Turns 62 – Ryan Schultz

warning: This is another one of Ryan-Schultz’s patented meandering editorial blog posts, written the week I turned 62. I promise. soon (As the tagline on my blog says) “News and views on social VR, virtual worlds, the metaverse, and the impact of artificial intelligence and generative AI on the metaverse.” (Hey, at least I didn’t write a whole damn paragraph in the title of my blog post this time.. 😜)

my birthday always It’s been the coldest day of winter here in Winnipeg, and today was the coldest day so far this season.

According to the Environment Canada website, the temperature feels like -48°C (For those Americans who hate the metric system, it works down to -54°F.). What’s worse, the weather forecast says the cold will continue for at least the next seven days.

This is the time of year when we brave Winnipeggers, with layers of skin covering every square centimeter of skin except for our eyes, stumble between our homes and cars, run from our cars to our workplaces, and mutter the sacred mantra:No earthquake, new volcano, no earthquake, new volcano, no earthquake, new volcano…“

But don’t be afraid! While spending time in my (thankfully heated) office at the University of Manitoba library, I am surrounded by the sights and sounds of gentle waves rippling along the sandy beaches of Bora Bora, one of the immersive environments expertly designed by Apple Vision Pro.

Clouds float gently and palm trees sway while you work on your MacBook Pro using the virtual display feature of your Apple Vision Pro headset. Just reach out and turn the AVP’s top right handle and your drab workspace surroundings in wintry Winnipeg will disappear and be transformed into a tropical paradise!! (Drinks with an umbrella are not included. They’ll frown on that statement at work.)

I have already written at length about my ongoing neck and shoulder pain caused by aggravation of two joints in the cervical region of my spine. This was the first serious sign that my aging body was beginning to decline. But now, after experiencing this discomfort for several months, I can now tell you that the two biggest factors that cause it are:

• You spend too long sitting in front of your desktop or laptop computer, hunched over your keyboard. and
• When you’re stressed, your neck and shoulder muscles tend to tense up, which can soon lead to shoulder pain.

So I now spend 4-6 hours per workday using Mac Virtual Display on my trusty Apple Vision Pro headset with my MacBook Pro. Instead of looking down at a small screen at arm’s length, I discovered that my neck hurts less and I can work longer looking up at a large, vivid, ultra-high-resolution screen floating in the space above my desk. The screen is designed to appear as if viewed from approximately 1.8 meters/6. A few feet away from my eyes:

In a VR headset, focal length refers to how far your eyes can comfortably focus through the lens. For Apple Vision Pro, the actual focal length is set to approximately 6 feet.

This means that regardless of the object’s virtual distance in digital space, your eyes focus as if the object were 6 feet away.

I also noticed that when I upgraded my AVP from the first version (with the M2 graphics processing chip) to the refreshed model (with the top-of-the-line M5 chip), the eye strain I experienced was completely gone after about an hour and a half of wearing the device. Viva! And the new dual-strap knit band fits my big, fat head much more comfortably. Aside from the occasional sore neck mishap, the Apple Vision Pro is worth every penny. every penny I spent money on it. And I will be first in line to buy the next version of this awesome headset. As I said before, I every in.

Thankfully, I finally received a final report from my college’s ergonomics office that included a detailed shopping list of recommended equipment to purchase. Like many of my young colleagues, I’ll be getting a height-adjustable desk, risers to position my MacBook Pro and new Dell Windows laptop at the appropriate eye height, a new desktop monitor holder and keyboard tray, and more. I’m also learning (with the help of my ergonomist and physical therapist) how to take regular breaks, stretch, move around the office, and do neck, shoulder, chest, and upper back strengthening exercises.

The good news is that because of all these changes, I am now in less pain than I was a few months ago. But it came at a cost. You see, I have to save what I call “good neck” time for my paying job as an academic librarian. This means significantly cutting back on extracurricular, out-of-hours activities that might otherwise involve spending similarly long hours sitting in front of a desktop computer at home.

One of the activities I’ve had to cut back on is, of course, my beloved virtual world of Second Life. As I’ve been trying to navigate my little army of avatars and buboes through all of December’s advent calendars and Christmas presents, it’s been almost like this for the past month, and I’ve decided that my body is telling me: desperately Re-adjust the real life/second life ratio a bit (Gasp!) the real world. 😜

Speaking of the real world, I’ve maintained a boycott of mainstream social media platforms to stay focused on my mental and emotional health. And for the same reason, I don’t pay much attention to traditional news media right now. If I have no personal control over it, I simply don’t want to know.. Often, my eyes hover over the newspaper headlines with the latest stories about Trump and Greenland at the supermarket checkout, I grimace, roll my eyes, and immediately start my day by focusing on what I’m doing. do I have some control over (my job, my friends, my community, my obsessive little hobbies like Second Life, etc.). I’ve found that I’ve never been in a better headspace overall by avoiding two triggers: toxic social media and what-if news media and doom scrolling, and I plan to continue this approach going into what appears to be another year of madness, train wrecks and dumpster fires.

I don’t miss Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X/whatever-apartheid-clyde-whatever-they-call-this-week. anyAnd I spend precious little time on Mastodon, Bluesky, and Substack (although I do check the latter from time to time, mainly for AI/GenAI news). The only social media places I go to now are subreddits on Reddit (like r/AppleVisionPro and r/VisionPro), Primfeed (think Twitter/X, but only for Second Life), and now Tumblr (for amazingly creative people). fierce competition fan-edited music videos using fan art, memes, and clips from TV shows). Even two Discord servers. fierce competition There is now a place for fans to share fanfiction recommendations! It lifts my spirits and makes me happy.

Over the last four weeks, since my SL friend first told me this story. fierce competition And when I suggested watching that show, I was riding a wave of feel-good hormones like serotonin and oxytocin from the Crave TV series about the secret love story between two professional league hockey players (I wrote about it here ). And I’m not the only one who feels ecstatic after watching the show! Many commenters on posts on the r/HeatedRivalry subreddit have spoken about the impact the show has had on them, with many having watched the entire TV series multiple times. The best and most concise summary of this phenomenon (which one joker suggested we call “heated competitive mass psychosis events”) is that watching the show makes you feel like you’re falling in love. There are many Reddit and Tumble posts from people who, like me, think this show has given them important insight into their lives and lifestyles.

The following Reddit post is one example that I saved because I could relate to it so much.

And – just like in the movie Brokeback MountainAlmost exactly 20 years ago— fierce competition television series, I purchased and read volumes 2 and 6 of Nova Scotia author Rachel Reid’s book series. game changer (The original source material from Season 1 and the already green version of Season 2 fierce competition) and then jumped in head first. Fierce Competition/Game Changer– Inspired fanfiction published on Archive of Our Own (AO3). Here is a link to AO3 for HR/GC fanfiction. Sorted by kudos (fan likes) in descending order. WARNING: Please note that many of these fanfics contain adult content warnings for explicit gay sex scenes! One of the ironic things I find about explicitly gay fanfiction (also known as slash fiction) is that it is written and read by an audience that is primarily straight women (although it also has many fans in the LGBTQIA+ community).

Yesterday my hometown newspaper free pressI devoted two full pages to how to do it. fierce competition It became a major pop culture moment, with ripples spreading beyond the queer community and fanfiction writers. I had to laugh when I read the column (original, paywalled version) in which three FP reporters complained about seeing gay sex scenes. hot competition. Straight people clutching their pearls about the portrayal of gay sex in the mainstream media are just so It’s fun to me.

What I mean is, hurrypeople. Please, if you’ve ever seen it bridgertonThere’s a lot of nudity (showing butts, but not genitals) and sex (not X-rated) going on there. no one For that you need to bring some smelly salt! We do the same things you do in bed. He is heterosexual. (And on second thought, I am. no I’ll spell it out for you here). 😉 Be sure to get it above yourself.

Okay, enough of the rants… Let’s switch to another topic.

There are two things I would like to share with you, my loyal blog readers. First, I had the honor of being invited to be one of the keynote speakers at the 2026 Virtual World Education Best Practices Conference, taking place March 19-21, 2026 in the virtual world of Second Life. lectureI said yes! We haven’t decided on a topic or title for the presentation yet, but it’s expected to come out soon.

Second, although it is not official (And you’ll have to wait until you get an official letter from the university administration, which is expected to happen around the end of March.) The University of Manitoba Libraries has approved my application for a one-year study and study leave (full pay) starting later this year. There I am able to work on special projects away from my regular academic librarian duties. Academic librarians at the University of Manitoba are members of the Faculty Association and have the same rights (and opportunities) to pursue research as professors. More details will be provided later. I’ve only shared this with a few people so far, but I think I can share that much detail at this point.

So 2026 will be a very exciting year for me in many ways! fierce competition This has already inspired me to make some important choices and changes (some you will hear, others you won’t). Wish me luck!

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