A “purely technical” weekend of load shedding
There we were – enjoying the fruits of a lazy, gaming-filled weekend when Eskom, SA’s supposed electricity provider saw fit to introduce Stage 3 load shedding, before only hours later implementing the devastating Stage 6 to ruin what little of the weekend we had left. The extended power cuts didn’t last long, however, before Eskom knocked the country back down to Stage 4 in the early hours of Monday, 24 February.
The sudden return to form for Eskom is due to “multiple unit trips at Camden Power Station,” Eskom said in a post on X.com. This followed the “multiple unit trips at Majuba Power Station and a unit trip at Medupi that resulted in a loss of 3,864MW in generation capacity,” in addition to planned maintenance which necessitated the introduction of Stage 3 in the first place.
Having restored eight of the ten units that tripped at the Majuba, Camden, and Medupi power stations, two are still out of action while Eskom focuses on repairs. Hopefully, this means the brief spell of load shedding will remain, well, brief.
“Additionally, emergency reserves replenishment is progressing well. The return of these units comes after identifying the root causes of multiple unit trips, which were unconnected and purely technical in nature, related to electrical and control system issues in auxiliary parts of these power stations,” Eskom said.
New M4cBook Air landing soon
With the announcement of the iPhone 16e firmly behind us, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has set his sights on Apple’s upcoming M4-powered MacBook Air, courtesy of his weekly Power On newsletter. The company is “preparing its marketing, sales and retail teams for the debut,” according to Gurman’s sources familiar with the matter, and pegs a March announcement date for the computers.
Like the M3 MacBook Air, the M4 model is expected to be released in two sizes – 13in and 15in – and is one of the last to receive the upgrade. Soon after Apple unveiled the M3 Air in 2024, it followed up the release a few months later with the development of the M4 chipset, first hitting the iPad Pro, iMac, and MacBook Pro ranges. We expect to see something similar again this year, with a M5 chip arriving later this year.
Asus thinks your room stinks (literally)
Asus has never been one to shy away from strange ideas, but its announcement of a scented aroma-diffusing mouse might be pushing it. This isn’t some one-off gimmick, either – or an intern dropping the April Fools’ news a bit too early. This is the real deal. So why do we kinda want one?
Called the Asus ‘Fragrance Mouse,’ “a stylish and ergonomic mouse that’s available in distinctive Iridescent White or Rose Clay finishes, and boasting an internal fragrance compartment with a refillable vial for aromatic oils.” It’s got all the usual Asus mainstays, like 2.4Ghz wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, a 10-million-click lifespan, and adjustable DPI.
The press release focuses more on the curvature of the Fragrance Mouse and DPI settings rather than the fact that this thing can shoot scented smoke. It’ll do so through the refillable vial underneath the mouse where the aromatic oils go, and can just as easily be popped out, washed and replaced with a whole new scent. We can’t exactly say from where it’ll shoot these smells, or if it’ll seep out of the little nooks and crannies.
Whatever the case, we want one. Now. Assuming there aren’t any leakage issues that could spoil our mousepads, of course.
Tony Hawk, the God of War
Amid the tirade of new games set to be released in 2025, developers aren’t forgetting about all the titles that’ll have you forking over a portion of your salary for a chance to feel something again. If the rumours are true, we could see a remastered God of War game or collection totalling the original trilogy alongside a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 remaster hit modern consoles in the first half of 2025.
We’ll start with the more solid news of the two. It seemed obvious that we’d see a remake sequel to the insanely polished and popular Pro Skater 1 + 2 shortly after its success and yet… here we are, five years later. Now, it seems like Activision has something big planned for the Tony Hawk franchise, setting up a countdown on the official website with the date 03.04.25. We think it’s safe to say we’ll see Pro Skater return to the fray.
As for Santa Monica Studio’s God of War remake, industry insider Jeff Grubb reckons we could see an announcement as soon as March, coinciding with the series’ 20th anniversary. Grubb didn’t exactly mention which game(s) would get the remaster treatment – though we’re hoping for the original PS2 classic rather than a simple PS5 upgrade for the 2018 reboot, God of War. This is Sony we’re talking about…
