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Rick Skarbez

@rickskarbez

Virtual reality, board games, sports and cats. Originally from the US of A, now residing in Naarm (Melbourne Australia). Never let a computer tell me shit.

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31.07.2023
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Latest posts by Rick Skarbez @rickskarbez

can’t spell Dale Earnhardt International without DEI πŸ™ŒπŸ»

25.02.2026 01:51 πŸ‘ 874 πŸ” 185 πŸ’¬ 15 πŸ“Œ 2

The Steam Frame, being a real PC, seems like it has the potential to be a really amazing platform for VR and 3D user interface (3DUI) research. Is there any possibility that dev kits might someday be available to people who don't intend to ship games on Steam - say, academics?

03.02.2026 08:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I am reading books again. On the whole, I consider this to be a good thing.

02.02.2026 03:42 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

*screams in history of science*

29.01.2026 00:24 πŸ‘ 598 πŸ” 81 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 1

As much as I am here for the bit, I hope you see a dentist soon!

Make a tooth claim.

29.01.2026 00:13 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

THE PEOPLE UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED

27.01.2026 01:11 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Machine learning research is not serious research and therefore hallucinated references are not necessarily a big deal, agrees a prestigious group of machine learning researchers | Statistical Modeli...

"Machine learning research is not serious research & therefore hallucinated references are not necessarily a big deal, agrees prestigious group of ML researchers"

I ❀️ when the titles write themselves

But seriously, I don't think there's much to debate statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2026/01/26/m...

27.01.2026 00:31 πŸ‘ 47 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2
Trending:
1. Noir Films
2. Election Concerns
3. NRA Criticism
4. Liverpool FC
5. Tariffs

Trending: 1. Noir Films 2. Election Concerns 3. NRA Criticism 4. Liverpool FC 5. Tariffs

Yup, that's what's top of mind on this app right now, the oeuvre of Hitchcock.

25.01.2026 08:21 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Their guns are not enough Photo illustration; original photograph by Alex Kormann of the Minnesota Star Tribune I have a dark joke that plays on loop in my head, like two lines of an earworm when you’re trying to fall…

Their guns are not enough. They - that is, the domestic terrorist group ICE and their fascist fellow travelers - are the ones who are not welcome, cannot be welcome, will not be welcome in the America they purport to serve.

Power, love, and solidarity to Minnesota.

25.01.2026 05:35 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Frodo: I wish so much unbelievably stupid shit had not happened in my time

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. This is all exceptionally stupid, though

Frodo: I wish so much unbelievably stupid shit had not happened in my time Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. This is all exceptionally stupid, though

19.01.2026 19:54 πŸ‘ 15614 πŸ” 5676 πŸ’¬ 26 πŸ“Œ 57
Post image

oh it's going to be a Recession recession

18.01.2026 22:56 πŸ‘ 16896 πŸ” 3431 πŸ’¬ 329 πŸ“Œ 476

I might be becoming a Grateful Dead guy. Early days. We'll see...

18.01.2026 21:14 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Ah, my apologies. In that case, welcome back!

18.01.2026 21:01 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I boarded DL 41 for Australia in 2018 and it was the best decision I've ever made. Safe travels, and welcome.

18.01.2026 09:16 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
"For someone my age who was in the civil rights movement, and in other struggles of the 1960s, I’ve seen miracles happen," the revolutionary and historian responded.

"I’ve seen ordinary people do the most heroic things. When you’ve had the privilege of knowing so many great fighters and resisters, you can’t lay down the sword, even if things seem objectively hopeless."

"I’ve always been influenced by the poems Brecht wrote in the late 30s, during the second world war, after everything had been incinerated, all the dreams and values of an entire generation destroyed, and Brecht said, well, it’s a new dark ages … how do people resist in the dark ages?"

"What keeps us going, ultimately, is our love for each other, and our refusal to bow our heads, to accept the verdict, however all-powerful it seems. It’s what ordinary people have to do. You have to love each other. You have to defend each other. You have to fight."

"For someone my age who was in the civil rights movement, and in other struggles of the 1960s, I’ve seen miracles happen," the revolutionary and historian responded. "I’ve seen ordinary people do the most heroic things. When you’ve had the privilege of knowing so many great fighters and resisters, you can’t lay down the sword, even if things seem objectively hopeless." "I’ve always been influenced by the poems Brecht wrote in the late 30s, during the second world war, after everything had been incinerated, all the dreams and values of an entire generation destroyed, and Brecht said, well, it’s a new dark ages … how do people resist in the dark ages?" "What keeps us going, ultimately, is our love for each other, and our refusal to bow our heads, to accept the verdict, however all-powerful it seems. It’s what ordinary people have to do. You have to love each other. You have to defend each other. You have to fight."

Aware that he only had a few months left to live the great Mike Davis gave one of his final interviews to the Guardian in 202.

"You’ve been organizing for social change your whole life. How do you deal with a future that feels so bleak?" Lois Beckett asked.

15.01.2026 18:15 πŸ‘ 400 πŸ” 175 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 9
Video thumbnail

Worth every second

15.01.2026 14:50 πŸ‘ 20197 πŸ” 8183 πŸ’¬ 589 πŸ“Œ 729

A better world is not just possible, but necessary. It doesn't have to be this way.

15.01.2026 17:59 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Spotlight Search is also completely nonfunctional for me. What a wondrous future we live in!

25.11.2025 21:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

ChatGPT out here starting cults while the heavy magick is in the dwarf fortress code.

12.11.2025 00:09 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Dissertation prize fighter

04.11.2025 08:27 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The one with the Pulitzer

04.11.2025 08:26 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I’ll cite you when we’re both not so emotional.

04.11.2025 07:52 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
A young man in a suit asks, serious-faced: β€œWhat does that have to do with Godzilla?”

A young man in a suit asks, serious-faced: β€œWhat does that have to do with Godzilla?”

when you try to tell me anything

28.08.2024 18:45 πŸ‘ 509 πŸ” 133 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 7

Sadly, no. If you'd like me to make any introductions for you, though, just let me know!

As for next year, I think it'll be the lucky year for me that I get to go to both VR and ISMAR, so I hope to see you at one or the other!

03.11.2025 19:15 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks, Anthony! And congratulations to you on your new position. Any chance you're going to Korea in the spring?

03.11.2025 04:41 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
And in that pause between pitch and contact - longer than logic, shorter than hope - we remembered why baseball existed long before we judged a sport's value by viral moments and betting apps. It is the romance of failure. The mortal beauty of trying and missing seven times out of 10 and still being considered great. It is the only sport where patience is a weapon, and panic the surest death. You cannot simply run out the clock in baseball; you must face it, pitch by terrifying pitch, until it finally releases you.

And in that pause between pitch and contact - longer than logic, shorter than hope - we remembered why baseball existed long before we judged a sport's value by viral moments and betting apps. It is the romance of failure. The mortal beauty of trying and missing seven times out of 10 and still being considered great. It is the only sport where patience is a weapon, and panic the surest death. You cannot simply run out the clock in baseball; you must face it, pitch by terrifying pitch, until it finally releases you.

Did not expect one of the best paragraphs I’d read about baseball would come from an Irish newspaper

www.irishexaminer.com/sport-column...

02.11.2025 14:22 πŸ‘ 7191 πŸ” 2282 πŸ’¬ 109 πŸ“Œ 248

How do people know-what-it-is-like? Can VR make them know-what-it-is-like to do things? Let's find out!

02.11.2025 21:42 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
ARC grant announcement: "This project aims to investigate the idea that virtual reality (VR) is an β€˜empathy machine’ that can simulate the experiences of other people and thereby give us knowledge of what it is like to have those experiences. The project expects to advance our understanding of this issue by bringing together philosophical work on β€˜what it is like’ knowledge and work in psychology on immersive VR. Expected outcomes include a theory of how VR can give us degrees of β€˜what it is like’ knowledge, and a normative analysis of what can go wrong when we try to use VR to understand other people. This should provide significant benefits, including guidelines for the ethical use of these 'empathy machines', and practical advice on improving their accuracy."

ARC grant announcement: "This project aims to investigate the idea that virtual reality (VR) is an β€˜empathy machine’ that can simulate the experiences of other people and thereby give us knowledge of what it is like to have those experiences. The project expects to advance our understanding of this issue by bringing together philosophical work on β€˜what it is like’ knowledge and work in psychology on immersive VR. Expected outcomes include a theory of how VR can give us degrees of β€˜what it is like’ knowledge, and a normative analysis of what can go wrong when we try to use VR to understand other people. This should provide significant benefits, including guidelines for the ethical use of these 'empathy machines', and practical advice on improving their accuracy."

Very excited to be co-CI on this awarded ARC Discovery Project investigating whether and how knowledge gained from VR experiences corresponds to knowledge gained from their "real" "equivalents". Let me know if you're interested in collaborating, especially at #IEEEVR 2026! #VRresearch

02.11.2025 21:41 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Commiserations to you, and power for the future. Sounds like it would be a really cool project.

28.10.2025 00:58 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
A very fashionable Marv Levy.

A very fashionable Marv Levy.

Oh dear. I think I might have just realized that I have a Type.

24.07.2025 21:50 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0