Can you believe that Fixies are Such itty-bitty creatures?
Even when they’re magnified It’s hard to see their features.
They’re tiny, infinitesimal, So small it makes you doubt.
But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don’t let their secret out!
The Pen
Not here either.
Tom Thomas!
Are you looking for me?
No, for a red pen. I need it right now.
What do you need it for?
Here. Look what my teacher wrote in my assignment book.
Bad behavior during the lesson,
fidgeting,
and talking.
What are you going to do with the red pen? Your teacher left something out?
I thought maybe, you know, I could fix it a bit.
I hope I find that pen!
Oh wow!
Good catch.
So, what do you want to fix on it?
I’ll just add a couple of “no's".
And then it will say that I had no bad behavior during the lesson,
no fidgeting, and no talking.
See? No problem.
Cool!
And then add this at the end:
Tom Thomas is a perfect student.
No, then they would guess I did it.
What is it, clogged up?
A little scribble will do it.
That's not a pen, it’s more like a penknife!
Look! The ball's missing!
What ball? It's a pen!
It's a pen!
But it's a ball point pen!
Old fashioned pens work by dipping the pen into a jar of ink.
But with a ball point pen, the ink is stored inside of a tube
that has a metal tip on the end with a small steel ball.
Well, small for humans that is,
but of course for Fixies it’s quite large.
When you drag the pen across the paper,
the ball spins around, and gets ink on it from inside the tube.
Then it turns over and the ink rolls out onto the paper.
So without the ball a ball point pen won't write at all.
So what am I going to do? That's my only red pen.
Hi everybody! Why do you look so sad?
We lost the ball from the tip of this pen.
Where?
It's here somewhere.
Then you're in luck, boys!
In the pack-o-mat there's a metal detector.
You can use it to find different kinds of metal objects!
No, that's not it.
I can see that myself. It's not on the table, Nolik.
Until not that long ago,
humans used pens that had to be dipped over and over again into an ink well.
This was quite inconvenient,
and so to make writing easier, the fountain pen was invented.
A fountain pen could be filled up with ink,
so it could write for a much longer time.
But fountain pens would often leak,
leaving blots of ink on the paper.
This problem was solved with the invention of the ball point pen.
Ball point pens are simple, handy, and reliable,
except that you can’t write with them on a wall or up-side-down for a long time.
That’s because the ball uses up the ink on it,
and the ink can’t flow up to the tip.
But even this problem has been solved!
There are now special ball point pens
that can be used by astronauts floating in space.
Is this the one?
You're right! That's it!
Don't you just see how awesome my metal detector is?
Is that what you calling me now?
Tom Thomas, help us!
And... now!
Tideesh!
Cool!
By the way, what do you need the red pen for?
Well, Tom Thomas and I need to fix something in his assignment book.
What?!
If I knew that, I wouldn’t have helped you out!
So, no fidgeting and no talking.
And your teacher, she writes in your assignment book when you behave well?
Uh-huh!
Whenever we behave well, she writes a note in our books right away!
Did you see, Simka, how Tom Thomas managed to outsmart everybody?
Since I see nothing else here from your teacher,
does that mean you behaved badly the other days?
Uh-huh!
What?
Well, ah…
Did you see, Nolik,
how Tom Thomas just managed to outsmart himself?
They take care of our machines, Irons, phones, and toasters,
MP3s and TV screens, Even rollercoasters!
Without them clocks stop ticking; Without them lights go out!
But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don’t let their secret out!
Nolik's Cube
Tom Thomas, you'll be late for school if you don't stop!
School?
Don't you worry.
What's he breaking this time?
This time nothing.
He's solving a Rubik's cube, Nolik.
Who’s cube is it?
The Rubik’s Cube is the most popular puzzle game in the whole world.
It was invented by Professor Rubik from Hungary.
A cube has six sides on it.
And on a Rubik's Cube each of these sides
has nine squares that are all the same color.
You start by mixing up the colors.
To solve a Rubik’s cube, you have turn the pieces
and you keep turning and turning them until each side is one solid color again,
for instance red, or yellow, or light blue.
That’s nothing!
Hey, Tom Thomas!
How long have you been messing around with this cube already?
It's been three whole days of turning!
Three whole days?
We could solve that puzzle in five minutes, now couldn't we, Simka?
Oh, really?
Then go right ahead! I'm off to school.
Well, you ready to show Tom Thomas who's boss?
Just count me out!
Hey, I thought you said Rubik's cubes are easy to solve.
I never said anything like that!
This problem is all yours, Mister Bragger!
Alright, I'll figure it out myself.
Hey Nolik!
Looks like you've got a problem.
Oh, hi Fire.
No, I'm good.
Just solving this Rubik's cube.
Yeah? Can I do it with you?
What, you can do it?
Of course I can!
How hard can it be?
You'll see for yourself.
Try getting all the red squares on one side.
Piece of cake!
Now hold it tight!
Great! I'm with you!
You mean like that?
Class!
And what about this side?
What?
This side's got to be all blue!
OK, let's go fix it!
There! Like you wanted.
Now what happened to the red side?
Simka was telling me that on each side there has to be one color.
Oh, like Simka'd be able to do this?
Simka can do it all.
Well, if Simka can, that I can too!
Fire! You busted the cube!
I didn’t bust it, I took it apart.
Now let's put it together!
And not just any way,
but the right way!
Puzzles are toys, games, or problems
that force you to use your mind in a clever and creative way.
Take a labyrinth for example.
In a labyrinth the challenge is to find the one way
to get through a series of tangled corridors.
Another fun puzzle is a jigsaw puzzle.
Here you need to put together a picture out of many little pieces.
For this you need to not only pay attention but be patient.
And there are all sorts of puzzles for the computer.
One popular computer puzzle is Tetris.
In Tetris different shapes fall down the screen,
and you have to think quickly to get them to line up into rows.
And solving puzzles isn't only a great activity for people,
it's good for Fixies too!
That's right! Puzzles are like exercises for our brain!
There. All done!
Nolik! You better hurry because Tom Thomas is on his way home.
Hi there, Simka!
Just take a look at this. We did it!
I can't believe it!
How?
Oh, it was a piece of cake!
Simka, Nolik!
I’m back!
Well, I'm out of here.
Ciao!
Wow!
You really solved it!
It was Nolik.
Nolik, you are cool!
So, how?
You see…
first you break it apart into all of the pieces,
and then you put it all back together.
No!
That's cheating!
You've got to turn the cube, not take it apart.
Now I'll solve this cube honestly!
I don't think you can.
Why are you so sure?
I glued it together.
How come?
So you'll stop straining your brain with.
Now the cube will always be the right way!
But if it doesn’t turn, it’s not a Rubik’s cube!
Well, yeah!
Now it's a Nolik's cube.
Right?