Rubik's Cube World Record (New & Improved)

Nice pod. I just think the introduction with the river is way too long and not really all that interesting considering how long it takes to communicate it. Loose the intro and you get my green.

I would have to agree with the previous comment and ad that all your textual factoids and rule reviews have the same effect. Get rid of them, or read them while they are up on screen.

I agree with the slow begining comments...and I think there is more humor there then you are allowing to come out, but I think it is good and it works, and it's interesting. The grass is greener on your side.

the 'blind solving' was really fascinating! GL
i don't agree that the beginning was too slow - it's an original establishing of what we all know ('cause we all have memories about rubik cube of some sort) but never really realized how it originated..
it's long.. but rubik needed some time indeed to contemplate, didn't he?

Yet another masterpiece from the talented VJs at UC Berkeley's Journalism School!
Gotta say I agree with the previous comments about the intro. Too much like Deep Thoughts with Jack Handy. I like the factoids, because they add to my total sum of useless knowledge about the Rubik's Cube. But I think they'd be better interspersed throughout the piece, or maybe even voiced by that sexy-sounding Sam Grant. She looks natural on camera, and stands in for the vast majority of us who don't do algorithms...
I used to peel off the stickers to solve the puzzle...
Besides that... Great shooting, fun editing.

Very cool mini-documentary. I love to see cubing in the spotlight. It's a fantastic hobby to get into. Well researched I believe. Good to see Casey so natural in front of a camera; insightful too. Ha, Leyan is always such a riot :).

A couple minor clarifications/corrections though. DNS means "did not start", not "did not solve". It's a common misconception that I used to have. Thus what was shown was in fact a DNF, "did not finish".

Also it is a bit misleading. The only reason to call it "international" is that it is open to everybody, however the real international one was held 9 weeks prior in Orlando. It simply cannot be the case that there can be two international tournaments (world championships) held within a year apart (at least not for the foreseeable future). It is true however that the main world record was set there (and still stands). Furthermore this event seemed more geared towards younger cubers and/or newer cubers. Thus, most of the notable people in the field were not present. Yet, the choice of people interviewed was fantastic and quite fortunate. A quick statement from Macky, Frank, and/or Bob would have added to it though.

I thought it was a bit funny though, when Lars said, "you need to learn a method, nobody just solves it..." Lars invented/published one of the most well known methods available, and was 3rd place in the first world championships in Budapest back in 1982.

Anyhow, same place, 3 weeks from now will be the US Nationals. That will prove to be a much bigger and more important tournament. Due to the expected turnout, it is a 3-day competition with much more events and rounds.


-a cuber

Great subject! even the sounds bring back memories...i guess that dates me...o well...

Additional factual error just caught:

The number of wrong combinations is in fact 43,252,003,274,489,855,999. It is off by a factor of ~1000 due to the "003" being omited in the digit string.

This number is (10^2)(7^3)(12!)(8!) - 1. You smart people out there can try to figure out why this is to be the case (if we don't factor out any types of rotational symmetries or other possible isometries).

In "Rule Review, Item #4", it should be something like "Your final score is the mean of 3 of 5 solves, where the fastest time and the slowest time are removed".


-a mathematician

p.s. The inventor's name, Ernö, should be spelled with a diaeresis (i.e. two dots above the 'o') whenever possible.

Thanks for all the comments. Glad so many of you have fond memories of the cube.

As for the numerical error, I must confess, I did not do that math myself but rather dug that info up online. Just goes to show, you can't trust everything you read on the internet... ;) Maybe I'll just round it to 43 quintillion - that would be easier to say if I decide to add VO to that part.

Seems like the most hotly debated point of the piece is the 'text&river' beginning. Stepping back from the piece, I can see why people would want things to move faster. The tenor of the beginning is totally different than the rest of it. But based on what I've read, that's kind of how it went down. Rubik's invented this thing as a sculpture - then it became a mathematician’s tool. It took a few years before it hit the scene as a toy, and even then, nobody expected it to take off like it did.

Anyway, I agree that things could move a bit more quickly, so maybe I can tweak the key-framing a bit. But I personally think that the story of how Rubik invented to cube is interesting, so I'm hesitant to lose it all together. Perhaps its because I'm always fascinated by the creative mind... I mean, how could someone make the leap from watching pebbles in the river to inventing the inner-mechanism of the Rubik's cube? Rubik's mathematical inventors mind observed the motion of the parts and that's what he came up with. I think its actually pretty cool...

Regardless, thanks for watching and giving great feedback

-Sam

Nice video I hope it gets enough green lights.

I just uploaded a new & improved version of the pod with some of the suggestions (like a faster beginning & more VO in some parts) folded in. Now, its just a waiting game till the new version appears on the site. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Sam

Fun and took me back to the birth of the Rubik Cube craze years ago. Nice change to the beginning. Greenlight!

That was awesome. Really great energy underlying the piece as well.

Lovely. I really liked the music choice, and the text seemed sharper in this revision.

The only nitpicks I have left are minor. The people questioned near the end could have their names at the bottom of the screen, as to give credit (esp. since none of the competitor's names where in the quick end-credits). Probably just first name, or first name and last inital. Also there is really no reason to have Casey's mom in that framing, she never says much about cubing at events anyways.

Hem..., if you were to add a little name banner in the bottom, it could also contain an interesting fact about them, a few of those people have interesting back stories I think. That is of course if you don't think viewrs would find that too distracting.

Will you be at Nationals in the first weekend of August (same place and you are presumably local)? It's a 3-day event and should have at least three times as many cubers in attendence. Some big names bound to show up, well US anyways.

A quick blurb near the end of the clip, recommending people get into the hobby would be well apprieciated for the cubing community.

Cubing is SICK!

What a great piece. This was a nice throwback to when I had my own cube.

Nice way to include yourself as a subject on camera along with the rest of the story. Your demeanor is natural and inviting and adds nice element to the piece.

Absolutely fascinating. Never even knew there were Rubik's Cube competitions these days. Going down to my basement to find my own ORIGINAL one. This made me want to get started again !

Wow! I never knew cubing could be so involved! I must admit, I could still never do it, but it's cool to see people who can.

Greenlight! I didn't knew the cube was back. Good Job!

nicely done. good editting and good camera work. plus, interesting topic. GL!

I like the new version, this improved intro sends the viewer right into the action faster (thanks for listening to our feedback). Great pod. Greenlight!

Off to practice!

I agree with 'DougCube' about including the participants' interesting back-stories. I believe Tyson was on 'Beauty and the Geek'... someone correct me if I'm wrong. Also 'Darby' has a good point. I liked how you included yourself to be "lucky" at the end when you finished a cube yourself. Good job on the pod and the "cubing". Up until this point, I had no idea that it was referred to as such. Greenlight!

Wow, I would have never been inspired to create something square and boxy by looking at smooth pebbles. Love that you included background info and trivia.

What will they think of next?

Very intresting topic, I`d also say these people are insaen ;) I could never even get 5 blocks of the same color. Pretty crazy stuff. GL.

I was never able to do it.
GL

Sweet Video!

Very informative. Great flow to the story. Tight editing.
Good interviews and humor. Thanks

wow, who knew?

awesome piece destined for T.V. But i would love to see some of your xtra footage on people strictly solving the rubix cube. that ish is cool!

I'd love to see more. This piece was really well done.

High-rez color square madness!!

Very nice!! Great idea fot the pad. Good luck Samantha!

so cool to learn about it, nicely done!

Fascinating, Sammy G! Nice work.

So much time wasted! Where do I get an algorhythm?

A sweet video. It brought a smile to my face.

sweet indeed. The world record holder and the organizer, they're my favorites.

For anyone who cares, my favorite solving method, and the one I endorse, for solving the cube is this:

1.turn one side half way so its at an angle, the grab the corner that is sticking out

2.with all the gentle-ness required in pulling a tooth, twist the piece sideways, then up and out of it's "socket".

Got one? good!

3.now use the cube's ability to twist and turn to slide all the other pieces to the space you created. Removing each piece one by one..

4.reassemble the pieces, careful with that last one, (you got to again gently force it) and viola!

learned that when i was nine, never learned what an algorythm was and then promptly failed math. I did well in shop though...

Talking about coincidence. I was just playing the cube yesterday and manage to solve only one side of the cube after 15 years! I hope that's a new record too! Short, sweet and "all sides perfect like the cube".

I'm glad you had the history of the Rubik's Cube in the beginning, it brought out my Hungarian pride

I like the story. I think the V/O should be re-done, it sounds kind of muffled and is not as energizing as the characters. The music was kind of lacking. It needs to be taken up to the next level, but other than that I agree with the greenlight....fun story.

Cool stuff.