That's cool. This might be a terribly offensive or ignorant question, but did he actually have to solve the rubik's cube for each pattern he needed (based I'm sure on somethng pre-plotted on paper), or would he have just - as I would have done!- peeled off the stickers and switched them around?
I'm a rubik neophyte; maybe twisting the cube to get each pattern isn't quite as mind-bogglingly difficult as it seems to me. posted by Flashman at 3:24 PM on July 3
Flashman: I am not an expert myself, but my understanding is that once you master the algorithm, getting the sides lined up is faster and easier than lining up the little stickers cleanly. I presume the algorithm for solving a cube is easily adaptable for getting specific combinations of colors rather than solid faces. And, presuming he started with pre-solved cubes as the video made it appear, he could use the same computer program that showed him the grid of colors to give him a step by step set of twists to give him that grid from a solved cube. posted by idiopath at 3:43 PM on July 3
Very cool.
but did he actually have to solve the rubik's cube for each pattern he needed
It's actually pretty easy to start with a previously solved cube, right out of the box, and get the pattern you need on a single side. It would take about the same time as peeling and replacing stickers, IMO.
If I were him, I would've started with a scan of the album cover, pixelated it and color-corrected it with photoshop, and then planned out the entire grid on paper ("Cube #A1 has three reds across the top, and two whites...") posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:47 PM on July 3
Metafilter: Giving Him That Grid From A Solved Cube.
Hey - you know what goes good in a burrito? Steak, sweet potato, extra cheese and big, meaty mushrooms. If that won't get you out of bed, you can add cilantro for another fifty cents. posted by Lipstick Thespian at 7:28 PM on July 3
Coming back to this thread I see that I did not articulate myself very well.
Solving the rubix cube has a simple set of algorithms.
Given this fact, I presume that it would be maybe a four hour programming job to write a script that would break an image into 9 pixel grids, and then give a coded set of instructions for turning a solved cube into each grid. This would be much less work than removing and replacing that many stickers. posted by idiopath at 2:23 AM on July 4
If I'd thought back in the mid-80s -- after I'd shaved my head and began listening to better music (yay!university!) -- that I would say anything like, "Neat! This makes me want to download London Calling from iTunes," I'd have put on some Joy Division and slit my own wrists.
I just realized I don't have any Clash anymore; I lost it a few years ago in the Great Reformatting Debacle. hmm. I'm officially old and nerdy. My 20-year old self would flip me right the fuck off. posted by heyho at 9:04 AM on July 4
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I'm a rubik neophyte; maybe twisting the cube to get each pattern isn't quite as mind-bogglingly difficult as it seems to me.
posted by Flashman at 3:24 PM on July 3