Only a few weeks have passed since I learned how to solve a Rubik’s cube for the first time, and now I’ve become completely addicted to puzzle games. It’s time to find a new puzzle.
I’ve spent so much time practicing with my Rubik’s cube that I started to get bored, and started figuring out how to do other tricks with the cube. The other night I tried to make a message for the girlfriend:
My accomplishment was quickly dismissed by Jeff, however, as he pointed out…
real nerd love is spelled out in 5×5 rubik’s cubes, my friend
And he’s right. The 3×3 Rubik’s cube is loads of fun, but it’s time to learn to solve the ultimate Rubik’s challenge: the 5×5 professor cube. Once I’ve learned to solve it (from memory, of course), I’ll have loads of pixels to work with when writing dorky love messages to my future wife. Yeah, I’m just that silly.
What About Life Beyond the Rubik’s Cube? The Tetris Cube, of Course!
Learning to solve the Rubik’s cube has shown me that I simply LOVE solving puzzles, and I should really spend more time doing so. It’s not only a lot of fun, but it’s good exercise for your brain, and it’s a great way to take a break from work while still doing something useful, rather than the alternative… you know, watching Lost re-runs for the 4th time.
So I’ve resolved to acquire and learn to solve as many puzzles as I can possibly find, starting with the 5×5 cube, but after that… I’m going to learn to solve the Tetris Cube, which has 9839 different solutions.
If you are anything like me, you have probably logged hundreds or thousands of hours on Tetris, and being able to play it in “real life” is just going to be awesome. They’ve even got a Mini Tetris Cube to save space, or something.
The Gordian’s Knot
The Gordians Knot looks like a lot of fun, and would probably make a great addition to your coffee table—It doesn’t have the re-playability factor of a Rubik’s cube, but whenever guests come over you can show them how it works and see if they can do it.
The Rubik’s Twist
This snake-like puzzle toy can be twisted and turned into any number of different shapes. It’s not really all that tough to figure out, especially since there’s no real goal… it’s just loads of fun to mess with. Another great toy to have on your desk, or sitting on the coffee table for your guests to fiddle with.
The Rubik’s Magic
This one is a folding puzzle that can be twisted and folded different ways, and while it’s not as good as the old one from the 80s, it’s still a ton of fun to learn to solve. And yeah, you can grab your own Rubiks Magic over on Amazon, or probably at your local toy store.
The Sudoku Cube? Seriously?
My friend Steve has one of these, and I’ve made this my mission to solve. From what I’ve read, the key is to learn to solve the original Rubik’s cube, and then the Sudoku Cube is a lot simpler… although still insanely hard.
If you don’t know how Sudoku works… you have to make sure that the numbers 1-9 are on each side only once.
What’s Next?
So the question is… once I’ve solved all of these puzzles, what else is out there to solve? If you’ve got a great idea, share it in the comments.
The Best Threads From Super User
We’ve already mentioned the great Super User geek site, and we’re going to start sharing some of the more interesting threads with you. Hopefully you’ve already spent some time over there, and have seen them already.
- What’s your favourite “super user” cartoon? – Super User
- How can I make my mom’s Windows PC bullet-proof?
- What can be done in Windows 7 that can’t be done in Windows XP?
- What applications, if any, benefit tangibly from more than 4GB of RAM?
- Move contents of old Gmail account to a new Gmail account
- Recommend a Digsby replacement
- How can I gently explain to non-techie friends they are the victim of a hoax
- Best screensaver for Windows
- Which Linux Install Should You Start With
- What super-calculator do you use?
Loads more fun comics on that first link…
Fun Stuff We Found This Week
Yeah, it’s been a while since the last Week in Geek, and we probably found way more than just these links. But this is all you get today, cause my fingers are tired.
- LEGO Mindstorms Sudoku Solver
This video is amazing. - Yearbook Yourself
Silly, but kinda fun, especially for young people. - SUSE Studio
This is seriously awesome. More on this in a future article. - XCube is a 3D cross-platform Rubik’s Cube sim
Neat. Rubik’s Cube goodness! - Get Futurama quotations from slashdot.org servers
Being a geek is loads of fun. I wonder what is hidden in the HTG underground? - What order should you install drivers in?
The amazing Ed Bott figures out the order you should install drivers. Neat! - Write Your Own Music Online with Noteflight
Making music isn’t really my department. But this is pretty cool.
Lifehacker Posts That You Should Really Read (If you haven’t already)
Yep, I’m still writing over there on that Lifehacker site. And while I didn’t write all of these, you really should check them out.
Reviews and Such!
In the very near future, we’ll be adding the reviews to the main RSS feed, so we won’t have to bother putting them into the roundup. For now, here’s a bunch of reviews that we’ve added.
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Weekly Editor’s Note
Yeah, I know. It’s been like 2 months since the last Week in Geek. What can I say? Busy, busy, busy! But now, things have calmed down a bit, and we’re back to getting things done.
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