This new VR headset proports to fix a lot of common VR issues. It boasts 2560 x 2560 micro-OLED displays at 75hz native and a hugely wide 116º diagonal FOV that claims to have 100% edge-to-edge sharpness all in a much smaller package than current VR headsets. It comes in a dramatically lightweight 272 grams compared to 518 grames of a Quest 3.
Bigscreen Beyond 2 isn’t cheap – it costs $1019
This is a pretty good review. He’s most impressed with the groundbreakingly amazing lenses, comfort due to light weight, and using some methods that help reduce the jitter that normally makes quick left-right head turns disorienting.
The CEO is clearly a technically knowledgeable fellow who likes talking about the factors that make this device good – a wonderful change from Apple’s ‘magical’ marketing and Meta’s shotgun approach. He talks about the challenges and promises of newer approaches like foveated rendering.
Norwegian Xplorer has some great videos of driving around the extreme portions of Norway in winter. In this video, he travels through a polar vortex storm as he drives between Vadso and the extreme northeastern city of Vardø. He braves closed roads along the artic ocean. It’s pretty amazing.
Ground Score puts homeless to work cleaning up downtown. They are ‘association of informal recyclers, waste pickers, canners, dumpster divers, and other environmental workers who create and fill low-barrier waste management jobs in Portland, Oregon.’
No word on how to hire them if your business or living complex has been trashed by homeless camps – they only seem to take donations on their website. I sure hope they are helping the city and these folks connect to their communities through solid work – and not part of the growing homeless-industrial complex of Portland.
How cheaters bypass Faceit, ESEA and Vanguard anti-cheats
Unity Research decided to find out how hard it really is to beat modern anti-cheat systems in many FPS games. She deep dives into the history and current state of cheating.
Cheating in CS2
AI shows you the faces of ‘average’ British cheaters
2,000 Brits recently took part in a study by online casino MrQ to see if AI could make a picture of the ‘average’ British cheater. They collected descriptions and then asked AI to make a composite image.
The average male cheater that seemed to be someone in his forties, with blue-grey eyes, small lips, short facial hair and little to no head hair. Someone who has a larger nose and visible frown lines.
The typical woman who cheats, apparently, has dark-haired and is in her early fifties. AI reckons that they are more likely to have a small nose and a medium-sized pout.
In the recently published ‘Financial State of the Cities 2025’, Portland is ranked in the bottom five “Sinkhole Cities” along with Honolulu, New Orleans, Portland, Chicago and New York. Not surprising when you know Portland has the highest commercial vacancy rate in the country and has had a declining population for 3 years running.
Japanese commercials HD ツ has a whole Youtube channel dedicated to the amazing commercials that run in Japan. They keep it up to date and have some great collections of the funniest, most strange, and coolest commercials.
Includes collections like this series of dead-pan gold of Tommy Lee Jones (who knew he was so popular in Japan?)
2 years ago, I saw the words nobody wants to read on what was supposed to be a routine checkup.
Cancer
I got notification of test result at 4:45pm on a Friday afternoon. It was a normal screening procedure that I had almost forgotten about. They had only one sample to send in as a precaution. I was getting ready to go to a fun social event in an hour, so I decided to check it out since I had the time. There it was, in black and white, a report that clearly found cancer. Half-dazed, I read through the biopsy report dozens of times and looked up everything in the report to understand it. A clearly not good spread level and other characteristics that could not be denied. By the time I read the report – it was already after 5pm and my doctor’s office was closed. I called and left a message with my number.
There was little else to do but go to the social event and enjoy being with friends. I tried to enjoy myself but didn’t mention anything. Maybe this was all a mistake – or the wrong patient. Mistakes can happen. After playing phone tag until Sunday, I was finally in contact with my doctor. There was no mistake. He was referring me to the oncologist. I scheduled the appointments and started telling those close to me.
As all cancer patients will tell you – what comes next is a whirlwind of shock, tests, insurance calls, and doctors appointments. All the while you wonder – how bad is it? What stage of cancer do I have? Has it spread? Will I survive? I read up on as much as I could.
To answer those questions, you take lots of tests. A CT scan was scheduled, but waiting 2 weeks for a scan felt like forever. I called the poor CT scan scheduler each morning about cancelations. Within 5 days I got a slot. A day later, I was informed it did not seem the initial cancer had obviously spread – but there was something odd on one kidney that would require an MRI to resolve. Another scheduled appointment, and more waiting. I got in to my MRI and got the scan. I was halfway home when my phone notified me a result was already back. I got off the interstate and parked along the road and read the report.
Kidney cancer
Really? 2 cancers? At the same time? I remember almost laughing while talking to God. Really? We’re going to do this? Well – if this is it for me – then Lord, please make this mean something or do some good for someone.
More oncologists, more doctors visits, preparing time off from work, more planning. It took me about 2 months until all the surgical teams could be arranged with the special new robotic surgery devices they required. Surgery would be the first week of January 2023.
All during the run-up to the surgery, it was a lot of waiting and praying. It was also Advent – a season of anticipation of the arrival of Jesus in the darkness of death. I was going to daily mass, praying extra every day, arranged an anointing of the sick, and a did a general confession. But it was during the rosary that I began to find a special connection – to the sorrowful mysteries.
Each week on Sunday, I’ll try to post what each mystery taught me.
