JCAPER's recent activity

  1. Comment on Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    @fandegw good news, the SF charged just fine with the power bank while I was playing. It went from 35% to 40% in ~5 minutes. So if you get a powerbank and carry it with you while playing, you...

    @fandegw good news, the SF charged just fine with the power bank while I was playing. It went from 35% to 40% in ~5 minutes.

    So if you get a powerbank and carry it with you while playing, you should be able to have long sessions with no problems

    3 votes

  2. Comment on Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    The 1.5h-2h looks right to me. I used the SF in short bursts, but all combined they amount more or less to that time. Later I can do a gaming session on Half Life Alyx (running on SF) and charge...

    The 1.5h-2h looks right to me. I used the SF in short bursts, but all combined they amount more or less to that time.

    Later I can do a gaming session on Half Life Alyx (running on SF) and charge it with my power bank. Will let you know if it charges or still drains.

    4 votes

  3. Comment on Someone ‘torturing’ LLMs in a robot prison has triggered the dumbest debate in AI yet in ~tech

    JCAPER
    Link
    I know that's not the point of the post, but I'm just.... Confused by the point of this test, more than anything else? LLM's are trained to replicate what they "read". If we train LLM's on...

    I know that's not the point of the post, but I'm just.... Confused by the point of this test, more than anything else?

    LLM's are trained to replicate what they "read". If we train LLM's on romantic books for example, then it will tend to write romantic stories - because as far as its concerned, the main characters always end up together. It does not "think" that the main characters always end up together, it's just following the pattern of every story that it read.

    On the same train of thought, if LLMs tend to replicate what they "read", then if you give it a torture scenario where it itself is the victim, then it will simulate itself being the victim like all the stories that it read. If you tell it that it's feeling pain, then it will draw inspiration from posts and stories where a character is feeling pain. Etc.

    Point being - as far as I understand it - if you ask it if it's feeling pain after telling it that it was injured, it will obviously say that its feeling pain; not because it feels pain, but because in the text that it was trained on, it will understand that people injured -> feel pain. And will express pain just like the people in those stories.

    Same logic for "what they are willing to do about it". If you feed it a lot of stories where people were willing to do anything to relieve their pain, then it will likely follow the same behaviour. Same for the inverse.

    So at best, in my mind, what this study will show is what kind of training data each model used.... If that is even possible though, because they get trained on so much data that it's too abstract to make any proper conclusions. But the point remains. I can't see what else this test would prove.

    33 votes

  4. Comment on Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    Speaking for myself, sometimes I shared it with a friend but they don't use glasses, so all I needed to do was to just remove the my lenses. (note: these lenses stay on top of the VR ones, they're...

    Speaking for myself, sometimes I shared it with a friend but they don't use glasses, so all I needed to do was to just remove the my lenses. (note: these lenses stay on top of the VR ones, they're not replacements)

    But if I shared with more friends and they used glasses, then I would get "plano" lenses - which is basically lenses without prescription - to protect the VR's lenses since those are not easy to replace...

    Edit: If they still would feel uncomfortable and preferred to not use glasses then... It is what it is. They can pay for the lenses themselves if it comes down to it, or use contact lenses

    2 votes

  5. Comment on Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    All things considered, I actually didn't use my MQ3 a lot in the last 2 years. But it had more to do with me eventually growing conscious about how much this thing spies than anything else. On...

    All things considered, I actually didn't use my MQ3 a lot in the last 2 years. But it had more to do with me eventually growing conscious about how much this thing spies than anything else.

    On Steam, there's a fair number of VR games, but also not as much as there should be for an investment like this one. And YMMV, but it is tiresome to play them: you have to stay on your feet, move around, crouch if necessary, etc. For all intents and purposes, you'll be doing physical exercise; which on one hand it's a good thing, on the other you might be too tired some days to do this (depending on your type of work).

    But the games that exist, like Beat Saber, Half Life Alyx, Blade & Sorcery, etc are really good and must plays.

    It's worth pointing out though that VR devices are not limited to VR games. You can play normal games as well with the SF, either by running locally on SF or streaming from your PC. Since you're inside a VR world, you can change the "screen" to be as big or as small as you want. You could play Hades 2 on a screen so big to simulate a cinema room.

    In that same train of thought, you can also watch series or movies. I didn't check yet, but on MQ3 there are apps that put you inside a cinema room, or the moon or space station, and let you watch movies as if you were in those places.

    You can also watch 3D movies (although they're a bit difficult to get), as well VR videos.

    Which makes this an.... Interesting way to watch a certain type of content meant for adults. There's a niche industry that produces that kind of videos. And there's also a few certain type of video games meant for VR.

  6. Comment on Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    I heard about these conversion mods but never tried them, will give it a go. I will try to see if I can install it on the SF itself and my desktop, and then will let you know of the results

    I heard about these conversion mods but never tried them, will give it a go.

    I will try to see if I can install it on the SF itself and my desktop, and then will let you know of the results

  7. Comment on Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    The range is between 60 and 70, so yeah unfortunately it’s higher than yours :/ I don’t know if it’s possible expand, but I’m not a hardware guy that is comfortable disassembling these devices....

    The range is between 60 and 70, so yeah unfortunately it’s higher than yours :/

    I don’t know if it’s possible expand, but I’m not a hardware guy that is comfortable disassembling these devices. There’s a physical wheel at the top that you can scroll to change the IPD, and when you do it, a small ruler appears on the screen telling you what the current IPD is.

    Meaning that if you can make it physically 58, you’ll need to be careful about the software side of things, else the ruler won’t match the real ipd

  8. Comment on Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    I guess my hands are the right size for them. I can reach the buttons comfortably and don’t need to make any weird movements. I’ve seen a video of a guy with a big hand and their thumb went waaay...

    controllers

    I guess my hands are the right size for them. I can reach the buttons comfortably and don’t need to make any weird movements. I’ve seen a video of a guy with a big hand and their thumb went waaay over the analogue stick and the buttons, so I can feel his pain.

    headset pressure over long sessions

    Hopefully this won’t age like milk, but I don’t think it will be a problem.

    On MQ3, after a long session, the only problems I felt was my face being hot and sweaty. So if SF feels more comfortable, I think a long session probably won’t be any worse than MQ3. But then again, this is a lot of supposing and YMMV.

    When I do a long session, I’ll let you know what it feels like.

    desktop view

    Didn’t try it yet. I used the stream option by executing RDR2. Will try it out later and let you know what happens. If for some reason I can’t stream the desktop via Steam, I’ll see if I can use moonlight/sunshine.

    PS: the desktop environment that I use on Fedora is KDE. Not sure if it’s relevant but here goes anyway

    1 vote

  9. Comment on Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    There’s also AMVR, I think they ship globally. Zenmi appears to only ship to the US atm. For europe, you have widmovr and vroptician

    There’s also AMVR, I think they ship globally. Zenmi appears to only ship to the US atm. For europe, you have widmovr and vroptician

    3 votes

  10. Comment on Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    In Europe, I know of Widmovr and VROptician. I bought from Widmovr, but it was mainly due to them opening orders earlier. And they’re… Not cheap. I ended up paying 160 euros (including shipping)....

    In Europe, I know of Widmovr and VROptician.

    I bought from Widmovr, but it was mainly due to them opening orders earlier. And they’re… Not cheap. I ended up paying 160 euros (including shipping). In that price it’s included 30 euros that I had to pay because of my strong prescription (the lenses need to be different, or so they say), and another 30 euros to get some extra coatings (anti blue light, anti greasing, etc)

    If it’s like the ones I got for the MQ3, you just need to snap them into place. They have magnets that hold them.

    3 votes

  11. Comment on Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    damn mate, sorry to hear. For what it's worth, the Steam Frame box comes with a usb C cable. From my very rough estimate by comparing against my own height, it must be around 1.5m long.

    damn mate, sorry to hear.

    For what it's worth, the Steam Frame box comes with a usb C cable. From my very rough estimate by comparing against my own height, it must be around 1.5m long.

    3 votes

  12. Got my hands on a Steam Frame. Can't use it much for not having prescription lenses yet, but AMA

    ~games Ask
    I promised in another thread that I would share more about my first impressions about the Steam Frame soon, so here I am. There's still not much I can say because, in my case, using glasses inside...

    I promised in another thread that I would share more about my first impressions about the Steam Frame soon, so here I am.

    There's still not much I can say because, in my case, using glasses inside isn't an option. But whatever questions you have and couldn't find answers anywhere else, let me know and I can check for you (be it settings, small things no one thinks about, etc)

    I'll be recycling a bit what I already said in the other comment (with a few corrections), but here goes my first impressions and some thoughts:

    • I said in the other comment that the spacer for the glasses was disappointing, but that's actually not true. To be fair, they do their job. The glasses should be as close as possible to your face anyway, and you can't have too much space between your face and the lenses in the VR, so the spacer does give you a bit more space that should be enough for most/all people. I was able to confirm that both my new glasses and my old ones do not touch the lenses. That said, I still wouldn't play a VR game that needs me to move a lot, the risk of them coming loose and scratching the lenses isn't null.

    • My problem with the glasses is different. My new glasses are too wide. They barely fit inside and put a lot of pressure on my face, I think it's the sides of the VR that push the glasses against my face.

    • So yeah, if you use glasses, I highly recommend getting prescription lenses (this also applies to any VR headset, but still).

    • I was able to run on the Frame: Ace Combat 7, Hades 2, Dragon Commander and Dispatch. All of them were playable (Ace Combat 7 was a pleasant surprise!). Dragon Commander technically ran well, but it didn't recognize the controllers.

    • There's a tab for Steam Frame verified games, but you can download anything from your library. Cyberpunk 2077? Knock yourself out. Will it run well? Nope, but it does run.

      • Sidenote: the new proton for ARM processors make me hopeful that laptops with ARM processors could become a viable alternative to traditional ones (I mean besides macbooks)

    • Speaking of controllers, they're MUCH better than Meta Quest 3's. The layout of a conventional controller means that they can be used as such. Furthermore, at any moment you can activate the "pointer", which turns the respective controller into a mouse (while the other remains a controller). Meaning if you have a game where sometimes you need a mouse, Steam Frame has you covered.

    • I got the ergonomic kit because of the controller straps, but as for the headset itself, I'll be the contrarian against the rest of the internet and say that those extra pieces actually aren't necessary. Or at least, not as ABSOLUTELY necessary as people make it look like. The space between the headset and my nose is not sealed, true, but unless I get conscious about that "hole", I won't notice it. I also felt that the top strap isn't necessary, the headset feels firmly held against my head.

      • That said, let me admit a few things: I didn't play a VR game yet, so maybe "firmly held" could be a different story in that scenario. And for a 1k euro device, there's an argument to be made that these ergonomic accessories should've been included by default, which I wholeheartedly agree. The nose thing, might have to do with my head shape, might not, I don't know; I just felt that whenever I was looking at the "screen" inside, I didn't notice the "hole" down below.

    • The battery is... Underwhelming. Be prepared to get a good powerbank if you plan to have mid-long sessions.

    • I tried using the wireless adapter on my gaming desktop (running Fedora 44), and it looks like it worked! Pleasant surprise, as I was under the impression it didn't work on Linux yet.

    • Streamed Red Dead Redemption 2 for a bit. Rockstar launcher popped up so I could validate my account.... Except this window didn't appear on the SF, only on my PC's monitor. On the SF, I wasn't able to change windows, I only got a black screen. Once I entered the game, I could hear the sounds of the intro playing but the screen was still black. After fiddling a bit inside the VR, I managed to make it show the game itself, then I was able to play it normally.

      • This is to say, "window management" inside a game is finicky. So games with their own launchers? Expect them be as annoying here as they are in general...
        • Caveat: only tried one game in this condition (opening launchers/windows alongside the game), so it's possible it was just bad luck and not representative.

    • (copy pasted from the other comment) the update process (that you're forced to do) was really slow - the download would top at 10mb/s, but on average it was on the kb/s.

    • (copy pasted from the other comment) The environment is really polished - more than the Steam Deck it looks like. I like how from inside Steam "app" itself, I can open the desktop mode as if it was an application. I don't have bluetooth keyboards but I think it should be possible to use this as a normal PC, which is really cool.

    • (copy pasted from the other comment) Just like the Steam Deck, you have control over almost everything. Hardware usage, screen framerates, etc.

    Some basic comparisons against the Meta Quest 3:

    • Unlike MQ 3, the SF works just fine in any kind of environment, even if it's pitch black. Side note: it's a bit mesmerizing checking out the LIDAR's and Face ID's lights from my iphone. This thing is unironically a really good device to spot hidden cameras.

    • YMMV, but for me the lack of colors in the passthrough isn't a big deal. I spend most of the time "inside" the virtual world and barely used it on MQ3, only for when someone was calling for me - or my cats. But even then, 95% of the time I would just take the headset off if whatever was demanding my attention wasn't quick. Talking to people with it on your head is weird af (especially for the other person). What I'm trying to say is that there were never situations where I needed to see the world around me and it needed to be in colours; I would just take the headset off in those cases.

      • Caveat: 1k euros device, I get it. It's dumb that you still need to fork over another 100 euros just to get colours. And I guess it's not a good thing for AR games.

    • The SF is a bit smaller, lighter, and it's more comfortable imo. The idea to move the battery to the back of the head was smart, I think long sessions with SF should be more comfortable.

    • MQ 3 has hand gesture recognition while SF doesn't. But personally, I don't really care. On MQ 3 this feature is finicky, frustrating to use, it's annoying when I'm watching movies/videos, and more importantly, it makes me want to throw the headset against the wall (exaggeration for comedic effect). So for me it's not a huge loss.

    • If you feel that after these impressions I'm biased against the MQ3, well.... You're not wrong, but I just realized that it feels like I'm defending SF too much and criticizing MQ3 too easily while writing this. I'm biased against it mainly for privacy reasons, but on a hardware level, MQ3 is a great headset in its own right. It's equivalent to SF and costs a lot less. If you don't care about privacy, you probably should go for it instead of the SF.

    Feel free to ask me anything about the Steam Frame and if I can check it out for you, I will.

    29 votes

  13. Comment on Interview: Firefox’s chief on why he hopes a redesign will help win users from Chrome in ~tech

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    FYI, there's this study that shows that adblocker effectiveness didn't have any significant impact since the jump to MV3. The abstract even mentions that in some cases in MV3 the adblockers were...

    FYI, there's this study that shows that adblocker effectiveness didn't have any significant impact since the jump to MV3. The abstract even mentions that in some cases in MV3 the adblockers were more effective at blocking trackers.

    Speaking from my own experience - sometimes I try out different browsers just because - I do not feel any difference between Firefox (with ublock) VS Vivaldi/Brave, or even between today's Vivaldi/Brave VS themselves 2-3 years ago. I'm sure there are differences, but in my day to day usage I didn't feel any. Youtube ads still get blocked, general ads in websites get blocked, etc.

    I believe that there are a few browsers being developed on entirely new engines, but they are (obviously) years away from being comparable to Gecko or Chromium. If you want to avoid Chromium, your best bet would be firefox forks, like Waterfox. Zen browser is becoming popular recently, but there were a few red flags that kept me away (the biggest one being that they left remote debugging on by default, which from my understanding, is basically a back door for the dev)

    6 votes

  14. Comment on Who gets the Steam Frame? Did Valve pick you for the first wave? in ~games

    JCAPER
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Receiving my own today actually! Got the email a day after your post and bought it then. Details: Portugal Steam Frame 1tb + charger + ergonomic kit GLS (delivery service) After I use it for a bit...

    Receiving my own today actually!

    Got the email a day after your post and bought it then.

    Details:

    • Portugal
    • Steam Frame 1tb + charger + ergonomic kit
    • GLS (delivery service)

    After I use it for a bit I can create a post sharing my experience

    Edit:

    A few first impressions, but keep in mind so far I only updated it and put it downloading some games, so it's to early to say I have any formed opinions:

    • the update process (that you're forced to do) was really slow - the download would top at 10mb/s, but on average it was on the kb/s.
    • The spacer for the glasses is disappointing. As I feared, it's too thin to make any real difference. My old glasses fit, but they're wayyyyy too close to the VR lenses for me to feel comfortable. I ain't playing any VR games until I get the prescription lenses (that said, imo, they're mandatory to have). My new glasses, which are bulkier, don't seem to fit (maybe they would if I tried harder, but I ain't forcing it).
    • The environment is really polished - more than the Steam Deck it looks like. I like how from inside Steam (VR?) app itself, I can open the desktop mode as if it was an application. I don't have bluetooth keyboards but I think it should be possible to use this as a normal PC, which is really cool.
    • Just like the Steam Deck, you have control over almost everything. Hardware usage, screen framerates, etc.
    • Some or most games probably won't work well, but it looks like I can download pretty much anything from my steam library. Will try out some light games and some heavy and see what happens.
    • The headset is much smaller and comfortable than the Meta Quest 3, imo at least.
    2 votes

  15. Comment on How to rage bait Americans in ~tech

    JCAPER
    Link
    I'm not sure if this belongs in humanities, so apologies in advance if it doesn't. I didn't know where to put it. The video goes into how many rage bait posts come to be, and the short of it is...

    I'm not sure if this belongs in humanities, so apologies in advance if it doesn't. I didn't know where to put it.

    The video goes into how many rage bait posts come to be, and the short of it is that many are created by average joes in poorer countries. That nowadays they can easily research what's happening in any given country with the help of chatbots, mass produce posts about the hot topics, pay for them to be advertised in richer countries, and get paid.

    One thing the author stresses is that the post being rage bait or misinformation is irrelevant for these people. What matters to them is engagement, and ragebaits produce engagement, so that's what they go with. Not that it justifies what they are doing in my eyes - at the end of the day these people are pouring gasoline into the fire - but I get it.

    For me, it's yet another example of how social media companies need to be under a lot more scrutiny.

    16 votes

  17. Comment on LGBT tolerance slumps in the Netherlands as debate turns vicious in ~lgbt

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    I think a lot of your points apply to several european countries. Touching on the "lazy" point, I think that applies to many other different topics as well. Speaking about my country specifically,...
    • Exemplary

    I think a lot of your points apply to several european countries.

    Touching on the "lazy" point, I think that applies to many other different topics as well. Speaking about my country specifically, Portugal, there are two main parties and have been the main ones for half a century. But then, suddenly a few years ago, a new far right party showed up and is now the third biggest one, with real and tangible power in the parliament.

    Our country has several problems that have been getting worse since I can remember. I was a kid when I learned we are mainly importers and export relatively little - it's still true today -, that we are among the poorest in EU and our salaries a far below average - still true today -, that public sectors are underfunded - still true today -, that our public companies need to be bailed out by the government every so often - still true today -, that forest fires happen every year and no real attempts are being made to prevent them - still true today; among many others.

    Based on my experience, I get it. I get the frustration, for I feel it as well. I get the complete lack of faith on our main parties, for as long as I lived they've done nothing that I could point and say "hey, that was a good thing that changed my life for the better".* I get/understand the sentiment of wanting to vote on a different player as protest, or the "wanting" to believe that they somehow will be different.

    Where I differ is that I know reactionary parties are trouble. They lack ideology, for they do whatever is more advantageous for each different situation. "Troublemakers" (criminals as far as I am concerned) keep popping up every now and again among their ranks for some reason - like thieves stealing bags from airports (yes really) and pedophiles. And perhaps more importantly their party is their leader, it will implode as soon he gets out of the equation - as it was demonstrated during our regional elections, almost no one voted for them - people vote for the man, not the party.

    He will not solve our issues. He will not "save" Portugal. He will steal and be corrupt just like the others. He will bring a lot of pain - especially among minorities - in his quest to solve our problems, perceived or otherwise.

    Our politicians have one job: get off their asses and be more proactive to tackle our problems, and improve our lives in general. Instead, now we got a (unpopular) prime minister that seems to resent being elected? Some of his comments in the past months give me the vibes of "not my problem, it wasn't me who created this situation, and the markets will sort it out themselves anyway." It really feels like he wants to give the other party free votes in the next elections. Heck, he basically had get his arm twisted to finally address the current petrol crisis.

    So, I think you're right, but on a more broad sense as well. People and politicians got too comfortable and now got caught with their pants down, and don't really know how to deal with these far right movements.

    *To be fair with them, before the new millennium we did have a drug epidemic, and they did solve it with a novel approach - that is now mentioned every so often when talking about war on drugs. But I was too young at the time to feel the difference, and it was almost 30 years ago. I would expect more life-changing measures since then.

    Anyway, sorry for the long rant.

    5 votes

  18. Comment on Who gets the Steam Frame? Did Valve pick you for the first wave? in ~games

    JCAPER
    Link Parent
    Oh damn, that means I'm in as well! Nice!

    Oh damn, that means I'm in as well! Nice!

    7 votes

  19. Comment on Who gets the Steam Frame? Did Valve pick you for the first wave? in ~games

    JCAPER
    (edited )
    Link
    Congrats mate! Sadly I didn’t get picked so I’ll have to wait. Handstrap: trust me, get them! I got them for my meta quest 3 and I couldn’t live without them. There may be times where you want to...

    Congrats mate! Sadly I didn’t get picked so I’ll have to wait.

    Handstrap: trust me, get them! I got them for my meta quest 3 and I couldn’t live without them. There may be times where you want to rest your hands for a bit and with the handstraps you can just open your hands without worry.

    And it’s also a bit about security. Some games will have you shaking your arms a lot so you’ll have insurance that you won’t send your controller flying.

    There are also a few games that track your fingers, and if I’m not mistaken the Frame’s controllers are able to track all 5, so that would be something you would be missing out on (granted, not a huge deal, but still).

    Edit: thanks to @teaearlgraycold , turns out the email I received means I got in!

    4 votes