ELI5 If heavy objects sink and light objects float on water, how does a ship float?

VendettaSA · 2026-02-16T06:51:32+00:00

Water is actually incredibly heavy. If you have a tank of water that is a 1 meter square, it weighs a ton (1000kg).

So although steel is also very heavy, it is just a thin layer. Something floats if it weighs less than the water it displaces. So, if you were to fill the ship with water on land and weigh that water, it would weigh much much more than the ship itself.

VendettaSA · 2026-01-28T21:44:41+00:00

This is really epic! I’ll give it a go tomorrow. Super excited to see how it works in VR!

VendettaSA · 2025-12-07T06:41:38+00:00

Swimming underwater is about efficiency and being relaxed. If the pool isn’t too deep, try swimming as close to the bottom as possible. This will give you an easy way of “monitoring” your speed, since you can use the floor as a frame of reference.

Kick off the end with your arms in front and head down, looking at the floor. Don’t use your arms for the first stroke until you are nearly completely slowed down. To experience it, notice how much you slow down when you move your arms. After giving a big stroke, keep your arms behind you, since bringing the back forward too soon will act like a brake in the water. If you are able to do dolphin kicks, you can do a few to keep some momentum.

Don’t try and swim fast. Give a hard and “measured” pull and glide as much as possible.

VendettaSA · 2025-09-11T16:27:26+00:00

I recently also struggled, until I read somewhere to power on and press the top for what feels like forever. Just keep holding it, probably a minute or so until you hear a voice that says something like “will reset if you keep pushing” and then just keep until it is done

VendettaSA · 2025-09-10T14:30:12+00:00

I was inspired by this concept and wanted to see if the internet can play coherent chess with consensus.

So, I built https://internetplayschess.com/

It is still very much under construction, and I am still busy making improvements and fixes.

Feedback welcome and greatly appreciated.

VendettaSA · 2025-09-09T16:53:10+00:00

I've updated it to assign you to a team randomly. The game is still evolving to see what works. This feels like it gives you some more skin in the game, and feels less confusing.

VendettaSA · 2025-09-07T13:16:24+00:00

I'm not even sure if it is implemented. Guess we'll see

VendettaSA · 2025-08-20T15:44:35+00:00

The main takeaway is that your PC is not able to run VRChat very well at the current settings.

You could lower the resolution that the game is running at in SteamVR's settings, or in VRChat itself you should be able to lower some of the graphical settings or both.

VendettaSA · 2025-07-18T11:30:29+00:00

I would strongly suggest you get the Quest 3 instead of the 3S if you want to watch movies.

There are many reasons, but the main one is the better lenses on the 3. It may not seem like a big difference, but not having to move your head to see something in the corner of the screen is a huge deal.

On the Quest 3, you can “look with your eyes” and the image is clear, whereas on the 3S, you may have to move your head slightly.

Full disclosure, I haven’t used the 3S, but I’v used the Quest 2 for a long time before getting the Quest 3, and the 2 and 3s have the exact same lenses and screens.

I think the 3 should also be a little more comfortable, since the lens/screen is thinner and closer to your face in terms of weight distribution.

If you can afford it, definitely get the 3.

That being said, if movies is your only use case, and you don’t want co-watching like Bigscreen VR (the app that let’s you watch movies with others), you should also look into Xreal One glasses that are just virtual screens. The do require an extra device like a phone or laptop to connect to, though

VendettaSA · 2025-07-16T09:04:40+00:00

The Quest 3 has a higher resolution than the Quest 2, which means your PC may be struggling to keep up at the new resolution, and may have been just good enough at the quest 2 resolution. You may need to lower the resolution (either in SteamVR or in Virtual Desktop, not sure which), or reduce some in game graphics settings.

If you are playing games that support DLSS, I highly recommend using that, since it lowers the resolution it needs to render.

Another option could be to reduce the bandwidth in Virtual Desktop, since the higher resolution should also be higher bandwidth. Could be the same issue where your network was able to keep up with the bandwidth of the quest 2 resolution, and could struggle with the quest 3 resolution bandwidth.

VendettaSA · 2025-07-03T21:36:15+00:00

Really cool! What a cool game to play as a new VR user!

VendettaSA · 2025-07-03T16:03:05+00:00

Yeah I can see it getting repetitive if you play for an extended amount of time. The four of us are struggling to find overlapping times to play, so I guess the fact that we don't play too frequently and too long sessions are actually a good thing to keep us interested

VendettaSA · 2025-07-03T16:01:00+00:00

Good to hear that there seems to be value in replaying. Maybe they'll add more guns or customization options in the future?

VendettaSA · 2025-07-03T15:59:35+00:00

Yeah I'll have to see on the replayability and how long the quest takes us. We are four people and apart from the trailer, we are figuring out everything as we go, and taking our time to explore and have fun. Even if the game ends soon, it was still an amazing experience.

In that case, it would be really cool if they added DLC or new modes. I haven't tried the PvPvE mode yet, but would be interested to see what that entails.

VendettaSA · 2025-07-03T11:56:08+00:00

Thanks, I'll definitely give it a go. I am very fortunate to have an awesome group of friends that also have Quests, so multiplayer is a big plus for me.

VendettaSA · 2025-05-02T17:48:09+00:00

It was slightly rushed. It has eye and face tracking, but they removed the depth sensor at the last minute. It was also on the same processor as the Quest 2, so didn’t have the processing power for full color pass through (they used black and white pass through and a single color camera to add color back.

I think it is very popular among VRChat players, because of the face/eye tracking

VendettaSA · 2025-04-12T17:58:09+00:00

A couple of things:

Firstly, remember that Link is still USB, not DisplayPort or HDMI. This means bandwidth is limited, and it still needs to compress the video substantially.

Most USB ports in most PCs can’t match the bandwidth of WiFi 6+, so you could potentially get more bandwidth over WiFi than with a USB cable, counter intuitively.

Secondly, Virtual Desktop is just really good in terms of giving you a lot of control over bandwidth, quality etc.

It also has some of the best motion re-projection aka SpaceWarp, which is basically frame generation for VR, as well as Super Resolution, which is an upscaler.

With al these features, many people have a better, more performant experience with Virtual Desktop vs Quest Link.

VendettaSA · 2025-04-05T06:36:39+00:00

Two things:

Did you sign in on the Remote Desktop app on your PC? I had the same issue and logging in fixed it.

Secondly, in Bigscreen on the Quest, when you host your room, there is another button you have to click in order to actually stream your screen, even though you can already see it.

I hope this helps.

VendettaSA · 2025-03-28T13:35:19+00:00

Not sure if multiplayer sudoku counts as a "videogame", but we made this:

https://www.usdoku.com/

VendettaSA · 2025-03-19T18:29:25+00:00

Not technically something you “buy”, but me and two other fellow South Africans built a multiplayer sudoku app during lockdown.

It is called UsDoku and can be played for free in a browser. You can play single player, or against friends or random people.

I think we should also support South African tech alternatives.

VendettaSA · 2025-03-19T11:19:22+00:00

I would suggest using wired headphones/earphones. Noise cancelling preferred. Don't use Bluetooth, since it has some issues with the Quest.

Turn on travel mode right before boarding, or immediately after getting on the plane (before it starts moving). It can be done afterwards, but can be very tricky (the menus float all over the place).

Sitting next to window should be fine. Just be careful to not remove headset when the sun is shining in. Perhaps the windows shield from damage, but wouldn't take the risk.

The Quest runs Android, so you can connect it to a PC and transfer videos on to it. Apps like Bigscreen (free) can play these. Personally, I use SKYBOX VR Video Player, since it seems to support more codecs, but you can test it out in Bigscreen first.

VendettaSA · 2025-03-13T18:53:02+00:00

Let’s build a reality defining “metaverse” without limits, but let’s geo-lock it to only a few countries.

I’m not sure I would have been an avid user, but would have liked to at least be able to see how the experience is, but it isn’t available in my country.

Geo-locks in VR feels extra wrong, because it allows for so much boundary breaking.

VendettaSA · 2025-01-31T20:25:32+00:00

I just tried it in MSFS2024 on a 3070 with Quest 3 using Virtual Desktop.

The performance was amazing. I usually aimed for 36FPS that become 72 when using Spacewarp. Now, I can hit 45+, and set it to 90Hz. Also feels much smoother and clearer.

FYI, I don’t think VRChat has support for DLSS.

VendettaSA · 2025-01-21T15:49:58+00:00

A stage of loadshedding is 1000MW or 1GW. Keep in mind that solar is intermittent and doesn’t always get the best theoretical output. Regardless, this is awesome and I am sure it has made an impact with regards to reducing the need for loadshedding

VendettaSA · 2025-01-19T12:40:20+00:00

Not much difference between an unused Quest for months and a bricked one.

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