I love this site...


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## irontwig (Jun 17, 2011)

macky said:


> Insisting on a technicality like this is quite useless when we don't want to explain FMC (and surely no one has seen a proper 20-move linear FMC), but ok, changed to "proper speedsolve" since yours is the second comment about this item.



I don't think it is a technicality at all. If non-cubers mention move counts albeit incorrect ones it suggests that they understand the challenge of solving efficiently, doesn't it? You can at least mention that it normally takes an expert and more than an hour and/or a really nice/easy/lucky scramble to get a solve in the low 20s.


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## CubicNL (Jun 17, 2011)

Great page for an introduction, it'll surely help avoiding some misunderstandings.


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## tx789 (Jun 17, 2011)

It would be interesting o see how many non-cubers read this


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## Stefan (Jun 17, 2011)

There should also be a *"Things non-cubers want cubers to understand"* page.


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## Sebastien (Jun 17, 2011)

tell them, not us


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## nlCuber22 (Jun 17, 2011)

Ravi said:


> U2 M' S' U' S U2 M U


 
My intuitive solution was RUD'R'U'DM2U2M2U'D'RU'DR'


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## asportking (Jun 17, 2011)

They should make this a public service announcement or something, it would make cubers lives so much easier. By the way:



RyanReese09 said:


> http://www.customink.com/designs/pe...IL-40778&cm_mmc=share-_-emailb-_-button-_-end
> 
> That is JTs version of the front side. Looks nice.
> 
> ...


 
That's EPIC. I might buy one.


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## d4m4s74 (Jun 17, 2011)

Stefan said:


> There should also be a *"Things non-cubers want cubers to understand"* page.


 
that would be easy. one entry
*we don't care*


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## Stefan (Jun 17, 2011)

d4m4s74 said:


> one entry
> *we don't care*


 


But seriously, I think such a page could help as well, although I still imagine it for *us*. So more like *"Things cubers should understand about non-cubers"*, i.e., how to deal with them. Macky's page already tries to improve the communication from the non-cuber direction, my suggested page would try to improve it from the cuber direction. For example:


The word "algorithm" only confuses non-cubers and makes cubing appear more complicated and mystic than it is, so say "move sequence" or "sequence of moves" instead. Even the non-cubers who happen to already know "algorithm" already will still be confused, because we abuse the word (it has a much broader and different meaning in general).
Non-cubers are terrible at scrambling. Scramble your cube yourself first, then give it to them for some further scrambling.


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## macky (Jun 17, 2011)

Included a point about adjacent colors in stickers, but it's relatively unimportant.



irontwig said:


> I don't think it is a technicality at all. *If non-cubers mention move counts albeit incorrect ones it suggests that they understand the challenge of solving efficiently, doesn't it?* You can at least mention that it normally takes an expert and more than an hour and/or a really nice/easy/lucky scramble to get a solve in the low 20s.


(emphasis mine)

Good point, thanks. I hadn't thought about the bolded part. That's a good way to address the misunderstanding, and without explaining more than non-cubers care about. I've replaced the last sentence in the item with "It typically takes an expert an hour or more to solve a given scramble in under 25 moves."


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## Lucas Garron (Jun 19, 2011)

Nicely written. I think this is a pretty thorough and accurate start.

I've been meaning to write up a sort of "press guide" we could send to reporters so they stop writing incorrect things. This would probably do.
Still, facts like: The Rubik's Cube has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 valid positions. This is "about 43 quintillion", but it's NOT 43 with 18 zeros after it.
And more of an overview of roughly how a cuber solves / thinks.


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## MoRpHiiNe (Jun 19, 2011)

Great read, the only problem I have is that non-cubers would rarely go looking for a page about cubing... Cause I doubt they care lol...


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## MrIndianTeen (Jun 21, 2011)

> We're happy when you take any interest in our hobby! But it's even better if you avoid some misunderstandings



Hobby should be changed to sport.


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## ben1996123 (Jun 21, 2011)

Put something like:

The name of a cube (eg. 3x3x3) is the amount of pieces ("cubies") in each direction, not the amount of pieces, amount of stickers, or amount of stickers on each side.


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## Rpotts (Jun 21, 2011)

MrIndianTeen said:


> Hobby should be changed to sport.


 
I disagree. It fits more in the "hobby" category than "sport" because it takes virtually no physical ability, relative to most sports. If cubing is a sport then so is pen spinning, yo-yo-ing, gaming, speed stacking and tons of other things I personally am not comfortable considering sports.


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## nlCuber22 (Jun 21, 2011)

MrIndianTeen said:


> Hobby should be changed to sport.



I'd just like to say that speedcubers that insist that cubing is a sport might just be too physically inadequate or lazy to take up a "real" sport. That or they just suck at them. It does technically fit the definition of a sport, but it takes next to no physical activity/strength.


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## ElectricDoodie (Jun 21, 2011)

MrIndianTeen said:


> Hobby should be changed to sport.


 I don't see cubing as an actual sport.


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## Hershey (Jun 21, 2011)

How exactly can speedcubing be considered a sport?


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## nlCuber22 (Jun 21, 2011)

Hershey said:


> How exactly can speedcubing be considered a sport?


 
Sport (n.) - An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.

Involves next to no "physical exertion and skill", though.


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## Rpotts (Jun 21, 2011)

nlCuber22 said:


> Sport (n.) - An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.
> 
> *Involves next to no "physical exertion and skill", though.*


 
Exactly, if you remove "physical exertion and skill" from the definition it becomes - 

Sport? (n.) - An activity in which an individual or team competes against another or others. 

That definition would include things like board games, trivia, staring contests, hangman, etc.


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## Kirjava (Jun 21, 2011)

Hershey said:


> How exactly can speedcubing be considered a sport?


 
Who cares? It's not important.


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## kprox1994 (Jun 21, 2011)

My Fingers start to feel sore after awhile from cubing. To me moving your fingers is physical activity, and my fingers do exert so I guess it is a sport. Then again this is coming from a lazy person who sits in front of a screen all day. It doesn't really matter though, I could call sleeping a sport if I wanted to.


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## Georgeanderre (Jun 21, 2011)

kprox1994 said:


> I could call sleeping a sport if I wanted to.


 
oh yeah =)


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## DavidWoner (Jun 21, 2011)

Kirjava said:


> I don't think there should be one.


 
What about something along the lines of: "Since scrambles are random, some solves will be inherently easier than others. If a cuber says their best time is 10 seconds, don't expect them to be able to get 10 seconds every time."



nlCuber22 said:


> I'd just like to say that speedcubers that insist that cubing is a sport might just be too physically inadequate or lazy to take up a "real" sport.



I lold


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## ThumbsxUpx (Jun 21, 2011)

Great article. Going to be useful...


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## Kirjava (Jun 22, 2011)

DavidWoner said:


> What about something along the lines of: "Since scrambles are random, some solves will be inherently easier than others. If a cuber says their best time is 10 seconds, don't expect them to be able to get 10 seconds every time."



Yeah, that's more like the kind of thing that's needed.

I just don't think that having a strict definition of the term luck like we do at the moment is something we should do.


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## RTh (Jun 22, 2011)

If you don't mind, I will translate it to Spanish and post it again. I need most people in my environment to read this, otherwise I may suffer a heart attack each time they get my cube off my hands.


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## James Cavanauh (Jun 23, 2011)

You should say something about the fact that not all cubes are the same and that you are not a cheapo for not using a rubiks brand.


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## Tim Major (Jun 23, 2011)

James Cavanauh said:


> You should say something about the fact that not all cubes are the same and that you are not a cheapo for not using a rubiks brand.


 
I have never had, "you're a cheapo for not using a Rubik's brand". So (at least for me) that would be pointless.


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## Andreaillest (Jun 23, 2011)

Good read Macky, I'm trying to think of more to add, but I'm blanked.
Again, great article, if the situation were to ever come up, I will direct ignorant non-cubers to your page.


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## MostEd (Jun 23, 2011)

I'll make an A3 Print of that, and stick it to my door or a wall.


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## macky (Jun 23, 2011)

DavidWoner said:


> What about something along the lines of: "Since scrambles are random, some solves will be inherently easier than others. If a cuber says their best time is 10 seconds, don't expect them to be able to get 10 seconds every time."


It's not the most important thing, but let me see if there's an appropriate place for it.



RTh said:


> If you don't mind, I will translate it to Spanish and post it again. I need most people in my environment to read this, otherwise I may suffer a heart attack each time they get my cube off my hands.


Sure. Let me know where you post it (if somewhere semi-permanent) so I can link from my site.


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## ZamHalen (Jun 23, 2011)

Rpotts said:


> Exactly, if you remove "physical exertion and skill" from the definition it becomes -
> 
> Sport? (n.) - An activity in which an individual or team competes against another or others.
> 
> That definition would include things like board games, trivia, staring contests, hangman, etc.


 
Record a sub-8 average of 12 now!!! JK I do really it does take a level of skill or else everyone would be stupid fast with minimum effort.


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## Rpotts (Jun 24, 2011)

I'm not arguing against speedcubing taking skill, it certainly does. I'm saying that including speedcubing in the category of sport expands the definition arbitrarily far, to the point that almost any activity you could possibly compete in becomes a sport, as long as you at least move a finger or toe once.


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## TMOY (Jun 24, 2011)

Good job Macky. I have one more suggestion, about a common mistake I've seen made by non-cubers when scrambling my cubes:

"Since every position can be reached in at most 20 moves, 25-30 random moves are enough to handscramble a cube properly. Scrambling it for hours serves no purpose, and won't make solving more difficult at all."


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## macky (Jun 24, 2011)

TMOY said:


> Good job Macky. I have one more suggestion, about a common mistake I've seen made by non-cubers when scrambling my cubes:
> 
> "Since every position can be reached in at most 20 moves, 25-30 random moves are enough to handscramble a cube properly. Scrambling it for hours serves no purpose, and won't make solving more difficult at all."


 
True. Added an item.


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## iEnjoyCubing (Jun 25, 2011)

I love it. I'll direct people there.


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## fagundes (Jun 30, 2011)

nice share brother. that's really nice idea


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## ketchuphater999 (May 19, 2012)

> If you ask, most cubers will let you scramble their cube. Don't just grab them, though, and keep these things in mind.
> 
> Don't try to (badly) imitate our turning speed and drop the cube. This can damage pieces and put the cube out of tune. As already written, we care about our cubes.


TOTALLY! one of my friends was scrambling my precious Dayan Guhong, which was my main speedcube at the time, and tried to imitate how fast I turned the cube, and right on cue, he dropped it and 5 of the 6 centers(not the center caps, the ENTIRE center) came completely off. I then had to spend an entire week retentioning it to the perfect tension. I am NOT gonna let him scramble my cube again.


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## thackernerd (May 19, 2012)

That it's not just "some pattern or something."


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## Dw42s (May 19, 2012)

The thing i hate the most is when someone who doesnt cube touch my cube. Majority of the people who pick it up dont even know how to scramble it, and just rub it between their hands, failing miserably. And they wont accept the fact that you can solve it without them scrambling it. Also i once showed my friend corner cutting and he thought it would cut every time, so it popped and i was on a wild goose hunt for 1 piece


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## Applejuice (Jun 1, 2012)

I love this. You really did a great job by making this a list and actually naming almost everything that every cuber can agree with. Keep it up!


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## QuangNguyen (Jun 1, 2012)

Lol. This article was great, and all truth. My friends did everything in the article to my cube and me.


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## googlebleh (Nov 24, 2012)

AMAZING. Thanks for writing this up macky! The only thing I thought it was really missing was



DavidWoner said:


> Since scrambles are random, some solves will be inherently easier than others. If a cuber says their best time is 10 seconds, don't expect them to be able to get 10 seconds every time.


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