Author: Brett Venter

Ask someone what they want their funeral to be like and they’ll probably say, “Why, what do you know?!” Once they’ve calmed down, though, they’ll probably express some sort of preference. Most people would want something memorable. That’s (apparently) why the pyramids were built, after all. But the Egyptian pharaohs didn’t have space as an option. At least, not as far as we know. A company called Celestis offers a variety of ways to send the recently departed into space, with the least expensive option actually involving getting them back again. So you can scatter granddad’s ashes knowing that the…

Sooner or later, all tech roads lead to Skynet, Judgement Day, and the Terminator. James Cameron’s film series outlines the very worst-case scenario for technology. Plus, you know, organic time-travelling robots are really cool. So any time anyone does something even vaguely related, all signs point to the doom of humanity. South Africa has its own Skynet (it delivers packages). It’s also an AI. But there’s something even creepier. Scientists have managed to grow human cells on a robotic frame. You can’t tell us that’s not the first step towards the ArnieBot 3000. Robot in disguise Yes, scientists from the…

The smartphone world is no stranger to special edition smartphones. Some of the better versions leverage beloved TV shows, others tend to lean in the direction of motoring. Realme’s GT Neo 3 is one of the former versions — the hard-to-locate brand has a Naruto-themed device inbound. You might be familiar with Realme, but only in passing. The Chinese smartphone brand has yet to make inroads into South Africa, but we can hold out hope. Especially since the Realme GT Neo 3 Naruto Edition is a thing. And what a thing it is. Naruto’s newest jutsu The GT Neo 3…

The world can be a very stressful place. Sometimes you just need to escape from it all. Have you considered the power of rock? Not rock music, though that is useful as well. No, we’re talking about literal stones. More or less. A developer called Neal Agarwal has a collection of small browser-based experiences on his website. One of these is called Rocks. It should bring your heart-rate and blood pressure down a notch or two. Rock on The premise is simple enough. There’s a calming soundtrack, which sounds just like the ocean, and four rocks. All you have to…

When you hear the term ‘smart city’, you usually think of a technologically-advanced place where the electricity stays on 24 hours a day. Be that as it may, the City of Joburg, in its most recent budget, has allocated a bunch of cash to planned smart features for the city. Among them are plans for automated substation fire suppression, an eHealth system, and a bunch of WiFi hotspots. The total budget for these features, according to a speech made by the city’s finance MMC Julie Suddaby, is R316.5 million. The lion’s share of this goes to an automated fare payment…

The Toyota Starlet might be a little weirdly named, but it makes up for it with features. The Japanese automaker has detailed the versions and prices of the country’s newest semi-affordable hatchback. The Starlet launched in South Africa on 23 May, so the current specs and prices are immediately available. There are some exterior changes to look out for. Both the front and rear ends have seen a tweak or two, there’s a boot spoiler and a new two-light cluster at the back. Chrome detail has also been added to Toyota’s new Starlet. Which is still a really weird name…

We don’t need to tell you that load shedding sucks. Everybody knows. But a pair of solar projects, recently approved by South Africa’s energy regulator, could make it suck a little less. Two new 100MW solar plants have been approved by NERSA. The projects will be constructed in the North West Province, because that’s where we keep all the sunlight, apparently. They’ll be handled by a company called Sola Group, on behalf of a group called Tronox Mineral Sands. Apparently. Something solar NERSA has granted the license for these two new 100MW solar plants under SA’s new rules that allow…

From our very first moment with Dolmen, this space-based action RPG in the vein of Dark Souls, we knew what sort of game we were dealing with. The game’s menu gave pretty much the whole thing away. On loading up this game on the Xbox One, the menu can only be navigated with the D-pad. The Xbox One’s thumbsticks don’t do anything. The same goes for the menu in-game. It seems like a small thing, but it’s a pretty big deal. Dolmen has ambitions of being the space version of Dark Souls. Or The Surge, a game it resembles a…

Distressing signs for South Africa’s petrol price in June this year has loomed for some time now. The situation appears even more dire than it seemed to be two weeks ago. Then, it looked as though South African motorists could be paying at least R3.00 more per litre of petrol in June. Unfortunately, it seems this prediction was a little too optimistic. Currently, the petrol price increase appears to be sitting at R2.25 a litre. But that’s not the end of it. Petrol price pain pending The current petrol under-recovery sum of R2.25/litre doesn’t account for the government-mandated tax break.…

The headline should have told you everything you need to know — Eskom load shedding is sticking around for the rest of the week. The State-owned power utility is having trouble keeping the lights on during the current cold snap. Eskom is continuing its trend of not load shedding during the day if it can help it. Can’t have you sitting around doing nothing on company time, after all. That just won’t do — there’s capitalism in thar hills, and you’ve been nominated to dig it out. Then, you can go home and sit in the darkness. Everybody… wins? What…