Just solved my first rubiks cube!!

yay!!

What? On your own?

http://www.speedcubing.com/

Apparently competitive players (who knew) can solve them less than 20 seconds. The record is less than 10.
http://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/events.php?eventId=333&years=only%2B2007&show=100%2BPersons&single=Single

or less than a minute blindfolded:
http://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/events.php?eventId=333bf&years=only%2B2007&show=100%2BPersons&single=Single

or 16 seconds one-handed:
http://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/events.php?eventId=333oh&years=only%2B2007&show=100%2BPersons&single=Single

some people have too much time on their hands. :-P
(There is actually a specific pattern you can follow to finish any cube. Once you work it out and learn it from memory, you can do 'em in no-time)

i got a cube with a how to solve it booklet
kinda defeats the objective

at one point i could get the base and middle done from memory, then id forget the rest and sometimes resort to the book

Took me a few days to learn this one....

http://www.rubikssolver.com

The quickest way is to pick all the stickers off and put them back in the right places.

Nah, it's quicker to bust it apart and reassemble in order.

Aren't there digital cubes with color displays which you could simply reset by some remote? :P

That's exactly how I learned to solve it.

Once it becomes a hopeless jumble you can't see what you are accomplishing. With the cube in its original state you can work on techniques to perform basic tasks, such as swapping two pieces or changing their orientation.

that was my brothers tactick the smash and rebuild
he also took the green stickers off and left the black plastic showing

think he had a thing against green

When I was 9/10 years old I could do the cube in less than a minute (42 seconds was my best time). At lunch break I used to have loads of kids bringing their cubes for me to do. Even the teachers used to ask me, lol.

However, a few months ago I got my hands on one at it took me at least 10 mins to complete. *Huff* the older you get those pesky brain cells get slower :/