It was the last day of our sixth semester. With the exams already out of the way, the only real work that we had to do was to get packing to our homes. Amidst all this confusion, there was one of our seniors who had come to our hostel, Pearl, to see us off. And it was then that it all started...
There he was, sitting and talking to us while we were rummaging everything and stuffing them into our bags. It was now that he spotted a Rubik's cube, lying alone in the corner of one of our rooms, in memory of the Nittfest(our intra-collegiate cultural festival) that had gone by.
At first, no one took notice. But as he started solving the cube with ease, soon a group started forming around him! Believe me, almost every single person were in awe, and every one wanted to know the 'trick' immediately. It ain't that easy though...
I had made a mental note that when I return to college for the seventh semester, I should be able to solve the cube with ease.
It was as I guessed, difficult. Time passed before I actually got my hands on a Rubik's cube. And once this was done, I searched the net(the faithful servant who promises to be of help whenever needed) and after some work ended up with the right site for me, a beginner's guide!
Still, I was not through. The first time I did solve, with the algorithm in front of me in the computer screen, it took me almost four hours! Worth it, for I just didn't solve, but tried and understood the intricacies of the cube.
What started as a mere whim, was slowing becoming an obsession!
I was spending a lot of hours everyday on the cube, and slowly but steadily brought down the time that I needed to solve it. I was able to better the algorithms that I knew, to suit to my methods of solving. And with this done, next in line is speed solving, and solving it blindfolded!
What more, it gives you a satisfaction when you think of it in the following manner :
The solved Rubik's cube is one out of 43 quintillion (43,252,003,274,489,856,000) permutations that are possible on the cube!
Well, its not just another toy any more!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
The Prestige
The Prestige is a novel by Christopher Priest with the title derived from the novel's fictional practice of stage illusions having three parts: the setup, the performance, and the prestige (effect).
Having heard a lot about its movie adaptation during my third year at college, I automatically took the book from the shelves of the British Council Library when I came across it.
A month passed, and still I had not read the book.
This is all that I'd have had to report had I returned it then, but it was now that I finally mustered myself to take to it. And once I had taken to it, I couldn't drop it. It took the better of three days to finish the book, but it was certainly worth every minute of it.
The story is structured into five parts and takes place at the present with the actual story dating back to a few generations. The story revolves around two characters( or is it two?), Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier. Before they go on to become world class magicians, a meeting between the two ends up in a bitter rivalry which takes the better part of most of their lives. They constantly try to out do the other, and even sabotage the other's acts.
A trick which involves transporting oneself into a seemingly impossible new position in a matter of seconds, forms a pivotal role to the plot. Borden develops it first, calls it the The Transported Man, enhances it with better effects and calls it The New Transported Man. Angier, having always the difficulty of coping with a trick, in spite of being a magician himself, goes on a search to emulate his rival. Borden, who strongly believes that no one would ever find his secret, tries to mislead Angier. Angier, in his search, meets the physicist Nikola Tesla, who develops an apparatus, which helps Angier achieve what he is thriving for, with a bizarre effect.
Angier calls his version of the trick as In A Flash and with it becomes a great success. Borden, unable to comprehend this, tries to find Angier's secret, and what happens then and how it has come to haunt their families even after generations have passed, form the rest of the plot.
A bewitching read for anyone who has the slightest interest in legerdemain or the liking for stories with the protagonists lives running in a parallel fashion.
Next up, I'm looking to catch up with the movie!
Having heard a lot about its movie adaptation during my third year at college, I automatically took the book from the shelves of the British Council Library when I came across it.
A month passed, and still I had not read the book.
This is all that I'd have had to report had I returned it then, but it was now that I finally mustered myself to take to it. And once I had taken to it, I couldn't drop it. It took the better of three days to finish the book, but it was certainly worth every minute of it.
The story is structured into five parts and takes place at the present with the actual story dating back to a few generations. The story revolves around two characters( or is it two?), Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier. Before they go on to become world class magicians, a meeting between the two ends up in a bitter rivalry which takes the better part of most of their lives. They constantly try to out do the other, and even sabotage the other's acts.
A trick which involves transporting oneself into a seemingly impossible new position in a matter of seconds, forms a pivotal role to the plot. Borden develops it first, calls it the The Transported Man, enhances it with better effects and calls it The New Transported Man. Angier, having always the difficulty of coping with a trick, in spite of being a magician himself, goes on a search to emulate his rival. Borden, who strongly believes that no one would ever find his secret, tries to mislead Angier. Angier, in his search, meets the physicist Nikola Tesla, who develops an apparatus, which helps Angier achieve what he is thriving for, with a bizarre effect.
Angier calls his version of the trick as In A Flash and with it becomes a great success. Borden, unable to comprehend this, tries to find Angier's secret, and what happens then and how it has come to haunt their families even after generations have passed, form the rest of the plot.
A bewitching read for anyone who has the slightest interest in legerdemain or the liking for stories with the protagonists lives running in a parallel fashion.
Next up, I'm looking to catch up with the movie!