While writing my timer application for speedcubing, I decided it was time to build a site to host it. I remember having many Rubik's type puzzles when I was a child of the 80's. I had a cube, the ball, a Missing Link, a Pyraminx, the snake, a Whip-It, and even the Rubik's game. Of course when I moved I left my old "toys" at home. They seem to have found their way to the trash so I have had to repurchase all of them after rediscovering the cube. TwistyPuzzles.com has a nice collection manager site where you can see my current collection.

Around November of 2004 I rediscovered the puzzle after reading an article about it on slashdot.org. After spending hours playing with the cube, I decided it was time to hit the internet to learn how to solve it. I found a couple of sites that gave good explanations on how to solve it. The natural progression from solving the cube was speedsolving it. I looked a a few methods and decided to try Lars Petrus's method. It was simple yet very effective. At first my times were 3 minutes plus, but with practice, I now have a personal best of 58 seconds and can easily average 1:15. With practice I should be able to hit the 30 second mark.

Recently I have started reading the TwistyPuzzles.com forums and the Speed Solving Yahoo Group. This has helped with getting new ideas and learning from others. I also discovered that recording solves helps you see where you are losing the most time. Nothing like watching yourself rotate a cube for 3 seconds looking for a particular cubie you can't find. Try it and see if it helps.