Author: Brett Venter

So you’re stuck at the office. Everyone else is on leave. There’s no supervision? Time to bust out the browser-based video games and hope that the IT guys are feeling just as slack as you are at the end of 2023. Seriously, enough is enough. Can this year just end already? While you’re attempting to slog through the last few days, there’s a smidge of hope on the horizon. Hope in the form of time-wasters, designed to get you through the tedious and empty hours you have to fill while your customer base is (mostly) splashing around in the ocean.…

Nissan might be keen on loads of EVs in the near future but as this year’s new Qashqai proves, the company has loads of petrol expertise that would go to waste. Stuff got to spend a little over a week behind the wheel on one of these SUVs. By the end of it, we were able to appreciate the obsession some folks have with the brand. We don’t mean that you’ll somehow snag Nissan Skyline GT-R performance from what is a fairly modest family car but it’s easy to appreciate the level of engineering that the Japanese automaker ladles into…

This is it. This is the last of Stuff’s online Gift Guides. Hopefully, you’ve had enough time to snap up the best gifts this side of Santa’s factory for your varied group of friends and relatives. The last lot is for the person who’s always the last to be included in the photos when everyone’s having fun. They’re not that overlooked, they’re just the ones behind the lens. Whether these gifts are headed to a video vamp, a photo phenom, or just a general social media wannabe’s tree, you’ll find that everything is a confirmed hit. No, really, everything. That…

Some kids have parents with more money than they know what to do with. Those parents keep outfits like The Little Car Company in business. The newest vehicle to issue forth from the company? The Ferrari Testa Rossa J, a 75%-sized EV replica of the iconic Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa. One version of this replica is currently on display at Harrods in London. For most readers, this won’t matter. The sort of folks who can afford one won’t mind nipping up to the Northern Hemisphere for the weekend to check it out. Testa Rossa J, for Junior If it’s not…

South Africa will move ahead with a plan to add 2,500MW (2.5GW) of nuclear energy to its grid, according to Electricity Minister Kogisentsho Ramokgopa. Speaking in a press conference this morning, Ramokgopa confirmed that nuclear is on the menu for the country but also pointed out that it would be a while before we see any kind of benefit. “We are starting the process of gazetting, so we are triggering essentially a procurement process,” said Ramokgopa. Gazetting is quite a long way from breaking ground on a nuclear facility, with the minister saying that it might be four years before…

Who needs a gift guide when you’re shopping for kids? Right? If your kid is a fan of technology (or the parents are), you might be hard-pressed to come up with something that doesn’t entirely suck. Stores that stock ‘tech toys’ tend to be overpriced and a little samey. That’s why we scoured the internet for a set of great gifts that are also gadgets (and won’t suck, either). But if nothing here catches your eye, it’s worth picking up a copy of the latest issue of Stuff. Our gift guide has a matching section for kids with a whole…

There are two kinds of folks who are into sneakers. Some are keen on the look and feel and (often) the limited-edition nature of their shoes. Then some are all about the utility. Puma’s Fast-R 2 Nitro Elite, an update on the original Fast-R lineup, offers its adherents both. How? The Fast-R 2 Nitro Elite will drop a limited edition of its new high-tech running shoe before releasing a more general (and psychedelic) version in February 2024. If you’re one of those limited-edition folks, the Fast-R 2 Nitro Elite Ekiden Rush edition launches in very limited numbers tomorrow, 8 December.…

Asus occasionally exhibits scattered energy, releasing products that are aimed at an uncertain or highly specific audience. Other times, like now, its targeting system is spot-on. The Asus Vivobook Pro 15 (M6500 — the designation is for 2023) is for creative types who need power but don’t want to rely on Apple to provide it. That’s not just Asus’ assessment, though it is rather prominent in the Vivobook Pro 15’s marketing literature. The notebook itself has the stats and skills to back up its stated aim, providing a Mac-bothering machine for a fairly reasonable sum, ‘reasonable’ being a relative term…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is 2023’s buzzword but unlike last year’s technological gold rush, some actual good is coming out of this year’s crop. Microsoft’s SeeingAI app, an app designed to help those with vision issues up to and including full blindness, has just turned up on Android. The app allows a smartphone to be used as a guide of sorts. It’s not quite as smart as one of those highly-trained canines but it will speak one of eighteen different languages. Unfortunately for South Africa, only English is on the list as far as native tongues go but maybe one of…

Every year Stuff puts together a gift guide of sorts (see, told you). These are aimed at finding the perfect gift for you and your friends, family, and close associates. But people are sometimes hard to buy for. Handily, they also tend to clump together in specific groups. Folks who spend all their free time working out, getting ripped, pounding pavement? They’re the subject of this collection of products. But if the items listed in this gift guide aren’t what you need for your fitness friendlies, head on out to your nearest store — or just click elsewhere on this…