Author: Trent Meikle

We’re already in the middle of September, which means it’s time to speculate on October’s petrol prices. South Africa has had two months of decreases and it seems that we won’t be breaking that streak just yet, at least according to the Central Energy Fund’s (CEF) stats captured on 13 September. As usual, we need to take these numbers with a pinch of salt. These are predictions and should be treated as such. The true prices of petrol are announced by The Department of Energy on 5 October, once it’s taken in all mitigating factors. Even so, it doesn’t hurt…

Starbucks Odyssey sounds like a futuristic spaceship that travels the galaxy while selling mediocre coffee. Disappointingly, Starbucks Odyssey is just the brand’s last-ditch attempt to cash in on the world of NFTs. Take the Starbucks loyalty rewards program, combine it with web3 technology, and voila! You have Starbucks Odyssey — a place for customers to buy or earn NFTs to unlock bigger and better rewards. Quick! NFTs are dying! Starbucks already has a rewards system in place, where customers earn ‘stars’ to unlock perks; such as a free coffee. While pitching the idea of web3 to investors, Starbucks said Odyssey…

If you actually care about the metaverse, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised that the upcoming ‘Project Cambria’ has leaked. The leak was first posted to Reddit and then to Facebook, unsurprisingly. The device was left behind in a hotel room before Ramiro Cardenas posted the video on Facebook. It gave us the name of the headset – ‘Meta Quest Pro’, which has been teased as ‘Project Cambria’ for nearly a year. The cat’s out of the bag From Meta’s point of view, the timing of the leak couldn’t be worse. October brings us Meta’s Connect Event, which is when the…

Once, 4K TVs were out of reach for the majority. Now, they’re fairly common and cheaper than ever. This one, however, isn’t. Sure, Samsung and LG’s pricy 4K TVs lead the pack, but there are other brands making good-quality TVs for us to consume content on. TCL is one of those brands. Stuff recently got to play with the company’s C835 65in and it’s stunning. You’ll hear that a lot, so buckle in. It’s not the cheapest 4K TV out there but it’s still good value for money. The C835 uses Google TV as its OS, and that’s perfectly okay.…

South Africa’s first utility-scale renewable energy captive power project is coming. Unfortunately, the power won’t be going to the people, but rather a direct line to Tronox SA who has the right to use the power under a long-term power purchase agreement.   Absa has said it’s acting as a joint mandated lead arranger and lender for the entirety of the project. An estimated R4.1 billion has gone into the construction of the project, which has its home in the North-West.  Solar powering the mining industry Developing the project is Sola Group of South Africa; providing power in 100MW segments,…

South Africa loves the game of football. Sure, we like rugby and cricket more, but that’s usually because we stand a chance at actually winning. Even so, football is still a favourite pastime of young South Africans. Because of this, Lay’s donated a football pitch to Tembisa last year, made out of around three million Lay’s chips packets. And it’ll be recycled again once the pitch is too rough to keep playing. A year later and the pitch is still in perfect condition. It’ll stay that way for another nine years before being completely recycled again. The Tembisa pitch will…

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Forward Event took place this past weekend, revealing a plethora of announcements involving upcoming games and DLCs. There were even a couple of Netflix announcements thrown in, but we’ll get to that later. First, let’s look at not one, but five Assassin’s Creed games announced at the event. A new Prince of Persi… oh It’s been a minute since we last had a new Assassin’s Creed game to dig into. Well, not really – but considering Ubisoft’s regular release schedule for the franchise, a two-year gap isn’t something you’d expect. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the first of the…

Yesterday marked the launch of the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport’s new ‘Smart’ Drivers Licence Testing Centre (DLTC),  this time at the Gautrain Midrand station. Yes, you read that right, in Midrand. Here, you’ll be able to perform all the same bookings as any regular DLTC. Except these ones are ‘smart’. Which (hopefully) means they’re quicker and more accurate than standard DLTCs. The Department of Roads and Transport has partnered with the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) which will eventually see a DLTC at every station across the province. There are three Gautrain DLTCs currently operating; the Midrand station, Centurion…

Masterclass and Udemy could be in some trouble. YouTube is launching the ability to create paid-for educational courses right on its platform. Creators would no longer need to redirect their YouTube audience to other sites, instead keeping them where the audience is. YouTube, of course, will get a cut. YouTube is also changing how certain apps use YouTube as an educational aid. The company is partnering with specific educational companies to provide a distraction-free way to use YouTube’s educational content. There won’t be any ads Most already turn to YouTube for educational purposes. According to YouTube, at least 93% of…

ByteDance, the owner of TikTok and keeper of personal information, is launching a pilot programme to bring 50 free Wi-Fi hotspots across South Africa. TikTok Africa announced the programme’s launch on Thursday, citing World Literacy Day as the reason behind its sudden kindness. Perhaps TikTok should look into hiring Lea Michele to promote the pilot’s launch. That would be pretty funny. Free WiFi for all (in certain areas) TikTok has partnered with local Internet supplier ThinkWifi to supply the 50 Wi-Fi hotspots. If you live in Soweto, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha or Bushbuckridge, it might be time to go on an adventure…