Solving A Rubik's Cube, or, Exercises In Extreme Boredom

After a number of vested attempts (both in the intellectual and physical world) to inspire myself in the art of solving a Rubik's cube, I found myself completely uninspired and apathetic about the task. Solving the Rubik's is an exercise in algorithm repetition and color matching, neither of which particularly appeal to me.

While it may not appeal to me, it was nonetheless a requirement of my class to demonstrate how the cube could be solved, and I needed a solution to that problem. As such, for those who are truly interested in solving the Rubik's, I offer up these fine options:

• Watch the video above.  It's step 1 in an extremely (almost an hour!) lengthy tutorial.  I started nodding off on step 4,  but if this really interests you, the tutorial is exhaustive and complete.
• Go to this link.  It's a Rubik's solver where you input your cube configuration, and it provides you with a solution.
• If you're more code-minded, go here.  It's the source code for the above mentioned solver, and should lend coders an algorithmic insight into solving the cube.

While I realize these solutions might not be in the "spirit" of true Rubik's solvers, I think they do illustrate a greater point, which is that computers and technology enable us to do things faster and more quickly through the sharing of data.  What's more, the solver is a clear illustration of the ability of technology to eliminate repetitive, physical tasks.  This applies directly to visualization of data, which allows for an encapsulated and high level view of data that might otherwise be stupefying, or downright impossible to understand.