Author: Brett Venter

The recent COVID lockdowns had wide-ranging effects on how people work, communicate, and use technology. New data shows that some of those effects, like opting for notebooks and tablet devices, are giving way to the desktop computer’s return — at least in South Africa. Market research firm International Data Corp (IDC) has released a new report showing that the desktop PC market is on the upswing in South Africa. At the same time, sales of tablets and notebooks have dropped. While that’s good news for desktop makers, the general computing market has dipped by 3.7% over last year. Desktop destiny…

Clickbait, in case you’re new to the internet, isn’t a positive thing. Unless you’re running a click-farm, in which case you’re counting on sensationalist headlines to pump up specific numbers. Google seems to understand this, which is why the company is rolling out some anti-clickbait measures this week Bait only ever benefits the person who put it out there. That goes for fish and deer, as well as people arguing on the internet. Why should website articles be any different? Several studies show that clickbait can negatively affect credibility and damage a source of information. Those that use it… tend…

There has never been a social network that Meta (originally Facebook) didn’t like enough to a) clone or b) buy. Usually a) because that’s cheaper. Instagram appears to be working on a new feature designed to compete directly with an app called BeReal. Called Candid Challenges, the new feature was first spotted by Twitter user Allessandro Paluzzi. Paluzzi charitably describes the currently-hidden Instagram function as being “inspired by” BeReal. Which is one way to put it. Let’s BeReal about this #Instagram is working on IG Candid Challenges, a feature inspired by @BeReal_App 👀 ℹ️ Add other’s IG Candid to your…

The Saints Row reboot was always going to be divisive. Agents of Mayhem, the last time the concept was mucked with, didn’t go over so well. And that game actually kept Johnny Gat. Chucking out the old crew and replacing them with a set of youngsters, with a different set of values, was always going to mess with players. Turns out, you really didn’t have to worry. This Saints Row reboot certainly has a few issues, which we’ll get to in a moment. But it’s still just a bunch of loveable scamps getting up to unlikely adventures that happen to…

Guitar Hero has a lot to answer for. It convinced a generation of gamers that learning an instrument is easy. Yousician is an app that tried to make that a reality. Now, those two have something in common. Both of them have a Metallica partnership. Unlike Guitar Hero’s unconvincing fake Metallica tracks, though, this new partnership will see players shred like James Hetfield or Kirk Hammet. Provided they put in the hours, of course. Enter Yousician https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urqO95exaIE You might accuse the metal band of having sold out by partnering with the Finnish music app. If that’s so, you obviously have…

NASA’s Artemis 1 mission hasn’t lifted off yet — though it will soon — and we’re already staring down details of Artemis III. Artemis 1 will see NASA test both its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion capsule. Assuming all goes well, Artemis II will repeat the 42-day trip around the moon with actual astronauts inside. Following that (presumed) success, it’s Artemis III up next. That’s when actual human beings are actually returning to the moon. For science reasons, and totally not because we’ve just about set this ball we’re riding on fire. Artemis III: Return to the…

Everybody has to launch something that keeps on earning money, thanks to Fortnite. Learning that Diablo IV is getting cosmetic microtransactions isn’t much of a wrench. That’s been obvious since 2019. Finding out that it’ll cost money to be fully involved in the upcoming ARPG’s Seasons hurts a little more. Activision Blizzard has detailed how its post-launch content will work in Diablo IV. To its credit, the company is trying to be as transparent about how it’ll all work, upfront. It’s taken a little flack for Diablo Immortal, an actually fun-to-play mobile title designed to siphon money out of some…

Now that cryptocurrency is taking a few hits, it looks like distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are rising again. Google Cloud recently held off the largest Layer 7 attack ever recorded. The attack was launched in June this year against one of the company’s Cloud Armour customers. Google hasn’t shared who was targeted, only how badly things might have gone if its services hadn’t been there to take the hit. The scale of the attack was also considerably larger than the previously-reported record of 26 million requests per second (RPS). Driftin on a Google Cloud Google Cloud’s software detected, on 1…

Stuff has kept track of all sorts of meat substitutes turning up in recent years. Major brands around the world have all taken a crack at it. Now, Nandos is joining in on the whole thing. The chicken specialist has brought a plant-based meat substitute over from Australia. It’s used the same marketing that was used in Oz. The meat substitute is known, officially, as The Great Pretender. Because Nando’s is nothing if not slightly sarcastic. Real Nandos, fake meat The company doesn’t go so far as to claim that its Great Pretender meals include substitute chicken. Instead, it’s “plant-based…

Turtle Beach is a name we associate most closely with gaming headphones. Products like its Recon controller show that the brand has its place in other areas. If you’re looking for a second controller, are keen on audio features, and don’t mind being connected to your Series X, this one’s for you. The Turtle Beach Recon controller is designed for use with the Xbox Series X but it’ll work just as well with the Xbox One and PC. A little bit of versatility never hurt anyone. And we suspect this controller’s USB connector lets it get around a touch more…