Author: Brett Venter

When our main methods of communication are taken away, you can bet that it’ll be a topic of conversation for some time to come. Facebook’s recent widespread outage has provoked all sorts of comments about the social network, and now we’ve got a little more for you. Stuff’s publisher Toby Shapshak spoke to the fine folks at 5FM’s Dan Corder on the 5 Breakfast show about just what went down on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp earlier this week. On the off-chance you weren’t in your car or tuned to 5FM at the time, we’ve got the fifteen-minute segment here for…

There are only really two names when it comes to eReaders in South Africa — there’s Amazon’s Kindle and then Kobo, the other way to read books without having to convert any oxygen-producing biomass into very thin slices. On the heels of Amazon’s reveal of a new pair of readers, Kobo has revealed a fine pair of its very own. First, there’s the Libra 2, a successor to the company’s Libra H2O eReader, followed by the Kobo Sage, a high-end bit of hardware that appears to be a shot across the bows of Kindle’s equally-snooty Oasis. Cobble a couple of…

It doesn’t really matter who you are, chances are you’re aware of the existence of William Shatner. Starfleet’s Captain James Tiberius Kirk is almost universally recognised and, with the rest of the Star Trek cast, is mentally linked in the greater consciousness with space exploration. Well, the 90-year-old Shatner is due to actually get out to space a little later this month. Shatner is due to take a flight on one of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rockets, specifically NS-18, on 12 October, along with Blue Origin’s Audrey Powers Let William Shatner have this If anyone deserves to travel to the…

Unless you were completely checked out last night, you will have noticed that Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp all stopped working yesterday evening. Also affected was Facebook’s Oculus service. All of these things have one thing in common — they’re interdependent. And, if you thought you had a bad time last night, spare a thought for the company (yes, really). The outage also took down Facebook’s internal services, trashing Workplace and making it that much harder for the social network to get its services back up and running. What happened to Facebook https://twitter.com/dok2001/status/1445056572703625218? There were many theories as to the cause…

El Salvador has taken quite a terrific risk in becoming the first country to make bitcoin legal tender, a move that other countries have yet to take. It’s quite possible that the country has made a mistake (or has it?) but El Salvador doesn’t appear to think so. Case in point: The country’s looking at unusual methods of mining bitcoin-like using a volcano as a power source. Really, El Salvador? https://twitter.com/nayibbukele/status/1443832539496525852? One of the largest criticisms of bitcoin mining is the power draw required to mine new coins. Entire power plants are being repurposed to mine bitcoin, meaning that the…

Very few people are foolish enough to rush into a category-4 hurricane with a camera rolling (maybe Jake Paul will do it. Let’s ask him), but Saildrone isn’t a person. Saildrone isn’t even a single drone — the company behind the oceangoing drone is piloting a batch of five of them around the Atlantic Ocean. As part of a joint investigation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Explorer SD 1045 drone was sent inside the slowly-flagging Hurricane Sam in order to capture video of the inside of the weather phenomenon. Saildrone shows some skill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQM_03zuSAI The result…

Japanese video games publisher Konami has taken a bit of a back seat in recent years, shifting its focus away from anything but its football games away from consoles. The formerly iconic PES series, now branded as eFootball, isn’t doing the company any favours, so perhaps the news that some of the publisher’s most iconic games are turning will generate some love for them. At least, that’s the rumour. Games website Video Games Chronicle reports that “publishing sources” have said that several of the company’s most popular properties are on their way back, and not as Pachinko machines. Hurry it…

Earlier this year, rumours floated around concerning Apple and Samsung teaming up for an OLED iPad screen — something fans of the American brand have been clamoured for. Samsung was a logical choice, given the quality of the company’s smartphone and tablet displays. But… It seems like plans might have changed, which casts doubt on Apple finally launching an OLED iPad. 2022 was supposed to be the year we finally saw an OLED iPad Air, followed by OLED-packing iPad Pro models in 2023. Apple picking again? The original plan was for Apple and Samsung to pair up to produce a…

Automaker Honda doesn’t just make the Civic and motorcycles that used to be loads more popular than they are today — the company’s also known for exploring the worlds of robotics and… extreme lawnmowers? That’s… actually, that’s accurate. Huh. But the company has announced a slight change of direction, in the same direction as loads of other automakers, including Toyota. Honda intends to invest in several up-and-coming technologies, including robotics (more heavily than previously), rockets, and eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft. So we’re getting an E-Honda, then? The Japanese company announced its intention to invest ¥5 trillion (around…

Yes, generally we’re more excited by Samsung’s flagships but that tech, unlike the money hoarded by billionaires, actually eventually trickles down. This is how we get handsets like Samsung’s Galaxy A03s, a new entry into the Galaxy A-series of phones that’s within reach of… just about everyone. What’s inside the Galaxy A03s? At R2,500 — which is what Samsung’s newest budget smartphone will cost you — it might seem a little unreasonable to expect high-end features but it isn’t 2014 anymore. Two and a half grand will buy you a considerable amount of smartphone. The A03s packs a 6.5in Infinity…