Author: Stuff writer

We knew change was coming at Twitter, we just didn’t know it would involve money and that it would be this soon after Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform. According to The Verge, Elon Musk has reportedly given a directive to Twitter staff members to introduce a subscription fee for verification on Twitter Blue. The price of freedom “Twitter Blue is a monthly subscription that gives the most engaged people on Twitter exclusive access to premium features,” notes the platform on its website. On the Blue version, users get early access to features that are being tested, before…

If YouTube is one of your go-to places for self-diagnosis or advice on health matters, there’s a chance you might get real health info. Mostly, though, you just hope their advice works and doesn’t leave you worse off. In an effort to limit misinformation on the platform, YouTube announced on Thursday that it’ll let certified healthcare professionals apply for verification.  “For the first time, certain categories of healthcare professionals and health information providers can apply to make their channels eligible for our health product features,” said YouTube’s global head of health Dr. Garth Graham. Read More: YouTube: how a team…

Plans to send astronauts to Mars seem to be working out for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A magnitude 4 marsquake (as opposed to an earthquake here on Earth) on Mars in December last year This week, scientists finally figured out what actually happened and what it could mean for plans to send astronauts to Mars. “Working together, two NASA spacecraft —one on the ground and one in orbit—detected a large meteorite that slammed into the Red Planet,” says NASA. Side note: Mars is called the Red Planet because (you guessed it)… it looks red due to its…

Now and then, it’s good to go back in time and see how much technology has evolved over the years. Thursday, 27 October, marks World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. Let’s go back in time to 2005, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) picked a day to remind us about the importance of preserving recorded sound and audiovisual documents. Stuff Shop: Go back in time and check out previous editions of Stuff. This year, UNESCO chose the theme “Enlisting documentary heritage to promote inclusive, just and peaceful societies.” Hopefully, you’ll use the tech for some good. Here’s how…

You know that moment when you receive a video, image, or GIF on WhatsApp and you forward it only to realise the text caption didn’t send? You then have to copy the text and send it separately. Well, that may soon come to an end. The Meta-owned messaging platform is testing a new version of WhatsApp Beta which could enable you to forward the media with the text attached…as you received it. The new feature was spotted by WABetaInfo. WhatsApp beta 2.22.23.15 is available from the Google Play Store to a few users testing it on Android. It could soon…

More researchers are finally studying the benefits of video games for children, instead of the disadvantages. And,  the results look good for the kids. A study published by medical journal JAMA Network Open notes how gaming may help children with cognitive and impulse control. Prior studies have linked video games to intelligence, and depression. A study by Psychological Medicine in 2021 found that kids who play video games tend to suffer from fewer mental disorders, including anxiety and depression. “Although most research has linked video gaming to subsequent increases in aggressive behaviour in children after accounting for prior aggression, findings…

You might soon only have to take a day off from life to renew your South African driving license every eight years, instead of the five years that we’re currently subjected to. That’s if the technology and government processes have still not caught up to a better method of renewing driving licenses. The current system requires you to physically go to gloomy government offices in the hopes of actually securing what you went there for. Transport minister Fikile Mbalula told eNCA this week that his department has proposed extending the driving license renewal process to Cabinet. This was after civil…

5.3 million mobile phones will be thrown away this year, according to the International Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), as e-waste continues to worsen across the world. The WEEE estimates that of 16 billion mobile phones, including smartphones, owned globally, 5.3 billion will become waste in 2022.  “Stacked flat atop one another at an average depth of 9 mm that many disused phones would rise roughly 50,000 km – 120 times higher than the International Space Station; one-eighth of the way to the moon,” says the WEEE. The world observed International E-waste Day this month, on October 14th. What…

Video game Trackmania has become accessible to the blind and visually impaired, thanks to company Artha France’s new technology. The tech includes a belt, your skin, and a camera and it allows the visually impaired to nail some laps on Trackmania. Using a haptic feedback belt strapped to their bodies, gamers are able to perceive their gaming environment. This is possible because sensations from the screen are transmitted, via a camera, to their skin. These players are able to see parts of the game because the skin sensors transmit data to their visual cortex. Just because a user’s eyes aren’t…

Crisis averted: WhatsApp is back, following a stress-filled morning of panic after the messenger service went down. Messages, calls and statuses’ were all down, forcing users to find alternatives. Now, we can rest. The world is at peace again. The messaging app went down on Tuesday morning across different parts of the world, including South Africa, the United Kingdom, and India. Read More: Mayday Mayday: WhatsApp is down As expected, social media, mostly Twitter, was one of the places where people went to inform each other of the latest developments and how they can all go back to chatting on…