Archive for November, 2012

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Curvy Copter Get!

Posted in Algorithms, Blog, Cubing on November 3, 2012 by slateman

When shopping for my newest cube purchase, I had a few things in mind. The first was the Rex Flower Cube, but upon inspection, it really just looked like a pretty Skewb. I like the colors and the patterns but the solution looked just like a Skewb and I never solve that puzzle. It’s pretty boring and not very challenging.

So, while I am also looking to get a 3x3x5 and start going down that path, I decided to forego those desires and grab the Curvy Copter. I checked out RedKB’s non-jumbling tutorial (jumbling here) and placed my order. Today it arrived and it’s a rather solid, fun puzzle. Like some other puzzles before it, this one took me a little bit to wrap my head around. It was hard to conceptualize what I wanted to do initially. However, once I started understanding it, the puzzle became quite fun, albeit somewhat easy.

Now, I need to graduate to jumbling to really start challenging myself. However, for now it’s a pretty cool new addition to the collection and I look forward to getting better. Some algorithms to help…

Edge switcher for weird cases: R L JR F R L
Easy edge 3 cycle: F R F R

Permute Corners CCW (FL=correct) R L B L B R B L B L
Permute Corners CW (FR=correct) L R B R B L B R B R

Orient Corners CCW (FL) F R B L x6
Orient Corners CW (FL) L B R F x6

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Mini-Review: The Expendables 2 – ROAR!!!

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Movies, Reviews on November 3, 2012 by slateman


It’s all about the expectations. I thought Independence Day would be awesome (I was only 18 at the time). It was not. I had low expectations for Aliens Vs. Predator – therefore I was not disappointed. Here, we have the second Expendables film and it was precisely what it needed to be. I cannot see how anyone could rate this poorly. It was what it was, and nothing more.

The intro and outro sequences were great. Arnold, Willis and Stallone fighting side-by-side? KICK ASS! Sly’s punches vs. Van Damme’s kicks? Rock and Roll! One-liner trade-offs? FUCK YEAH!

Jet Li punches someone in the face and I see meat. MEAT!

There were 400 casualties in the first 90 seconds of the film. This is a modern-day Hot Shots: Part Deux!

(Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar)

The Expendables 2 was an over-the-top, absurd, high-testosterone film and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Even when I thought there should be more Arnold, I realized how awesome it made the final sequence. Maybe more explosions would have worked. I think there were more in the first one! I loved this movie. Thumbs up!

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DoDonPachi: Maximum

Posted in DoDon Pachi, Games on November 2, 2012 by slateman

After hearing about this last year, I was certainly curious but let’s face it, these mobile/tablet shooters aren’t any good, are they? Well, this is a pretty cool game with some decent replay-value, varying difficulty and some unlockables. The branching levels are really all the same but it gives you the chance to get good at the level at an easy difficulty before stepping up to the higher letters (I’ll never beat 5-E). I’m enjoying it on my iPad 2 and have considered getting DDP:DFK HD (which I have) or ESP Galuda II (which I’ve never played).

It’s kinda cool to be able to play these on-the-go. The visuals are pretty solid and the whole package was great for the $7 price tag I paid. I’ve already started tossing together some ideas for a potential FAQ. The game may be dumbed down but I’m pretty psyched DDP is getting so much exposure. With the rumors of Cave essentially folding, I’ll take whatever DDP I can get! Hoping someone can localize DDP: SDOJ.

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UPDATES…..

Posted in Blog, Borderlands, Cubing, DoDon Pachi, Games, Godflesh, Personal, Resident Evil, Street Fighter, The Walking Dead, Yankees on November 2, 2012 by slateman

It’s been a long time and a lot has happened. I’ve had some ups and downs these past few weeks but the good has been rather good. Let’s see…

First off, I’ll be getting a new cube any day now and I’m pretty psyched. It’s a cool one, it’s the curvy copter, and it’s a jumbling puzzle. It should be spectacular.

My Godflesh site turned 17 years old a few weeks ago. That’s insanely old.

Resident Evil 6 and Borderlands 2 – Making progress. Taking forever. Well worth the cashola.

I also picked up Street Fighter X Tekken as well for cheap. I’d played it several months ago and look forward to having it in my library!

The Yankees – I couldn’t even write about this. I still can’t.

The Walking Dead – both the game (episode 4) and show (episode 3) were solid. The game may have been a filler/connector episode and the show an introducer, but both were strong and make me yearn for more. Sadly the game’s sequel must wait quite a while.

Hurricane Sandy – :( So much destruction. :( :(

EPISODE VII!?!?!? I’ll post some thoughts on this soon. It may actually have a chance of being good. Four words – Pirates Of The Caribbean.

DoDonPachi: Maximum came out on the iPad and was on sale so I snatched that up. It’s kinda fun. It’s cool seeing the returning characters/stages/music and it is a pretty good challenge on later levels. I may pick up ESP Galuda II as well.

Enough for now?

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