Author: Brett Venter

It must be entertaining to blow things up for a living. Demolitions expert. Eskom. That guy who makes balloon animals at kids’ parties. And now, Sierra Space has joined the ranks of professional exploders on behalf of the Orbital Reef space station project. If you’re having trouble remembering it, Orbital Reef is an initiative aiming to put another large space station into orbit. Unlike the International Space Station, this one will be populated chiefly by commercial interests. Expect research and development for the benefit of companies instead of countries, in other words. Saving the Orbital Reef https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWoyXpo4XeE Sierra Space is…

There are leaks and then there are leaks. Samsung tends to dribble information in an almost controlled manner about its products but the Galaxy S23 Ultra isn’t getting that sort of gentle treatment. TENAA, China’s certification board, has outed every spec the upcoming smartphone will feature. And we do mean every spec. Besides the phone’s appearance, which should look more or less the same as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, every single aspect of the phone has been laid bare. Meet the Galaxy S23 Ultra Just like every smartphone in South Africa goes through ICASA first, TENAA is the hurdle manufacturers…

Just when you think Eskom can’t kick you any harder than it currently is, along comes a potential price increase. NERSA, the country’s national energy regulator, will make a call on Eskom’s most recent price increase application this week. The amount at stake? A mighty 32% increase over the current cost per kW. The price increase has been in the works for some time now, with a subsequent request for an additional 10% increase already in the pipeline. You happy about this, NERSA? The agency has published the meeting schedule for its little get-together this week, where it’ll pull the…

If you have enough money, you can take a crew of other civilians with you into space. Some of these missions actually conduct science (and the follow-up is going to be mental). Others, like dearMoon, are a little more self-promotional in nature. The trip was announced in 2021 and opened applications to people from around the world. The final crew has now been announced and a couple of famous people have somehow made it onto the guest list. Others are less notable but everyone is an artist or performer in one way or another. The dearMoon crew dearMoon, if you…

The festive season isn’t the best of times to go grocery shopping. There are always loads of people who forgot to order anything online, plus folks who need to stock up for various events and parties. If you’re a Gauteng resident, there’s now another option when it comes to grocery delivery — Yassir Express. Yassir Express is an unusual candidate for South Africans, though. While most grocery delivery apps include retail stores that you can visit if you wanna, this one consists of “dedicated dark stores”. In other words, you can’t ever enter the premises. Taking the Yassir Express But…

Self-driving vehicles are an elusive goal for the tech industry but one place where they might function properly is in the field. The literal field. John Deere has already shown off a self-driving tractor; now, agriculture company CNH Industrial has its own entry. Called the New Holland T4 Electric Power, this is “the industry’s first all-electric light utility tractor prototype with autonomous features.” Last week, the vehicle was unveiled at the company’s Tech Day event in Phoenix, Arizona. Electrifying CNH Industrial The self-driving tractor has several standard EV features. Its battery pack should offer a full day’s worth of work,…

Last month the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) sought permission to use robots to kill criminals and other suspects (terms and conditions apply). At the beginning of December, that permission was granted. In the latest twist of this particular roller coaster, killer robots are no longer allowed to kill human beings in San Francisco. No more killer robots In a complete reversal, the Board of Supervisors just voted for a military equipment policy that bans police from using robots to kill. Thank you to all the residents and civil rights advocates who made their voices heard! — Dean Preston (@DeanPreston)…

Earlier this year Chinese tech maker Xiaomi took the wraps off CyberOne, its upcoming humanoid robot. The ‘bot only offered a limited demonstration in August but it’s back for something a little more impressive. Specifically, the robot has turned up in a video where it plays the drums. And yes, it really appears to be doing so. But as impressive as the demonstration is, it also shows just how far we have to go before robotic humanoids are really a thing. Which drummer? The CyberOne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfQ04jEbEyQ The first thing that you’ll note in the video above, once you look past…

At this point in time, one of the most inconvenient items that can be stolen is a person’s smartphone. A wallet or purse used to be the ultimate headache when it came to theft but the future is now. Your smartphone has far more utility than your wallet ever will. Except for when you stashed those things in your wallet ahead of Oppikoppi that one time. That was awesome. It’s hard to do that with a cellphone. While losing a wallet used to mean cancelling cards and getting a new driver’s license, your accounts were usually safe. Unless you were…

File this one under ‘ideas that everyone else is about to steal in short order’. Epic Games has launched new kid-specific accounts for its platform, designed for the under-13 age bracket. Called Cabined Accounts, these are semi-locked-down accounts intended to keep kids safer and offer parents a little more control over Junior’s multiplayer interactions. Epic’s announcement, made via a blog post, does have one serious drawback. The publisher is punting the launch of Cabined Accounts as “a new way for kids to join the metaverse”. Self-aggrandising messaging aside, though, the change has come into effect for Rocket League, Fortnite, and…