what sort of shortcuts do you use while you're putting in the corner edge pairs.
since i do the f2l's fairly intuitively there are often times where you can add/remove a U or U' to start of and algorithm and add/remove a U or U' in the middle of an algorithm. (i assume those shortcuts are fairly standard.
Here's a couple that i just realized last night, and while probabily not groundbreaking i thought i'd share.

Once the cross is complete, look at the middle layer and see if you have any edges in place and correctly oriented. you may be able to do D R U R' D' to place the corner.

for example white=D (cross completed) red = right, blue = front.
my orange/blue edge (FL) is already correct. blue/orange/white is located (UFR) with white on the R face. D R U R' D' allows me to place the corner. (note this does disturb the FR edge, so make sure that one is not already in place.)

now to take this one step furthere. suppos the conditions above apply plus white red green corner is in place and oriented in the BBR corner) and Red Green is at UB with red on the U.
D2 U B U B' D2 results in 2 corner edge pairs completed.

I think most of you can see what's going on here. The first example shouldn't be hard to recognize. The second may take a little longer to recognize but if you can keep the colors straight in your mind you can use any of the standard f2l algorithms to put a corner and an edge in two different spots. If you're like me though it might be quicker using the first example, followed by the standard algorithm to insert the edge.

I don't know if any of this makes sense to you guys, or if it will help you to shave off a fraction of a second or not.

I understand what you mean, using an empty column to solve F2L, however, since I have the cross on the left, I don't find it easier to deviate from using memorised algorithms and improvise. Also, when you get down to sub20, you want to spend less time thinking on what you are doing than what you are going to do next.

You solve with cross on right? never new that... stupid lefty...

As for F2L tricks, i am still learning them now. I always just take the most obvious C/E pair (altho it's not paired together at this point!) and move it around so that i can put it in place with a quick alg. Basically i just pair stuff together as quickly as i can, and put it in place.

The funny thing is, i'm actually still learning tricks. I guess more and more stuff becomes more apparent to you after a few months...

Anywho, DO NOT give up learning hte F2L intuitively. I was sub 30 before i even looked at any of the "proper" algs, most of which i had figured out on my own. I think there were like 3 cases that i got help with.

oops my bad, I have it on left.

Pembo, wtf are you doing awake that late? I was on MSN, but i didn't see you on... you need to get some sleep son, you've got school in the morn!

I'm left-handed. Sometimes it's a burden.

I'm off school this week,
as for why I am up at 2am, WoW and CS:S.

Clayne, why not put the cross on the bottom, I am guessing you can turn quite well with your right and left?

lucky you, i just got back from a 5.5 day vacation due to snow... and i'm reaaaly tired

I'm left handed too! And yes it can be a pain in the neck.

So what makes being left handed so hard? just adjust your algs to incorporate alot of L turns, and it should be fine.

Ah, I didn't mean to imply that I do the cross on the right. I do, in fact, do the cross on the bottom.



I've always cubed "right-handed" I guess, but it didn't feel like that to me. I just learned algs as they appeared.

There are other things that are a pain. Things being made for right-handers and such...sports when I played more of them for example. Books are initially for right-handed people, but I guess that's easy to get used to since you're introduced to it your whole life.

It really made learning musical instruments a pain. I ended up choosing to learn right handed, but not I wonder if my potential would've been greater if I'd learned it left-handed. Either way, I'm stuck with what I got cause I wouldn't be able to go back now.

I can't think of anything else, but I know it's there.

Oh...When you write, you get all sorts of graphite all over your hand. It happens with markers and some pens too.

Hey Clayne, some of the greatest guitarists in the world played with their right even though they were left handed.
For example, Herman Li from DragonForce, check some of their videos out and see what I mean. (and yes he IS a lefty, but he grew up in a poor part of Hong Kong and couldn't afford a left handed guitar)

what about Jimmi Hendrix? Didn't he play a right handed guitar backwards/upsidedown because he was left handed?

He did, like many other guitarists that are left handed.



Q

Haha, DragonForce!!!


And yeah, left handed guitars are expensive...

can't you just re-string them to work left handed?

That's what Jimi did.

so why pay thousands of dollars if you can pay 20 and just restring it?

A $20 guitar will be complete rubbish, you pay for quality....
Think about it, a Rubik's brand, or a cheap Magic Cube knock off?

i meant get a decent guitar and just pay 20 dollars to buy new strings for it

even a decent left handed guitar wont even hit the 1,000 dollar mark, let alone enough to consitute as "thousands of dollars". They are more expensive, but not that much more (unless of course you're getting an amazing guitar that happens to be left-handed).

And it only cost 20 bucks (or less) given you already have a right-handed.


Either way, my point wasn't that I wouldn't be able to find a way to play guitar left-handed. It's that I've already gotten so used to playing right-handed that it would be extremely hard to adapt to left.

real men play the banjo

I'm not even gunna comment on that, except that banjos are actually very awesome instruments - Keytars and melodicas are too.

Umm what type of guitar are you talking about?
A decent Fender (cheapest, but some of the best quality guitars) cost £500/$1000+

Then we get into Ibanez (for example), £1000+ a shot.

that's a joke, ibanez are cheap here in the us. fenders are very nice and usually more expensive than most models unless you get an "hecho en mexico" version, which are cheaper than the made in usa versions by quite a bit. ibanez aren't really that nice i've owned a number of guitars and ibanez's have been some of my least favorites.

I don't know...maybe our idea of decent is different? I've found many guitars that I think are nice that were no more than $500, which could mean $100-$300(?) left-handed, which isn't reaching the 1,000 dollar mark even then.