Squan parity

Parities can occur in may types of cubes, yet parity doesn't actually have a definition in cubing. In this post, we will define parity as a situation in which the cube is unsolvable using the method you had been using for the solve. For example, without the parity alg for squan, the cube would be unsolvable. In this case, the parity alg is a different method which is introduced in order to solve the cube. But while most cubing parities occur due to swapped or rotated pieces, squans have defined orientations and permutations for all of its pieces, so this isn't possible. So why does it occur?
Squans are capable of shapeshifting/jumbling* which allows you to switch corners with edges. The first part of the solving process involves making the squan into a cube. However, when you make it a cube you can accidentally put edges in a position that would be unsolvable. It goes in a pattern. That's confusing, so here's an example: If two opposite edges are swapped on a 3x3, it is unsolvable. But if 4 opposite edges are swapped, well, we call that H-Perm. This translates to squan as when you are making it into a cube again, you have to place the edges. But it isn't possible to tell if your placing them in a solvable position. You might misplace two edges, which would result in a parity. But if you misplace four edges, it would be like you didn't misplace any edges at all. If the amount of misplaced edges is divisible by four, there won't be parity. If not, than there will be parity. There's two easy "If" statements. Maybe I'll cover those tomorrow...
Now, with this discovered, you might ask yourself "So, we can't tell how to prevent parity?" No, of course we can. This is America. With this much time on our hands we can do anything. When doing corner permutation (CP) you have to shapeshift the cube. By the time you reach CP, you can tell if you have parity. You can than recognize if you have it, and then modify your CP alg to accomadate this very easily, quickly eliminating parity. It is also technically possible to tell if you have parity as soon as you get cubeshape, but because whether or not you have parity can change as you solve (Like all parities), it's simply not worth it.
So in the end, Squan parity is an avoidable thing if you know how to deal with it. While this isn't as important to get fazt as other things, like cubeshape and EP, it is incredibly helpful as parity algs are long and take lots of time. So if you want to get fazt, better get started. Because weather you learn how to avoid parity or not, you have many algs ahead of you.

Of course I eat baby dwarves. How do you think I get this strong?
-GIR



*Again, neither of those have exact definitions and jumbling is only specified as shapeshifting that causes bandaging which is often voluntary. By voluntary I mean that it is possible to scramble the cube without jumbling. Jumbling also often switches pieces with other pieces that shouldn't go there. Example: An edge switching with a corner. This is exemplified in the curvy copter and helicopter cubes. But I digress. The point is, as squans meet all definitions for jumbling yet people call it shapeshifting, I don't actually know which one it is. In this post, I will simply call it shapeshifting.

The Ranch- The Hollow Tree

So, I'm in the mountians now. It's nice up here. It's gonna snow soon. We've got a nice cabin so we don't freeze and we're up here with some friends. But there's one problem. Something we've noticed for a long time. There's  hollow tree. And its still alive.
We've called it the hollow tree. The trunk along with several branches have been completley hollowed out by something. We don't know what hollowed it out, but that's not the inportant thing. The important and most confusing thing is that the tree is still alive. Every spring it gets new leaves and every Fall it loses them. Despite this, the trunk and branches are hollow, and we often climb in them. This was incredibly confusing to me as a smaller jimmy, but now it somewhat makes sense. The tree likley stays alive through the part of the trunk that remains. Regaurdless, it is still fun to go up to and see, although we can no longer fit inside of it.
Sorry this post isn't longer, but there isn't much more to talk about. I'll have a better post tomorrow.

Don't forget to drink your juice!
-GIR

QiYi Squan

Once, there was a squan. It wasn't a great squan, but it was what we had. But then more squans came into existence. These squans improved upon the earlier squan, but still were far from perfect. Then, there was nothing. That's it.
Sounds about right.
But wait, what's that? It looks like a squan, but not just any squan. It has what looks like MoYu shads. COULD IT BE?! A MOYU SQUAN!?!?! Wait, no. It's a QiYi squan. Whatever. I'm gonna go to CalTeh Fall. Oh look, there's a QiYi squan. It looks nice. Oh, it feels nice too. Wait, is that an anti-popping mech? It corner cuts? It's fast? It doesn't pop? What?
It's beautiful.
Up till now, there wasn't a squan that could function that well without having some major drawback. Mainly, cubes had trouble with corner cutting and pops. All of the squans had these problems. Until now, it was unheard of to have a cube that could resist pops. But the QiYi squan changed all of that. Unlike other cubes, it had an anti-popping mech. It had two sticks crammed in the middle for added support. This rods help keep it from popping VERY well. So much so that in two days of intense use, I haven't got a pop. It could be said that I keep it to tight, but even if I did it wouldn't matter. You might say that's because squans don't corner cut, but you'd be wrong. This one does. And it does it in every way, normal, reverse, in the way that happens due to overshooting that always causes a pop, and so much more. It seems like the perfect squan, and it is.
For the most part.
You see, the mechanism consists of two halves each with three pieces. These pieces are the external pieces, the core itself, and the anti-pop rod. The issue arises here, as the separation of the anti-pop mech and the core causes the edges to be very... fragile in positioning. You see, if you push on the edges they can pop up, causing turning quality to fall down. Luckily, this can be fixed by glueing the anti-pop rod and core together, but it would have been so much simpler if QiYi would have just had them together from the start. There is no reason to have them separate. Regardless, it is an easy fix, but it could have been avoided altogether, and this is the only thing stopping it from being perfect.
At the end of the day, there's one prominent message: The QiYi squan is the best squan. Whether you're casually solving or trying to speedcube it, the QiYi should be your one and only option. Until MoYu makes one.
This is going to be interesting.

Romain, just... don't... put th-... ugh.
-GIR

CalTech Fall 2015

I'm at  the CalTech Fall open Cubing competition today, so the post is going to be short. But im gonna briefly talk about the comp, because why not?
I've been a judge for most of the day, but I did get around to buying a new squan. I got the QiYi squan and I must say, its the most beautiful cube there ever did was. There's no competition. If you want a squan, get the QiYi. So far I haven't  competed, but I hope to get a sub-20 average in 3x3 and a sub-6 average in 2x2. Hopefully that will happen, but only time will tell.
We're in the middle of OH round 2, and after this there'll be a lunch break and then 3x3 round one. I hope to make it to round two, but that's unlikely. But hey, its happens before. Let's just hope my squan practice hasn't screwed up my 3x3 times.

Where'd all my juice go?
-GIR

Coding Languages

Once you learn a coding language you should be able to code in it efficiently. However, just because you can code in one language doesn't mean you know them all. This is a mistake non-technologically minded people can make, and it results in people who know HTML to code a video game by friends. Coding languages can be vastly different, and here I'm going to use the example of C++ vs HTML.

HTML is essentially the coding of the web. In most webpages there is a combination of multiple kinds of coding languages, mainly being HTML and Javascript. HTML is used to give the page its structure, while Java creates functions. But we aren't comparing those two right now. C++ is derived from Objective C, and C++ can be used to solve problems and/or to create basic programs to accomplish certain tasks. I already talked about the for loop in an earlier post, and in that post I was talking about the for loop and how it works in C++. C++ can be used to create programs to solve certain types of math problems. for example, I coded a program to find out if a number is prime. These sorts of programs can be useful for many reasons, including using them to solve problems you don't want to solve on your own.

These two coding languages don't only function very differently, they are also written very differently. For example, to write text in HTML, you write <p>This is text.</p> whereas in C++ you write std::cout<<"This is text."; This alone demonstrates the difference between the two quite well, but the functional differences play an even larger role. For example this:

int i=0;

while(i<10)

{

std::cout<<i;

i++;

}

in C++ would create a function that counted to ten, in HTML it would be gibberish, and the document would likely simply display it as text out of sheer confusion. Whereas, in HTML you can write:

<p>Click <a href=="www.google.com">HERE</a>  to be redirected.</p>

to create a link, and that wouldn't work in C++.

This is only the beginning. There are many more coding languages and all of them are at least slightly different from the rest. SO while knowing one doesn't make you a coding master, it can still be useful. Hone your skills in that one language, and then branch out. Today, HTML. Tomorrow, C++. The day after that, a pizza. Then, about a week later, the WORLD.

Of course I think it's worth it! What better way to honor the dead than turning them into a runeblade.

-GIR

Rivals of AEther

Rivals of AEther (For future reference, i shall call it simply "Rivals") is a new Smash-inspired game available on steam as early access. Some people may think "Isn't it just Smash?" and not buy it. But they'd be wrong. I already talked about how each individual smash game is different. So now, I'm going to compare Smash and Rivals. (Smash 4 vs. Rivals early access version 0.0.8, to be exact.)
/*DISCLAIMER: I haven't played Rivals as of now, however I have seen lots of gameplay and I intend to purchase it soon. Just hear me out.*/
In Smash, there are very concrete rules as to what can be in a moveset. The most different kind of moveset we have would be Ryu, and his "Do a different input for weaker or stronger attacks" gimmick pales in comparison to the ridiculous kinds of movesets found in Rivals. In Rivals, anything goes. Moves can terraform, they can instantly warp to players, they can extend smashes, clone themselves, and even release smoke to block view of the screen. In Rivals, characters have some pretty ridiculous moves that would break the game, accept everyone has them. So all is still good.
In Smash, some characters have gimmicks. Pac-Man has some ridiculous projectiles, Villager has his own different kind of projectiles, Ganon and Bowser are heavy, and so on. But in Rivals, everyone has a gimmick. And unlike in Smash, a characters gimmick all but DEFINES THEM. Orcane has puddles which need to be placed properly to secure kills and a safe recovery. Malpul needs to seed her opponents in order to recover and kill-combo. Wraster can use smash attacks IN THE AIR. All of these can be used to give yourself a distinct advantage.
Many of Smashes old and retired features have been implemented into Rivals. Wave-dashing, the old way to air-dodge, and more are in Rivals, but not Smash. Along with that, Rivals has no grabable edges and allows you to wall-jump once your in free-fall. Because of all of this, Rivals plays very different to Smash, specifically Smash 4. In this sense, Rivals relates more to Melee than Smash 4.
It may seem like I'm saying Rivals is better than Smash, but that's not true at all. They're both different games that play very differently. Rivals has a smaller roster, but larger diversity of movesets. In the end, it's a matter of preference, which I can't answer now. But I'll get Rivals soon. Then, I'll be able to.
Also, can you guys tell me if Logitech controllers work with Rivals? I really need to know.

Fall back Dwarves! Fall back now!!
-GIR

Pac-Man in Smash

In all honesty, I was confused as to how Sakori intended to create a moveset for Pac-Man. But he did. OOH dang he did. And it's beautiful.

Pac-Man isn't so much representing himself, but more of Namco as a whole. He has many attacks that don't necessarily belong to him, such as Mappy's trampolines and Galiga's ship. But that doesn't change things. Pac-Man isn't top tier, but he is most certainly interesting. He's the kind of character that's hard to master, but when you do, it can be beautiful. I personally love playing as Pac-Man, but I'm far from mastering him. But I do know the Pac-Man meta, and to my understanding, here's what it looks like.

Pac-Man's moveset has a huge emphasis on his specials. As a matter of fact, most of your moves will be specials. His grab is bad, and his smash attacks aren't much better. But his specials give him all the tools he needs to create mass confusion. As Pac-Man your goal should be to launch an endless amount of projectiles to create confusion, and then go in yourself to limit your opponent's options. He doesn't have any spikes, and his nair and fair are bad at gimping, which limits your offstage options. But he does have an amazing recovery if done rights, so you can go in deep for what it's worth. It's important you use your side-B for recovery as its safer than his up-B. This also allows you to charge your neutral-B off stage for a very long time. His neutral-B changes as it charges, so sing its different properties can give you a huge advantage. For example, the apple and key can kill, the bell can stun, the Galiga ship can be used to wrack up damage and be used in combo with his down-B. Pac-Man's down-B is the fire hydrant. The hydrant shoots water which pushes people back, and once it receives enough damage you can send the hydrant flying, doing damage and killing if at at high enough percent. If Pac-Man can catch his neutral-B, he can juggle the item to damage the hydrant and his opponents to get them high enough to die from a key or apple. In short, you should be sending you hydrant and neutral-B around while attacking your opponents to deal damage, then finish off with a hydrant, apple, key, smash attack, and possibly a side-B.

This is just my opinion as to how to play Pac-Man, and I'm not actually that good at Pac-Man in comparison with others. Make sure you check other places for better tips.

When you hear me blow my horn, boys, make sure you charge!

-GIR