Play Sudoku
Sudoku from SudokuPuzz.com
Sudoku - I Blame Streeter
Sudoku (Japanese: 数独, sūdoku), sometimes spelled Su Doku, is a logic-based placement puzzle, also known as Number Place in the United States. The aim of the canonical puzzle is to enter a numerical digit from 1 through 9 in each cell of a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called "regions"), starting with various digits given in some cells (the "givens"). Each row, column, and region must contain only one instance of each numeral. Completing the puzzle requires patience and logical ability. Although first published in a U. S. puzzle magazine in 1979, Sudoku initially caught on in Japan in 1986 and attained international popularity in 2005.Now, on almost a daily basis I will at least mess around with the puzzle game online or offline. Thanks a lot Streeter!
Apparently I am not even close to being the only one enjoying Sudoku. Although folks like Streeter have known about the game much longer, the real craze in the US is fairly recent and it is big. "Sudoku" was 7th most popular web search in 2005.
The Secret
OK, I will bite. I like conspiracy theories as much as the next person. Chuck clued me in and this certainly looks like a Masons, Da Vinci Code type thing with more holes than a brick of Swiss cheese. Maybe the TV show will actually be interesting, but most likely it will probably be old news.
What Is Missing?
Do you know what is missing from my neighbor's nativity scene? Now, I know you are thinking that the missing part was stolen, but if it were, it was not this season. This is how it was put out and each night the lights are turned on. Perhaps this is one of those new religions or cultural holidays that somebody makes up each Holiday season. Maybe I am just not in the know, I mean that is possible. I never knew of the last one that showed up the past few years that apparently was invented like 30 years ago.
Julie thinks the giant blown up Grinch that they have in the other part of their backyard stole it, but I am still leaning toward a newly invented holiday. Did Festivus have anything to do with shepherds, wise men and farm animals?
I know of another theory, but the woman in the scene is clearly not pregnant, so that guess does not count. I know what a pregnant woman looks like and this woman is not it.
Julie thinks the giant blown up Grinch that they have in the other part of their backyard stole it, but I am still leaning toward a newly invented holiday. Did Festivus have anything to do with shepherds, wise men and farm animals?
I know of another theory, but the woman in the scene is clearly not pregnant, so that guess does not count. I know what a pregnant woman looks like and this woman is not it.
Execute Order 66
Execute Order 66.
4 8 15 16 23 42
4 8 15 16 23 42
4 8 15 16 23 42
4 8 15 16 23 42
4 8 15 16 23 42
Rubik's Facts
A high schooler from Los Angeles solved the cube in 22.95 seconds at the Budapest world championship in 1982.
Fourty-three quintillion is 43 million million million. There are only about 30 million seconds in a year. It would take a thousand million years, looking at a thousand patterns every second, to see all the combinations possible with a Rubik's cube.
It took Erno Rubik one month of solid twisting to solve his creation the first time. He was not even sure there could be a method of solving it prior.
Some people can solve the Rubik's cube in 52 moves from any scrambled position.
Theoretically the shortest path to solving Rubik's cube from any scrambled position is as few as 22 twists. So far no one has succeeded in demonstrating this method.
Within a year of launch, Rubik's cube became the fastest selling puzzle of all time.
Fourty-three quintillion is 43 million million million. There are only about 30 million seconds in a year. It would take a thousand million years, looking at a thousand patterns every second, to see all the combinations possible with a Rubik's cube.
It took Erno Rubik one month of solid twisting to solve his creation the first time. He was not even sure there could be a method of solving it prior.
Some people can solve the Rubik's cube in 52 moves from any scrambled position.
Theoretically the shortest path to solving Rubik's cube from any scrambled position is as few as 22 twists. So far no one has succeeded in demonstrating this method.
Within a year of launch, Rubik's cube became the fastest selling puzzle of all time.
Rubik's Cube, Doin' The Retro Thing
I have been fighting a cold this week (note to self, flu shot next year) so I decided to solve my Rubik's Cube. I have not messed around with the Cube in about a year or so. I enjoy solving the Rubik's Cube, mainly because I did not accomplish the feat during the hayday of the Rubik's Cube. During the early 1990's I took another look at the Cube and finally figured out out to solve it. With the help of some tips I found online at the time. The main thing to remember is the Cube is solved in layers, not by color. I use a top down approach. The Cube is solved with quarter and half turns.
Before
I can now usually solve the Rubik's Cube in one evening, sometimes faster than other times. I actually have a few cubes floating around the house. Many of you noticed my son giving his Rubik's Cube a turn in the Photo Gallery. I love watching the look on his face as he turns the Cube, you can see the gears churning.
Despite being a tad groggy last night I remembered my turn sequences and solved the Cube in a rather short time.
After
I guess my interest in the Rubik's Cube grew as I always felt defeated by it. Being someone that never liked being beat by anything I set a goal of solving the Cube. I think I will pickup a Rubik's Revenge, which is a 4x4x4 puzzle.
Another interesting thing about the Rubik's Cube is that there was a period in the 1990's where a lot of kids did not even know what a Rubik's Cube was, the Cube disappeared from the mainstream for a brief period of time. Then in the late 1990's seemed to again make a comeback. I liked the part in the movie, The Wedding Singer where the guy tosses the Rubik's Cube and exclaims, "No one is ever going to solve that thing".
