Cincinnati World Piano Competition

This happened in July 2010 and found this off a website


The Cincinnati-based World Piano Competition announced the winners for its Young Artist Division in an awards ceremony held July 1 at the Aronoff Center. Out of 48 students, ages 5 to 17, who competed, it appears that every youngster in each of 12 categories took home a prize, ranging from $25 to $100.
Here are some highlights:
Sunny Huang, 15, of Novi, Michigan, a student of Faye Mao, won the grand prize of $1,500 in the solo divison, levels 9-12.
Yehan Chen, 16, of Plainfield, Ind., a student of Karen Taylor, won the grand prize of $1,500 for the concerto division, levels 9-12, and a recommended performance with members of the World Symphony Orchestra (to be led by the CSO’s Ken Lam).
Other grand prizes went to ME!!!!!!, student of Nina Polonsky ($500), and co-winners David Du and Suvir Mirchandani, who each won $250.

3x3x3 Solves Update

I have fully learned 2-look OLL, so now, I'll be offering to solve you guys' 3x3x3s. Because I learned 2-look OLL, my times have dropped from around 1 minute to 45 seconds. Now I'm going to learn 2-look PLL which is much easier so I'll still be able to solve your cubes.

Also, if you have a scrambled 4x4x4, I'll also be glad to solve that too.

Cubes I Got In Michigan

• 1 LanLan 2x2
• 1 LanLan 7x7
• 1 LanLan Void Cube
• 1 Chinese Square 1
• 1 Chinese Rubik's Twist
• 1 Wooden Mind Puzzle

I won't be talking about the

• 1 Chinese Rubik's Twist
• 1 Wooden Mind Puzzle.

The Chinese Rubik's Twist is my brother's and the wooden mind puzzle is not a twisty puzzle of any kind.

LanLan 2x2

I fixed my LanLan 2x2

2-Look OLL Algorithms

Step 1: Orient Edges

Alg 1: F R U R' U' F'

Alg 2: f R U R' U' f'

Alg 3: F R U R' U' F' f R U R' U' f'






Step 2: Orient Corners

Alg 1: R U R' U R U2 R'

Alg 2: R' U' R U' R' U2 R

Alg 3: F R U R' U' R U R' U' R U R' U' F'

Alg 4: f R U R' U' f' F R U R' U' F

Alg 5: R2 D R' U2 R D' R' U2 R'

Alg 6: r U R' U' r' F R F'

Alg 7: F' r U R' U' r' F R

Awesome Rubik's Win

As you can see at the bottom of this page, I listed a website. Go there and press Shape Variations. You should see these choices:

• Arxon Barrel
• Arxon Diamond Cube
• Arxon Cubeoctahedron

If you don't see these, try checking what you did wrong.

So, once you see the choices above, click Arxon Diamond Cube. You should see a "twistable Rubik's Twist" in ball form. WIN!!!

Square 1

The photo above shows Square 1, an awesome shapeshifting puzzle. The picture above shows it in scrambled form (left) and solved form (right). I ordered one on March 21, 2010 and (as of right now) it still hasn't come. The seller guy said that would come in 2-9 days. Today is day 9 and the mailman already came. I checked the mailbox and it still wasn't there. When I get it, I will post a post, telling you my first impressions of the puzzle. I'll also (try to) keep you updated on the shipping process. I'm sorry, Matt that I told you that "I was getting it in the mail" like 4 days ago. It really hasn't come, as you can see.

BTW, Matt, when I get it, I'll show you how awesome the Square 1 is.

EDIT:

SQUARE 1 UPDATE
Still not here?!?! Now, today is day 10 and I just checked the mail. There was mail in the mailbox, but there was no Square 1. Hmph. Note that the seller said that it would come in 2-9 days. I mentioned that yesterday.

SQUARE 1 UPDATE
I have contacted the seller. Yay.

SQUARE 1 UPDATE
The brand of the Square 1 I will get is MF8, for those curious peeps.

SQUARE 1 UPDATE
The seller has responded to my question! He said that if the Square 1 doesn't come before this Saturday, April 3, he will re-ship my order. Oh, yeah and today is day 12. The mailman hasn't come yet.

SQUARE 1 UPDATE
Great. Day 12 and still not here. The order must of been lost in its shipping process. If not here on day 13, re-shipment, here we come.

SQUARE 1 UPDATE
Here comes the mailman...is it here...we'll find out in a few moments. Oh yeah, and unfortunately, USPS might not mail on Saturdays anymore. I hope I'm wrong and yes I am. YAY!

SQUARE 1 UPDATE
Let us check day 13 off...MY SQUARE 1 STILL NOT HERE? Okay, so what I have did, I told him to ship me a replacement because

• It's the end of the week
• And he said so in that last message I got

So, yeah, reshipment, here we come.

SQUARE 1 UPDATE
IT'S HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!!! And when we went to Michigan, my uncle brought me another one. And another void cube, so now I have 4 2x2s because of my lanlan, 2 void cubes and uh... yeah 2 Square 1s!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Surprise Pretty Design on a 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube

Hey, everyone, I'm back from the piano business! In this post, I'll be showing you a pretty design for those of you that know the SiGN algorithm notation (or the algorithm notation they show you in the 3x3x3 instrucion manual). This design is for a 3x3x3 and listed below is the algorithm:

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

It may look like you're scrambling it at first, but when you're done, you should have a pretty design.

If the algorithm doesn't work, try solving your cube then trying it again. If it still doesn't work, comment and I'll check for any mistakes in the algorithm.

3x3x3 Solves

I won't be offering to solve anyone's Rubik's Cube anymore because I am learning a faster way to solve a Rubik's Cube. If I keep on practicing the slow way, I'll learn slower, so again I won't be offering to solve anyone's Rubik's Cube. When I can do the faster method, then I will post a post.

Rubik's 4x4x4 and Rubik's 5x5x5

After the Ice Cube, I got my Rubik's 4x4x4 and my Rubik's 5x5x5, also known as the Rubik's Revenge (4x4x4) and the Rubik's Professor (5x5x5). These cubes were stiff at first, but after some lubrication to the 4x4x4, it turned much better. I average around 7 minutes for the 4x4x4 and my PB is 6:02.98. I've solved my 5x5x5 around four times. I don't know how fast I can solve one because I've never timed myself on it.

The 4x4x4's core is this type of "ball" core. The center pieces slide along a slim bar-like thing attached to the core. I don't know much about the 5x5x5's core, but I've heard it was kind of like the core of a 3x3x3 and has additional center and edge piece "slots".

The 4x4x4 is very stiff before lubrication but turns okay after lubrication. It does tend to "pop" when you cut corners or start really speed cubing with it. The 5x5x5 is also quite stiff out of the box. I have not lubed this, though. The 5x5x5 has this really weird turning. The outer layers are really stiff while the inner layers are looser. The 5x5x5 that I have has the ability to turn one separate inner layer without the outer layer turning, even when you don't hold on to the outer layer. Try this on your 3x3x3. It doesn't work, right? I really have no idea why this happens.

Overall, the Rubik's 4x4x4 and Rubik's 5x5x5 are pretty good after breaking in and lubing.

V-Cube 6

Hey, it's Monkeys again. A week ago, my V-Cube 6 came! It's a really awesome cube, despite how expensive it is. I really recommend you get one. Even though it's around 60 dollars on eBay, it's still worth it. I found out that it could do some unique things like turning a middle slice with out turning any outer ones. I also found out that it had a "clicking" mechanism. It kind of snapped once while in the middle of turning. Every 90 degree turn had about 4 snaps. All products that are made by V-Cubes are awesome, so sooner or later, I'm getting a V-Cube 7 and a V-Cube 5.

Also, I've heard that the V-Cube 5 and the V-Cube 7 are even better than the V-Cube 6 because even number cubes seem to have an issue about the core. V-Cubes are planning to make a V-Cube 6b, which basically is a "pillowed" V-Cube. They're also planning to make the V-Cube 2, V-Cube 3, V-Cube 4, V-Cube 8, V-Cube 9, V-Cube 10 and a V-Cube 11.

Ice Cube

The next cube I got was the Ice Cube. It is not recommended for speed cubers because it locks up and can't cut corners but is reccommended for the novice and beginner rank, as it is cool looking. These come with a stand that is shaped like an iceburg, so that's pretty cool. I really have nothing much to say about the Ice Cube.

Rubik's 3x3x3

This Rubik's cube was my first Rubik's cube that I got in 2007, back when I wasn't a speed cuber. At first, it was very, very stiff. I lubed it with Vaseline 3 months ago, which wasn't good for your cube. About 2 weeks later, I cleaned it out and put in silicone. Because of the Vaseline, it isn't speed cuber quality. Also, some of the stickers started losing color because of peeling the clear outer layers on the stickers. Later, I got two "Dian Shengs", which I'll talk about later. They came very smooth, so I didn't lubricate it.

EDIT: I actually later did lube my Dianshengs and they are even better.

Welcome!

Welcome to The Cuber's Corner! Here, you can find updates on my Rubik's Cube collection, read reviews on Rubik's Cubes and learn how to solve different varieties of Rubik's cubes.