Christmas Presents for Puzzlers

[jaurand]

http://www.lussorian.com/luxury/comments/stingray-skin-rubiks-cube/2009-09-10/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMCMScomc6g

And they say puzzle boxes are expensive!

[Canuck]

Those are 'way' out there...

The 'big' rubik's cube looks somehow easier to solve, or is it just me?  Maybe not, I've never solved one without removing the 'stickers' 

[jaurand]

Time to get started on those Sting Ray Skin covered boxes!

[gibell]

The 'big' rubik's cube looks somehow easier to solve, or is it just me?

Could be a reversed video, that is my guess.  Looks a little suspicious to me ... no sound, for example.

Such a large puzzle would require different solving techniques, at least for greatest efficiency.

[Canuck]

Thanks George, I thought I was losing my mind...well that's always possible anyway 

[gibell]

Impress your friends!  Make a video of yourself with a Rubik's cube.  Start with it solved, give the thumbs up with a huge smile, then scramble it in about 10 seconds.  Be sure to stare intently at the cube turning it over and over after you scramble it.  Reverse the video.  Presto, you now have "proof" that you can solve the cube in 10 seconds!!

Back to Xmas presents, I recommend the Professor Layton series on the Nintendo DS, recently listed on http://www.mathpuzzle.com/

[Canuck]

George my 11 year old son kyle is having a tough time with math, are you familiar with any DS game that would help?

[Johan Heyns]

Hi Boet

Best advice I can give is that maths is a study subject first, you must know the rules for an operation, after that it is practise, practice practise..................

[rolly_wood]

True Johan, but it should not become a penance .... math is pleasant, is aesthetic,... it is sharp too: either result is the right one or not (at least at the school level) . nothing to debate upon 

I think it needs rules' knowledge and practice .... but math should not be taught as these rules were fallen from the sky, otherwise one starts to feel them as an imposition and hate math... rules descend one from another.

IMHO of course

[Johan Heyns]

Hi Rolly

I agree.  The basics are the rules and unless you understand them you cannot apply them and actually do maths.

[gibell]

George my 11 year old son kyle is having a tough time with math, are you familiar with any DS game that would help?

Sorry I'm hardly a DS expert.  My son and daughter have them but just use them to play games.  On weekends ONLY!

For my 10 yr old son, we use flashcards!

[MBD]

re: math games for 11 year olds.

John, hope this helps.

http://www.leapfrog.com/en/shop/8-11_years.html   I have always heard excellent things about leap frog.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=ds%20math%20games&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi    google search

[MBD]

http://www.leapfrog.com/en/shop/11-18_years.html

Math pens: wish these were available when I was younger.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=math+pen&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g10  math pen search.  

*FLY Fusion™ Algebra

NOTE: This software works only with the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer, and is not compatible with FLY 1.0.
 
Fly through the first year of algebra with step-by-step guidance. Just write out an equation and the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer walks you through the solution, providing help with inequalities, simplifying expressions, systems of linear equations, quadratic equations, graphing and more!

[Canuck]

Thanks for the links Matt,    now you just created a lot of research for me