Author: Toby Shapshak

On the brutal stage 19 of the Tour de France, eventual winner Tadej Pogačar was two minutes and 23 seconds behind the stage leader with 8km to go. Within 36 seconds, he was 2:07 behind, having climbed just 200m of the steep Alps mountain road at the end of a 145km ride. He caught leader Matteo Jorgenson inside of the final 2km on the third-last day of this epic sports event to score his fourth stage win. In what was a climbing masterclass and demonstration of supreme athleticism, Pogačar won last Friday’s stage – before claiming his third Tour de…

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Gabriel Medina (@gabrielmedina) Despite all of the amazing footage of this year’s Paris Olympics surfers – taking place in Tahiti, half a world away – the stand-out moment is a still image. It makes the photographer in me deeply happy, filled with nachas (the Yiddish word for heartwarming joy). When Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina broke out from under those massive curling waves – known as a “kick out” – he gestured number one by pointing his index finger up and appeared to be standing in midair. His surfboard is…

The thing that strikes you first about the Volvo EX30 is that it has no buttons. There are none on the outside, where you open the car just by simply pulling on the driver’s door handle. You lock it by putting your hand over that handle. Alternatively, you can place the button-less remote on the arm of the driver’s door, over the Wi-Fi symbol, which locks or unlocks it. Inside, apart from a few buttons on the steering wheel, there are only two buttons – to open and close the windows. A soft switch lets you toggle between which windows.…

The first time I shaved with my new Philips OneBlade, I should have cut myself three times. As I tilted the electric blade too steeply against my skin, I braced for the sting of the cut. But I escaped unharmed. This hardly seems like fitting material for a column, but the OneBlade is a remarkable electric shaver for those with a frustratingly thick growth. I have tried every kind of shaving technique, new razors, new shaving creams, and wet and dry shaves. Getting the occasional nick is part of the process – unfortunately. I’ve long since settled on the combination…

https://youtu.be/22rurn0leoc Risk isn’t a word that consumers often use, but banks are obsessed with it – as they should be, Emma Mer, Chief Risk Officer at FNB, tells Stuff editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak. Also available on Spotify | Apple Podcasts Now Hear: Why contactless payments are more secure, with FNB Card’s head of fraud Chris Boxall

Digital wallets have rapidly become the default means for anyone with a smartphone to use for contactless payments. But as these payment methods have become more sophisticated, so have the criminals, FNB Card’s head of fraud Chris Boxall tells Stuff editor-in-chief, Toby Shapshak. Also available on Spotify | Apple Podcasts Now Hear: The future of AI, with FNB’s chief data officer Christoph Nieuwoudt

Alexey Pajitnov is the most famous game inventor you’ve never heard of. The Soviet software engineer created Tetris in 1985 fuelling a decades-long love-affair for millions of people who play the puzzle-solving game. Not only is it one of the greatest games ever sold, but it is a cultural icon. Years ago I saw the first Tetris shelves, which were designed to hold CDs. That’s how long ago the concept has been kicking around and I’ve always loved the idea. My late father was very dexterous and taught me a range of woodworking and other handyman-esque skills. During Covid, with…

Is what you’re hearing really real? Deepfake videos have gotten a lot of attention (especially after it happened to Taylor Swift) but more troubling are deepfake audio recordings, Sergey Shykevich, threat intelligence group manager at Check Point Software Technologies, tells Stuff editor-in-chief Toby Shapshak. The dangers of deepfake audio Also available on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

The best thing Amazon’s South Africa launch has done is make Takealot better. It may sound reductionistic, but it really is the case. Takealot is good, even if it has had a few unforgivable brainfarts with returns. Takealot still has some tricks up its sleeve Suddenly, next-day deliveries are standard and all-round efficiency and speed have been improved. And that isn’t even with the new subscription service, called TakealotMore. The R40/m subscription offers unlimited next-day deliveries (for over R500) and two same-day deliveries a month. The R100 premium package gives unlimited same-day delivery. I am more than happy with a reliable next-day service,…

Any conversation with Dr Christoph Nieuwoudt – FNB’s chief data and analytics officer – is always a meandering journey across a range of fields. He delves into how artificial intelligence (AI) is a game changer, and specifically about the immediate gains of generative AI, he tells Stuff editor-in-chief, Toby Shapshak. Also available on Spotify | Apple Podcasts Now Hear: How to nav-igate your life, with FNB’s nav chief Jolandé Duvenage