Message #3852

From: Melinda Green <melinda@superliminal.com>
Subject: Speedsolving contest test successful
Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2017 13:37:23 -0800

Thanks to Nan and Luna, we shook out a couple problems and found that we could run a contest through streaming YouTube chat. The functionality is very minimal, but it’s enough. The best part is that anyone with a browser should be able to use it right away without joining or configuring anything. And the winner of the test was Luna with a fast solution to a completely unfamiliar but very easy puzzle. The test and solution files are here: http://superliminal.com/cube/contest3/. The puzzle ended up being the file test2.log, and Luna’s solution was luna2.log. Congratulations Luna!

I wish a few more people showed up to test so that you’ll be less likely to stumble while handling log files or operating any related software. I’ll pick a puzzle that I think someone should be able to solve in an hour or two if not much less. I can’t be certain how long it will go, but if you practice with a few random MC4D puzzles and try to keep your plans relatively free for a few hours, there’s a chance that you can win. Even if you think you have no chance to win, you can still have a lot of fun. Our last contest was actually pretty hilarious and surprisingly exciting. Even this little test was fun. Even if you have no intention to participate, you may still enjoy just showing up to watch and maybe encourage the participants.

For reference, the official starting time will be 11 AM, Pacific time, Saturday December 9th. I’ll aim to publish the scramble URL as close to that time as possible, so do show up a little early. The location is here: https://www.youtube.com/c/MelindaGreen/live. The winner will be the first to send me a correctly solved version to melinda@superliminal.com. You can use macros but you should define them during your solution. You don’t need to submit your macro files. If you want to participate and can’t get into the chat for any reason, send me email immediately.

Any questions? Please ask publicly or privately.

Good luck!
-Melinda