Tyson Mao
| Tyson Mao | |
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| Born | May 8, 1984 San Francisco, California, United States |
| Website | |
| http://www.rubiks.com/ | |
Tyson Mao (Taiwanese-American) (born May 8, 1984 in San Francisco, California), is a competitive Rubik's Cube solver, or a "speedcuber." He is a co-founder and a current board member of the World Cube Association, an organization that holds competitive events for the Rubik's Cube. In 2006, he set the world record for 3x3x3 blindfolded.[1] In 2006, he appeared on the CW Television Network's "Beauty and the Geek" as one of the participants of the second incarnation of the reality television show.[2]
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[edit] Personal
Tyson Mao was born in the United States to immigrants from Tainan, Taiwan. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and works as a high-frequency trader.[3] Mao graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2006 with a degree in astrophysics.
[edit] Rubik's Cube
Tyson began solving the cube during the Rubik's Cube's second boom in 2003, first using a beginner's method, then the Petrus and Fridrich methods. Tyson is credit for popularizing the "Caltech move" for solving the three diagonal corner permutation in blindfold solving.
[edit] Competition Organizer
Tyson has been the main organizer of major U.S competitions, including all US Nationals, as well as many Caltech competitions.
[edit] Tyson Mao's beginner method
Tyson Mao's unofficial beginner method has been popularized by a set of 8 videos which can be viewed at Rubiks.com. This method is most famous for being used by Will Smith in his recent film The Pursuit of Happyness. The method is basically a simplified layer-by-layer approach which works much the same way as the Fridrich method. The difference is that the cross is first built around the opposite side to simplify the permutation foresight required, the first two layers are permuted individually, the last layer requires an algorithm to construct a cross, and then repetition of Lars Petrus' Sune algorithm to orient, and finally permutation requires the use of two algorithms, one for the corners and one for the edges. These algorithms may have to be executed multiple times.
[edit] Media appearances
- Beauty and the Geek 2
- Chung Yi Da Ge Da (Taiwanese TV show)
- CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 (Air date: December 15, 2006)
- Identity
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (Air date: January 27, 2006)
- TWINS
- USA Network: Show Us Your Character
- Good Morning America (Air date: February 4, 2008)
[edit] References
- ^ "World Cube Association Results for 3x3x3 Blindfolded". World Cube Association. http://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/events.php?eventId=333bf. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ Merrin, Tarra (2006-01-12). "'Beauty and the Geek' returns to TV". Canoe.ca. Archived from the original on 2007-10-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20071018073850/http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2006/01/12/1389865.html. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
- ^ http://taiwaneseamerican.org/100people/tyson-mao/
[edit] External links
- Brain Trust Behind 'Beauty And The Geek' Says More Stereotype Breaking In Works, TBO.com
- Brothers square off in cubing contest, San Francisco Chronicle
- Tyson Mao, entry on The Internet Movie Database
- Tyson's Blog
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