Rubik, you crazy Hungarian sculpter and architect you

I just spent the last 2+ hours solving a Puzzle with Pieces Rotatable in Groups (the original name of the Rubik's Cube).

I've never had so much fun solving a Rubik's Cube in 2+ hours.

And is it really that you solved it if you found directions on the internet and followed them meticulously through? I hardly ever even looked at the Puzzle with Pieces Rotatable in Groups -- I kept doing these manuevers and when I looked down the colors were aligned. Amazing. Me + the internet = genius.

Here are some interesting facts about Rubik's Cube (and RC hybrids), care of my good friend Rick O'Pedia:

In 1994, Melinda Green, Don Hatch, and Jay Berkenilt created a model of a 3×3×3×3 four-dimensional analogue of a Rubik's Cube called the MagicCube4D. Having more possible states than there are atoms in the known universe, only 55 people have solved it as of January 2007.

In 2006, Roice Nelson and Charlie Nevill created a 3×3×3×3×3 five-dimensional model. As of January 2007, it has been solved by only 7 people.

A normal (3×3×3) Rubik's Cube can have (8! × 38−1) × (12! × 212−1)/2 = 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 different positions (permutations), or about 4.3 × 1019, forty-three quintillion (short scale) or forty-three trillion (long scale), but the puzzle is advertised as having only "billions" of positions, due to the general incomprehensibility of such a large number to laymen. Despite the vast number of positions, all Cubes can be solved in twenty-six or fewer moves (see Optimal solutions for Rubik's Cube).

To put this into perspective, if every permutation of a Rubik's Cube was lined up end to end, it would stretch out approximately 261 light years. If they were laid side by side, it would cover the Earth approximately 256 times.

Next I'll probably start participating in one or more of the following annual events:

1. Blindfolded solving.
2. Solving the cube with one person blindfolded and the other person saying what moves to do, known as "Team Blindfold".
3. Solving the cube underwater in a single breath.
4. Solving the cube using a single hand.
5. Solving the cube with your feet.

If I get good enough for event #1, then maybe one of you can come along with me to event #2 and you won't even have to do anything. I heard the afterparties at Team Blindfold events can get preeeettty crazy.