Heyyy, welcome to the GNAPcast: your source of geekly entertainment! Tune in every Thursday as we talk about everything from LEGOs to Brit Lit and beyond!
Episodes
Thursday Aug 30, 2018
Thursday Aug 30, 2018
Heyyy, welcome to the season finale of the GNAPcast! In our last episode of Season 1, David explained the science and strategy behind the competitive event of speedcubing, or solving Rubik's Cubes really quickly. His explanations made too much sense, though, so we turned to the internet and decided to ask it questions about them!
Just when you thought Rubik's Cubes were complex enough, we find a way to make them even more convoluted! Join Seth and David for our last episode of Season 1 as we play Google Autofill with Rubik's Cubes (though not at the same time, that might be difficult).
It's been a great season! We've enjoyed sharing all this craziness with you guys and are really looking forward to more. Tune in next week for a quick GNAP-date. (Yes, we did really just say that.)
Fact Checks and Extra Stuff! - David
Again, because this episode was recorded so far in advance, some of the information is a little outdated. Never fear, though! Here are some further explanations and links for you to find out for yourself:
F - Here's a link to The Cubicle, if you want to buy your own puzzle cube.
K - And here's a link to ZCube, for all of your puzzle cube or keychain needs!
L - The Rubik's Cube mechanism
N - Here's a forum post from SpeedSolving, talking about more of those bizarre cube names.
O - An online timer, in case you want to try your luck.
P - Herbert Kociemba's website
U - We may have already included this link in the last episode, but here is Kevin Hays' underwater world record video.
V - Back at The Cubicle! In addition to puzzle cubes, you can also find some silicon-based cube lubricants (cubricants??) here.
W - The name I couldn't remember in the episode was SeungBeom Cho (who does go by Steve, so I got that right). However, the current world record (as of May 5th) is by Feliks Zemdegs, with 4.22 seconds.
X - The X and O Method is also called the Ortega Method, or the Corners-First Method. To use this algorithm, you solve all of the corners (creating an 'X' on each side with the center pieces), and then solve the edges while using the corners as a reference. This was actually the very first method I used to solve a cube, though I had no idea what I was doing at the time. You can read more about it here.
Z - Since this is an audio episode and I'm talking about an extremely visual thing, here are some links to the kinds of things I'm talking about! This is the zigzag pattern, and here are some other ones.
Thursday Aug 23, 2018
Thursday Aug 23, 2018
Heyyy, welcome to the GNAPcast! Well, it worked last time, so here we go again! Welcome to a very technical episode of the GNAPcast, where we switch roles and David gets to explain something very dear to his heart--Rubik's Cubes!
(Just a quick note, though: the records we talk about apparently get broken faster than our egos, so there will be a lot of outdated information in this episode. More on that below.)
From discussing numbers bigger than we can really comprehend to learning that "cubing" is apparently a verb, it's bound to be quite an experience this week in Season 1's penultimate episode!
Extra Info and Updated Records --David
As of today, these are the most recent records and statistics on what we talked about...hopefully that doesn't change as soon as we upload the episode. Also, since speedcubing is extremely hard to explain in an audio podcast, here are some videos!
-World Cube Association Records
-Corner-cutting on a traditional 3x3 Rubik's Cube
-My in-competition personal best solve
-Fridrich method tutorial (and a much easier method)
-The current world record for a 7x7 solve (1:47.89) was set on July 20th of 2018 by Max Park.
-The current world record for a pyraminx solve is now 0.91 seconds, set by Dominik Górny.
-Marcin Maskow Kowalczyk (whose name I unfortunately couldn't pronounce in the episode) no longer holds the world record for multi-blind solves--that is now dually held by Shivam Bansal, completing 48 out of 48 correctly in 59 minutes 48 seconds; and Mark Boyanowski, completing 43 out of 44 correctly in an hour. On a side note, Maskow's non-competition, personal best multi-blind record is 49/50 in 58 minutes 25 seconds, which is still better than the world record despite being three years old at this point.
-Feliks' world record solve of 4.73 seconds has since been surpassed by Feliks himself--twice!
-My fastest unofficial solve time is now 6.68 seconds. If you're curious, here is a link to my YouTube channel, where I do a lot of speedcubing reconstructions.
-Mats Valk's world-record single from 2013
-Juan Pablo Huanqui's record megaminx solve
-Max Park has set a lot of new world records lately! Here are just a few examples of what he's been up to: new single and average solves for 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, and 7x7s; a new one-handed 3x3 average time; and a new world record for the 2x2 to 7x7 relay!
-Kevin Hays' underwater 3x3 world record
-A puzzle bigger than 22x22 does now exist! Check out the 33x33 here!
-Tony Fisher's "big cube" world record solve
Thursday Aug 16, 2018
Thursday Aug 16, 2018
Heyyy, welcome to the GNAPcast! Last time, we listened as Seth attempted the monumental task of summarizing the entirety of the Mass Effect Trilogy in a 30-minute podcast. All was well (and more or less successful), but then David delved into the internet--only to discover a multitude of questions that were left unanswered.
Join Seth and David again this week for a follow-up to our Mass Effect episode, where we try another dumb internet game and play "Google Autofill" based around the Mass Effect universe! From Andromeda to zombies, Interrupts to the Systems Alliance, you'll learn more about the world of Mass Effect than you ever wanted to know! (And just for fun, drink a shot of ginger ale every time Seth says the word "interesting.")
Fact Checks and Extra Stuff! -Seth
H - I was unable to find anything solid on Shepard's in-game height. Ironically, however, David's pronouncement of 6'2" is exactly the height of Shepard's body model, Mark Vanderloo!
I - Is Commander Shepard Indoctrinated? (Game Theory)
L - The Commander Shepard Song (by Miracle of Sound)
O - In actual fact, Shepard's birth year is 2154--five years earlier than my stated year in the episode. Oops. His birthdate, April 11th, also coincides with the Apollo 13 launch in 1970.
T - The training simulator in Mass Effect 3 is called the "Armax Arsenal Arena," and is available in the Citadel DLC pack. I highly recommend it both for its story and its unique rewards!
U - "und dast ist mein" is actually the middle of a line from the German version of Mass Effect 2! The full line in German is, "Ich bin Commander Shepard und das ist mein Lieblingsgeschäft auf der Citadel!" In English, this line is, "I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store on the Citadel!" The line has become quite a meme, as might be expected.
V - Just to clarify (because I never did in the episode), I actually really like Mark Meer's portrayal of Commander Shepard! He does a fantastic job, as does Jennifer Hale. My own personal preference is to play a female Shepard, simply because I think it makes the game more interesting.
Y.5 - The Andromeda galaxy is approximately 2.5 million light years away, meaning David is actually closer in his estimate than I am. Oops again.
Z - Is Commander Shepard a Zombie? (The Game Theorists)
Thursday Aug 09, 2018
Thursday Aug 09, 2018
Heyyy, welcome to the GNAPcast! In this special, experimental episode, Seth cracks his metaphorical knuckles and tries to explain a particular topic to David (and all of you guys)! Today, that topic is: the Mass Effect trilogy! (That being said, BEWARE TRILOGY-SPANNING SPOILERS during this entire episode. You have been warned.)
As Seth and David journey into the distant future, they are met with strange and nagging questions--did ancient space machines really decide to exterminate all life in the galaxy? Are role-playing games only a fun way to do math problems? And most important, what the heck does a German Shepherd have to do with any of it?!?
Join us for an epic adventure through space and time, complete with fiddly vehicles, dumb jokes, and more sidetracks than Grand Central Station!
Thursday Aug 02, 2018
Thursday Aug 02, 2018
Heyyy, welcome to the GNAPcast! Firstly, we'd like to say that we're okay--we just weren't able to publish last week's episode due to more technical issues. Yay!
Okay, now that that's out of the way, on with the show!
From The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to Meredith Andrews' The Music Man! and some (terrible) stage accents, join Seth and David as we talk theater and drama stuff with returning guest Anna. As a subject that's dear to our hearts (but one that some of us don't have much experience in), we end up with a wide variety of perspectives...as well as an unfortunate incident with a tree and a cat.
This episode features Anna once again, our foremost theater expert from Iowa and an IRL Lucy Pevensie!