Author: Brett Venter

Eskom has taken a break from keeping the lights on (more or less) to apply to the country’s energy regulator for another tariff hike. This is nothing new, the utility does this every year. It’s the amount of the increase that’s the problem. Eskom is looking for an additional 32% for 2023. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has yet to say if it’ll grant the state power utility an increase. Odds are good that the country’s power generator will see an increase. If the last few years are any indication, it probably won’t be this increase. Eskom…

Comic Con Africa is just a week away. Thousands of people are going to be there, but some don’t have their tickets yet. Some are about to, though. It’s time to announce the lucky winners of ten general access/photo voucher combos. It’s also time to announce the winners of the four weekend passes Stuff and VS Gaming have to give away. We can fully appreciate just how hard it was to choose between a Weekend Pass (which gets you in for the whole event) or a General Access pass, plus a chance to meet a celebrity. In fact, it was…

Flexible notebooks still have some way to go. That’s the lesson that Asus’ new Zenbook 17 Fold taught us in the time we had it in our possession. Don’t get us wrong. There’s nothing wrong with the technology that you won’t also see in the folding smartphone field. But the Zenbook Fold reminds us of the blockchain. It exists but there doesn’t seem to be a use for it beyond existing. Other solutions perform the same function with less chance of something going seriously awry. Legitimately cool There’s no denying that the Zenbook 17 Fold is a serious conversation piece.…

NASA’s return to the moon starts with a single launch. We hope. Artemis 1 was scheduled to lift off at the end of August and then again at the beginning of September. Neither of those took place because this actually is rocket science. A new date for Artemis 1’s liftoff has solidified. NASA is booking 27 September for liftoff, now that several repairs to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket have been completed. A second date has also been set, in the event that September’s launch doesn’t go ahead. 2 October will be the backup day for launch. Cold logic…

It’s been a while since Amazon announced a new Kindle reader. Last night, the company fixed that by revealing its newest, lightest, and smallest device to date. Since it’s 2022, the budget reader now features most of the same features seen in the last Paperwhite. Kindle your love for reading For your money — and yes, it’s a little more expensive — you get a 6in 300ppi display. That’s up from 167ppi, so images and text (mostly text, we hope) should look crisper. Default storage climbs from 8GB to 16GB, Amazon’s punting better battery life, and (finally) the 11th-gen Kindle…

There was talk a few months ago about that Sonos was bringing a new Sub Mini speaker to market. It’s been a minute since May 2022 but that’s just how far ahead of the times we were. Sonos today confirmed that its new compact sub is set for a global launch. The date? 6 October, in a range of countries around the world — including South Africa. The price? That would be R11,000 for the subwoofer. Sub Mini discipline  The biggest question is: Is the Sonos Sub Mini worth spending all that money on? If you’re asking the question, you’ve…

When it comes to rocket science, you really want your safety systems to work but testing them is something you hope doesn’t happen. Blue Origin’s rocket launch earlier this week had an opportunity to test out its crew capsule safety systems when the launch failed. The reason for the failure hasn’t been established. The rocket was heading up to its destination with a full load of scientific instruments when something when wrong. Scratch one Blue Origin rocket Booster failure on today’s uncrewed flight. Escape system performed as designed. pic.twitter.com/xFDsUMONTh — Blue Origin (@blueorigin) September 12, 2022 The launch could have…

More restrictions may be on the horizon for Multichoice subscribers. Irdeto, a company wholly-owned by the South African broadcaster, announced this weekend the launch of a new DRM system. DRM stands for digital rights management. If you play PC or console games, you’d be familiar with the term. If you’re a paid-for-TV subscriber, it’s a little less likely to be in the front of your mind. Well, now’s a great time to start paying attention. Showmax users recently lost access to the ability to share streams and a greater crackdown might be on the cards. Not much of a Multichoice…

Time to see how old you really are. Merriam-Webster, the folks who make dictionaries and catalog words, have made some 370 words official this month. Your reaction to the list will tell you more or less what your mental age is. Are you Gen Z-level or readying yourself for a ‘Get off my lawn’ future? Our headline has already functioned as a sort of barometer. If ‘sponcon, ‘yeet’, ‘sus’, or ‘metaverse’ are making your eyes twitch, you really don’t want to see the rest of the list. If you’re greeting the news with joy, you’re… actually, you’re probably a Scrabble…

It used the be that the lowest specs required to run the latest Android version called for 1GB of RAM. Android 13 has changed all that. In 2017, smartphones running Android 8 needed just 512MB of RAM. In 2020, that number jumped to 1GB. For 2022, Google requires at least 2GB for devices to run Android 13. Don’t go thinking you can get around the requirement by running the Go edition. That is the Go edition of Android. Upgrading Android 13 It’s not the only requirement Google’s Android 13 Go edition is introducing. A minimum of 16GB of storage is…