Sounds awesome!

Can I plug in an hdmi cable/keyboard/mouse and use it like a desktop and is there some way I can mount the android storage? (Eg can I get access to docs/pics/downloads)

Showing my ignorance here, but would genuinely like an explanation - aren’t/weren’t compromised exit nodes a thing?

Yeah, in hindsight, if I were a billionaire I’d be in my garage with some nice machine tools making stuff or coding for fun or any number of things I enjoy more than business.

Think I’d be the other way. All meetings before noon and then give me the afternoon to do shit I enjoy.

Definitely! Check out AliExpress, Moyu do some really reasonably priced cubes up to ~11x11 - 13x13, starts to get really pricey at 15x15 and above (although tbh there’s not much new after a 7x7/9x9). Megaminx is fun because you can pretty much use knowledge from cubes to get you to maybe the last 3 steps you just have to rethink how you apply the algos you know!

The other interesting thing with big cubes for me was realising I’d essentially forgotten how to solve a 3x3, because I couldn’t finger trick/abuse the cube in the same way it forced me to think about which algos I wanted to apply and I realised I was solving the 3x3 on pretty much muscle memory alone 😂

Love the idea of the challenge, my issue would be lack of a validator tool to confirm I’d completed the challenge - any suggestions?

Haha, when I first learned beginner we were switching cores on 2-3 different no brand Chinese cubes! I’ve not gone for a signature cube yet, but basic GAN/moyu/yuxin cubes today are just so much better it’s unbelievable! Yeah, it’s probably mostly prioritising cubing Vs other things and then when I do put the time aside I get tempted by bigger cubes/megaminx puzzles. Honestly 9x9 or teraminx can be a lot less intense!

The fact we’re the same age might spur me on a bit again. Drilling algos for muscle memory I’m fine with - I probably just need to dedicate a month to the cross, it was just so so much easier when I could sit for 4-5 hours straight with no real responsibility and drill cube lol.

I regret not just learning CFOP back when I was younger, I wanted to get below 1 minute with the beginner method first for some reason and the combination of my skills and current cube tech were never quite there. 15 odd years later I can do sub 50 with beginner method, but don’t have the motivation to learn CFOP (or I probably do, I don’t have the motivation to make my cross good enough). Moral of the story, learn CFOP when you feel yourself hitting a wall with the beginner method.