Author: Brett Venter

Remember when Donald Trump did the whole Space Force thing? Yeah, turns out there might be a reason for that. A website dedicated to US military developments reports that the United States’ Defense Department is debating whether to declassify “…the existence of a secret space weapon program and providing a real-world demonstration of its capabilities.” Elevating military might Which sounds a lot more awesome than it actually is, at least according to the website Breaking Defense. It doesn’t seem much like rockets or lasers (okay, maybe lasers) or a Mass Relay or anything like that — apparently the US military…

South Africa has a new space services company, AAC Space Africa. Yes, SA actually has a space industry (and our local space agency’s acronym is SANSA, of all things. Very Game of Thrones) and its number has officially increase by one, thanks to a new initiative by Swedish company AAC Clyde Space. The company announced yesterday that it is establishing a new South African subsidiary to “…capitalize on the rapidly growing market for satellites and space services in Africa.” Earth to AAC Space Africa The local company will be based in Cape Town and will “…design, build, and deliver space…

Every once in a while, we come across a completely unexpected piece of tech — something that we didn’t realise could prove to be a useful part of our lives until we saw the blasted thing. The Xiaomi Mi Portable Electric Air Compressor (we won’t be referring to it by its full title throughout, don’t worry) is one of these. This little air compressor isn’t an everyday essential, unless you’re a cyclist or you really go hard on the football field, but it’s something you should consider purchasing and leaving in your car — you know, in case of emergencies.…

No matter how you feel about the WWE, there’s no question that they’re super keen to jump on new tech as it arrives. Spotify and World Wrestling Entertainment are teaming up to supply the world with all of the WWE’s podcasts, a partnership that’s the result of Spotify’s recent acquisition of The Ringer. It’s Spotify, with the announce table! The move should prove quite the shot in the arm for Spotify’s podcast ambitions — WWE fans tend to be a little rabid and the streaming service’s podcast exclusivity in that industry should draw in a fair number of its close-to-a-billion…

In what might be an ‘about time’ moment for the language app, Duolingo has a new update on the way that will finally add a couple of South African languages to the service. Specifically, Xhosa and Zulu are on the cards for those able to brave the fury of the owl instructor who really, really wants you to learn a new language. New Duolingo duo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4bDrMw-OyQ&feature=emb_logo The pending update was announced at DuoCon, an online event detailing what’s coming next from the language-centric app. It’s not just South Africa finally being represented either — Haitian Creole, Tagalog and Maori are…

Imagine being able to get together with your co-workers, share what you’re working on in real time, see and hear each other, without being in the same room or even the same city. That’s called a Zoom meeting. Facebook’s Horizon Workrooms, a newly revealed attempt by the social network to use its Oculus VR division for something other than eNtErTaInMeNt, is very much a similar concept. Only you need a Facebook-made VR headset to play. Horizon Workrooms: Zero Dawn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgj50IxRrKQ&feature=emb_logo Okay, so we’re dumping on this new idea because it’s Facebook and they’re big enough to look after themselves. Horizon…

It’s a pretty scary time if you’re a resident of Afghanistan. The ongoing Taliban takeover of the country as America’s armed forces leave has created issues for many, including social media companies like Facebook, but there are at least a few that the company can solve. One of those is user privacy. In a country controlled by the Taliban, having the wrong information about yourself publicly available could potentially prove rather hazardous, which is why the social network has launched a new tool in that region. Facebook finally does something that protects privacy https://twitter.com/ngleicher/status/1428474006609399811 Facebook’s head of Security Policy, Nathaniel…

There are two games that more or less defined shooters back when the only place you could play them was the PC — Doom and Quake. Now Doom has been back in the public eye for some time, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen any life from iD Software’s iconic shooter. Quake-ing in our boots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi-bdUd9J3E This post wouldn’t exist unless there were the words ‘…until now’ to add to that last statement. The 25-year-old game (yes, you really are that old) has hit all of the platforms you could possibly want, at a fairly decent price. The…

Vaccine misinformation is a problem that Facebook has had to tackle for months now. It hasn’t helped that reports have turned up claiming that just twelve accounts are responsible for almost two-thirds of misinformation online at the moment. The social network disputes this view but said in its most recent update on the state of viral misinformation on its platform that it has “…removed over three dozen Pages, groups and Facebook or Instagram accounts linked to these 12 people, including at least one linked to each of the 12 people, for violating our policies.” Facebook does some vaccinating of its…

Earbuds are becoming a much more common sight, which is leading to a slight revolution in terms of hearing aids — companies are making in-ear buds that look like the headphones we all wanna wear, but are also building assistive technologies into them. Case in point, the new Jabra Enhance Plus earbuds, which are designed to give those with up to moderate hearing loss a little boost. Enhance Plus other things The name comes from the fact that they a) enhance your hearing and b) do the stuff you’d expect from a set of earbuds, like play music and connect…